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Treating acid reflux
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Parables of Traditional Medicine series
A tale of traditional herbal medicine and drugs mixed inappropriately.
When treating a patient, there needs to be a consistent strategy of care. There are often differing opinions as to what is the best course of treatment. A patient needs to know the specifics of how a particular treatment is going to help them. Traditional medicine and biomedical medicine often have conflicting ways of helping a patient.
An example is a patient who had stomach upset with acid reflux. This is a condition where acid from the stomach is backing up into the esophagus. The treatment from a biomedical doctor is to utilize a drug called a proton pump inhibitor, which decreases the amount of acid produced by the stomach. This decreases the amount of acid that is available to “back up” or reflux into the esophagus.
The patient also chose to follow the advice of a book of herbal folk remedies. The book suggested the use of apple cider vinegar to improve the digestion. Vinegar is an acid, and is used to help increase the acidity of the stomach. Increased acid can improve the efficiency of the digestion. This helps the stomach clear faster decreasing reflux.
These are two very different approaches to the problem. The patient was trying to increase and decrease acid in the stomach at the same time. As a result the condition of the patient did not improve. Both the vinegar and the medication are tools used for a strategic goal. The strategy of tool use was not clear to the patient and the goals of the systems of medicine were in conflict. When it comes to any medication, natural or otherwise, always be clear about what you are taking and why.
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