The Acid Reflux Disease Paradox

A paradox is a self–contradictory statement which at first seems to be logical, but upon further examination appears to be just the opposite.

Because acid reflux is a symptom of a condition and not a true disease, it is paradoxical that the medical profession treats the symptoms of acid reflux with no intent to cure the so called disease.

If that is not confusing enough, ponder the definition of the word disease. Dis is a prefix meaning “apart from” and ease meaning the “normal state”.

The word disease certainly gets thrown around a lot. We have been made to think of disease as something horrible, deadly and incurable. Allopathic medicine seems to use this word to scare us into unneeded surgery, costly office visits, diagnostic tests and dangerous prescription drugs.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could go to the doctor’s office for help with acid reflux and your doctor would tell you he could help you cure your condition with natural methods. He might say, “All that is needed to get you back to normal is to make a few changes in life style and take a couple of natural supplements”. Of course, that rarely happens, if at all. There is simply too much money at stake.

The doctor would probably tell you that you have a potentially dangerous disease and that the symptoms must be treated with drugs or surgery before it develops into something much worse. He might perform an expensive diagnostic test like an upper endoscopy and then warn you that you could develop Barrett’s esophagus, which is a precursor to esophageal cancer. Most people would likely be so frightened at this point that they would submit to anything the doctor suggested.

He would probably write out a prescription for a proton pump inhibitor like Nexium and send you home. When that didn’t work after months of use, he would tell you to double the dose. You would have to pay for the office visits, diagnostic tests and the prescription drugs. You might also be plagued with the dangerous side effects of the drug, which can be worse than the affliction they are supposed to treat.

On the other hand, a natural healer might advise you to drink more water, chew your food more thoroughly, get a little exercise and eliminate stress through meditation. He might tell you to remove certain offending foods from your diet. He then could suggest that you take the supplement MSM to combat the formation of scar tissue in the esophagus which forms from the repeated attacks of acid reflux. He would explain that this scar tissue can narrow the esophagus and lead to Barrett’s esophagus. In other words, a natural healer would try to help you to overcome the dis-ease without drugs or surgery.

We all have the ability, with a little knowledge, to heal ourselves of dis-ease. We have the resources at hand to be natural healers. But alas, if more natural healing existed, it might put the drug giants, hospitals, medical insurance companies and physicians out of business. Every time someone is healed by doing something natural, money that would otherwise go to the medical industry is lost.

The drug companies are working in concert with the FDA, at this very moment, to pass legislation that would limit our ability to obtain natural supplements. It is truly a paradox that natural supplements have a history of far fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs, yet the FDA, AMA and every other medical association would like to take that freedom of choice away from us. I would strongly suggest that we all learn more about natural healing and that we fight for our right to be able to heal ourselves.

It is certainly a paradox that certain herbs, roots, twigs and other natural ingredients used in healing for thousands of years could now be made illegal. It is part of that paradox that most prescription drugs are synthetic forms of these originals and are controlled by powerful companies. Big industry wants to make it impossible for us to heal ourselves. Is that not a paradox?

The irony of it is that simple things like the powdered bark of the slippery elm tree can help heal a damaged digestive system. Aloe vera juice, marshmallow herb and Kukicha tea are all natural ingredients which can be used in combination with changes in life style to heal acid reflux.

I would encourage everyone who suffers from the acid reflux condition to remove the paradox about acid reflux dis-ease. Learn to heal yourself. We can be our own doctors. We should all be natural healers.

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