Effective & Trusted Medications Guide » Digestive Health
Acid Reflux disease is medically referred to as Gastoroesophogeal reflux disorder. It is a disorder that is common to adults especially those above the age of 40. This disorder is characterized by a burning sensation felt on esophagus. It is caused by digestive juices moving up in the esophagus and at times destroying the esophagus by digesting it. This burning sensation is felt near the place where the heart rests hence the name ‘heart burn’. The digestive juices in the stomach perform in high acid level.
Therefore the stomach lining has to produce large amounts of very concentrated acid, hydrochloric acid, for the enzymes to work efficiently. The fluids in the stomach therefore reach a pH of 1 that is enormously acidic. At this level the fluids are ten times more acidic than ordinary battery acid. This acid may leek from the stomach to the gullet causing this disorder and damages connected with acid reflux disease.
This disorder is suggested to be caused by an injury of the esophageal sphincter, a circular muscle on the upper side of the stomach that acts as a valve to prevent stomach fluids from getting to the gullet.
Stopping bleeding and preventing rebleeding
Colonoscopy is more than just a diagnostic tool; it can also be used to stop bleeding by removing (snaring) bleeding polyps, by cauterizing (sealing with electrical current) bleeding angiodysplasias or postpolypectomy ulcers and, occasionally, by cauterizing actively bleeding blood vessels inside diverticula. Cauterization during colonoscopy is usually accomplished by inserting a long cauterizing probe through the colonoscope’s channel for instruments. Colonoscopy with cauterization has been used to stop bleeding in many patients with bleeding from diverticula or angiodysplasias, thereby decreasing their need for blood transfusions, shortening their hospital stays, and avoiding surgery.
Visceral angiogram
A visceral angiogram is an x-ray study of the blood vessels of the gastrointestinal tract. The doctor (usually a specially trained radiologist) will insert a thin, long catheter into a blood vessel in the groin and, under x-ray guidance, will advance the tip of the catheter into one of the mesenteric arteries (arteries that supply blood to the gastrointestinal tract). Radio-opaque dye then is injected through the catheter and into the mesenteric artery. If there is active bleeding, the dye can be seen leaking into the gastrointestinal tract on the x-ray film. Visceral angiograms are accurate in locating rapid bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, but it is not useful if the bleeding is slow or has stopped at the time of angiogram.