What is GERD?   About 45% of the American population get acid reflux. About 10% have an acid reflux more than once a week and they experience variety of symptoms, including waking up at night with food or acid coming up in their mouth, waking up with coughing spells, day time food or acid reflux, food getting stuck in the esophagus while eating.

Why are acid and food coming back up to the mouth? At the lower end of the esophagus there is a valve called lower esophageal sphincter (LES). When the LES becomes incompetent it fails to keep acid and food in the stomach, allowing them to come up when ever there is pressure on stomach.

What is the solution or management? The best solution is to repair the diaphgmatic hernia and create a new valve around the lower esophagus. Dr. Pandya does this laparoscopically and the procedure is called laparoscopic antireflux surgery. For more information click here.

There are many medications sold by various pharmaceutical companies like Nexium, Zantac, and many others. These medications work to temporarily reduce acid production in the stomach and provide short term relief. They do not provide any lasting benefit and certainly do not correct the basic defect in the LES. It may also cause harm to those who take the medication if taken for a long period of time.

“Dr. Pandya is my knight in shinning armor. I had acid reflux and was sick all the time. If I ate, the acid would come up in my mouth and also when I was sleeping. I was throwing up a lot, losing weight and the medications were not working. I went to Dr. Pandya with my problems. He performed the special surgery and now I have no heartburn or acid reflux. Thank you, Dr. Pandya, for making me well again! Dr. Pandya has patients coming from many locations including Santa Barbara and Washington State. He can do many different surgeries like skin cancer, hernia repair, gall stone surgery, breast cancer surgery. He is the best!”

- SHIRLEY POLANEC