Whole Food Ginger, the Best for the Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a natural ingredient for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, with no side effects, according to study.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a digestive disorder caused by the relaxation of the low end of the esophageal sphincter muscle which connects with the stomach at the wrong times, leading to return of the stomach's contents back up into the esophagus.

Under normal digestion, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) closed after opening to allow food to pass into the stomach.

People with GERD may have symptoms of heartburn, a burning sensation in your chest usually after eating, chest pain, regurgitation of food or acid liquid.

In serious cases, patients may experience symptoms of difficulty swallowing.

Most cases of GERD symptoms can be managed by lifestyle changes and over-the-counter medications. However, some people may need surgery to ease symptoms.

Unmanaged GERD has been found to damage the esophageal tissue and dysfunctional valve at the top of the stomach and bottom of the esophagus in some patients.

The exact causes of GERD are unidentified. Being overweight and obesity, intake of certain medications, being a smoker and exposed to second-hand smoke are some factors associated with the prevalent risk of the condition.

Out of many risk factors, some researchers suggested aging may be a common risk of GERD in the elderly.

Dr. David A. Johnson, said, "The prevalence of erosive esophagitis and other complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease increase with age. Additionally, among all people with GERD, older adults are more likely to suffer severe complications, such as Barrett esophagus and esophageal carcinoma, than are younger people".

And, "Older age was associated independently with increasing acid exposure (P<0.0001), decreases in intra-abdominal LES length (P<0.001), increases in esophageal dysmotility, and increasingly ineffective peristalsis".

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) or ginger root, the second superfood used for thousands of years by mankind, is the genus Zingiber, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to Tamil.

The root has been used in traditional and Chinese medicine for the treatment of dyspepsia, gastroparesis, constipation, edema, difficult urination, colic, etc.

In the urgency to find a natural compound for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and bile reflux gastritis (BRG) which are common gastrointestinal (GI) disorders with unmet medical needs, researchers evaluated the ginger-containing formula Wendan decoction (WDD) targets homeostatic disturbances.

The Wendan decoction (WDD) has been used for thousands of year in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of syndromes characterized by "reflux" and "gut-juice exposure" problems.

After reviewing medical data online, 33 studies involved 3253 participants (1351 vs. 1035 of the BRG in 20 publications, 449 vs. 418 of the GERD in 13 studies, and 194 vs. 159 of relapse rate in 6 trials) was selected.

According to the pooled data, application of WDD showed a consistent therapeutic efficacy on BRG (OR = 6.00, 95%C = 4.68-7.69) and GERD (OR = 4.39, 95%CI = 2.72-7.07).

The relapse rate was 12.4% for WDD which significantly lower than 44.0% in the conventional therapies (OR = 0.14, 95%CI = 0.08-0.26).

After taking into account co and confounders, researchers wrote on the final report, "The consistent therapeutic efficacy of the single TCM formula on GERD and BRD indirectly indicates reflux as common pathogenesis in reflux-associated GI disorders".

Take all together, ginger used alone or combined with other herbal medicines may be considered the functional alternatives for the treatment of GERD and BRD, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Consistent Efficacy of Wendan Decoction for the Treatment of Digestive Reflux Disorders by Ling W1, Huang Y1,2, Xu JH1,3, Li Y1,4, Huang YM1, Ling HB1,5, Sui Y6, Zhao HL. (PubMed)
(2) GERD and Aging by David A. Johnson, MD reviewing Lee J et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2007 Dec. (NEJM Journal Watch)