Page 35 - Summer2010

Acid Reflux: A Red Flag

A Precursor to Chronic Illness

by Kathryne Pirtle

All disease begins in the gut. Hippocrates

he drug companies have accumulated enormous
wealth from the sales of medications for acid reflux
Tand related digestive complaints. Endless numbers

of radio, television and magazine ads tell us how these

preparations can magically “heal” these digestive dis-
comforts. You may have even noticed advertisements for
these medications at the top of your email page. When

prescription drugs for acid reflux went over-the-counter,

drug companies raked in four hundred million dollars in
sales per year!
In the United States, sixty million people have acid reflux, or one in five
people. Last year, hospitals recorded four hundred seventy thousand hospi-
talizations and almost two million emergency room visits from acid reflux.
Acid reflux and related digestive disorders now constitute an epidemic, and
no age group has been spared. In fact, 50 percent of infants suffer from acid
reflux in the first months of life, and during the last few yeears, there has
been a 56 percent increase in sales of medicine for acid reflux and digestive
disorders in infants and children from birth to four years old! A statistic like
this should sound the alarm to find the root cause of this health disaster.

SUMMER 2010 Wise Traditions 35