All Natural Alginate Therapy for Long-Term Reflux Control

Standard medications to treat reflux include H2 blockers (peptcid, zantac) and proton pump inhibitors (prilosec, nexium, prevacid, protonix), but long-term use is typically not recommended since these medications can cause unacceptable side effects. (Watch video below to understand how these medications work.) An alternative all-natural and safer way to treat reflux long-term is with sodium alginate derived from seaweed. When taken after meals, it coats the esophagus and stomach lining, b…

10/21/2022 0

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How Do Reflux Medications Work? (PPI, H2 Blockers, Antacids, Alginates)

There are many different types of reflux medications . However, they all do not work the same way. This animation goes over how the different classes of reflux medications prevent reflux symptoms. For simplicity’s sake, the role of ECL cells, acetylcholine, gastrin, etc has been eliminated/ignored. Check out our online reflux store .

5/30/2021 0

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Stretta Incisionless Therapy to Treat Reflux

This animation demonstrates how the Stretta radiofrequency (RF) therapy is performed to surgically treat reflux without incisions. The Stretta system delivers low power, low temperature radiofre­quency energy to the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) muscle. This non-ablative energy is delivered to multiple different sites causing tissue remodeling resulting in improved barrier function and fewer random relaxations that cause reflux symptoms. RF energy has been shown to thicken the musculature …

11/02/2020 0

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New Videos on Reflux and the LINX Surgery to Surgically Correct Reflux

Reflux is a very common disorder that affects many patients. Although most suffer from heartburn, a not insignificant number of patients suffer from symptoms affecting only the throat including globus , phlegmy throat , throat-clearing , and sore throat. Reflux causing throat only symptoms is called LPR or laryngopharyngeal reflux. With permission from Ethicon who created some very nice animations regarding reflux and the LINX surgery, I have re-edited the original animations to be more patien…

9/29/2020 0

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Can Reflux Medications Cause Allergies?

Image courtesy of Areeya at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net Reflux medications are wonderful to treat symptoms of heartburn as well as reflux-triggered throat problems . However, there is growing concern that long-term use of reflux medications is associated with other health problems including nutritional deficiencies along with increased risk of bone fracture, pneumonia, and other infections including Clostridium difficile infection where proton pump inhibitors may carry a high risk equivalent t…

8/10/2019 0

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Portable and Reusable Alkaline Water Bottles

Ever since 2012 when a research paper came out suggesting that drinking alkaline water (pH 8.8) may help with symptoms of reflux by deactivating a stomach enzyme called pepsin, patients have increasingly switched to high-pH water for this health benefit [ more info ]. Unfortunately, obtaining alkaline water typically required purchasing many plastic bottles of alkaline water over time which is not exactly environmentally friendly. Due to such environmental concerns, several companies have…

12/15/2018 0

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Lose the Juice: Sugary Drinks Linked to Reflux in Children (Guest Blog)

A guest blog by Dr. Julie Wei (pediatric ENT in Florida) Despite doctors informing the public that cigarette smoking causes lung and other types of cancer, and cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, bronchitis, and other various health conditions, it took decades before the public finally shifted the stigma of cigarette smoking and started shedding light on the harmful effects. As a result, cigarette packages now come with mandatory warning labels. SURGEON GENERAL’S…

5/29/2018 0

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Mediterranean Diet Works as Well as Medications in Reflux Treatment

Image courtesy of KEKO64 at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net New York researchers have discovered that a modified Mediterranean diet worked as well as PPI medications in resolving LPR symptoms ( laryngopharyngeal reflux ) which include globus , chronic cough , phlegmy throat , constant throat-clearing , etc. The comparison study group that used PPI medications utilized esomeprazole ( Nexium ) twice daily or dexlansoprazole (Dexilant) daily. In fact, the modified Mediterranean diet group had…

9/12/2017 0

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Make Your Own Gaviscon Advance or Double Action for Reflux Control DIY

Image from Amazon Before getting into how to make Gaviscon Advance  or Gaviscon Double Action yourself from its component ingredients, you first need to understand how each ingredient contributes to reflux control. If you want to skip to the recipe, look below. Alginate's affects on improving reflux has been known about for decades. Initial scientific studies on how it improves reflux were conducted in the 1980s. Alginates are natural polysaccharide polymers isolated from brown…

11/18/2016 8

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The Statistics of Throat Cancer Risk Factors

Image by Nikita2706 in Wikipedia Pretty much everybody knows that smoking and alcohol increases risk of throat cancer. Some even realize that oral sex contributes to increased risk of throat cancer due to the HPV virus . However, what is more hazy is how high these risks are compared to individuals who do not partake of such activities. So, here are some statistics of throat cancer risks (references listed below). Using a calculator , a specific risk of cancer can be calculated based on…

5/30/2016 0

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Milk and Cookie Disease (Video)

A TEDx talk by Dr. Julie Wei on " Milk and Cookie Disease " which causes symptoms of chronic stuffy nose, nasal congestion, chronic runny nose, cough, sinus infections, sore throat, recurrent croup, allergies and asthma due to excessive sugar and dairy consumption in otherwise healthy children. Such a diet, especially in the evenings and bedtimes, trigger reflux leading to this wide constellation of ENT symptoms. Read more about this condition here . Julie L. Wei, MD , is a Ped…

12/04/2015 0

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Dr. Chang Article Printed in National Newsletter

Our Voice, a national newsletter published by the  National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association , published a 4 page article written by Dr. Chang (Volume 25, Number 1, Pages 8-11; Nov 2015) on the topic of reflux and spasmodic dysphonia . The article titled "Living with Spasmodic Dysphonia and Reflux" is the 2nd time Dr. Chang has been featured in this national newsletter. The first time was in 2009 (Volume 18, Number 2, Page 3) pertaining to research that Dr. Chang performed that w…

11/23/2015 0

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Patients Who Travel a Long Distance for Care

Image courtesy of tigger11th at FreeDigitalPhotos.net In 2014, our practice made the difficult decision of no longer accepting new patients or performing any surgeries who live outside the Virginia region of the United States (specifically Northern Virginia) with the exception of a few conditions. The reasons are many in spite of what many (upset) patients felt to be an unwarranted geographic limitation. This blog tries to explain why we have taken this step which is still in effect today…

10/27/2015 0

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Reflux Medications Linked to Heart Attacks: Not as Bad as You Think

In June 2015, media reported a link between heart attacks and taking a certain class of reflux medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Such medications include nexium , prilosec , prevacid , etc and are very common to treat heartburn. This reported link was due to a paper published in PLOS One which you can read here . How high is the risk? The research suggested an increased risk of 16%. Although this may sound high, this translates into one heart attack for every 4000 patient…

7/01/2015 0

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How Does Alginate Help Reflux?

Alginate's affects on improving reflux has been known about for decades. Initial scientific studies on how it improves reflux were conducted in the 1980s. Alginates are natural polysaccharide polymers isolated from brown seaweed ( Phacophycae ) and is classified as dietary fiber. Their ability to form viscous solutions and gels have led to their extensive use in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products for over one century. As it pertains to reflux, perhaps the most interesting …

4/02/2015 0

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