Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease Information

Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease

What is Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease??

Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease or GERD in children or infants is most often the result of the upper intestinal tract not being coordinated with the lower intestinal tract. To try to make this a little simpler to understand, i'll try to explain it better. Basically, the esophogus doesn't know how to properly move food down into the stomach without letting some of it come back up into the throat or the mouth, which can cause spitting up, or even vomiting.

This can cause a wide variety of problems such as aspiration (inhalation) of the food or liquid into the lungs, failure to thrive (child has difficulty gaining or maintaining weight), or inhibited growth and development.

If the child is aspirating or inhaling the food or liquid that comes back up into their throat or mouth, there is an increased possibility of pneumonia. The type of pneumonia is called "Aspiration Pneumonia" and while it isn't viral or bacterial can cause just as much discomfort and scar tissue in the lungs as its "cousins".

GERD seems to be more common in children with developmental delays than in children who are normal developmentally. Often times the Reflux seen in the delayed children is more severe and/or persistant making it harder to cure and also a bit harder to diagnose. In my daughters case, she is developmentally delayed as well as speech and language delayed. It wasn't until she was admitted to Tampa Childrens Hospital for testing for her Asthma that we discovered that she had GERD. The diagnosis has definatly made our lives alot easier, because now we know why she wasn't eating all that much. She didn't throw up much, and rarely complained that her stomach hurt so this was a complete revelation to us.

The tests that they use to diagnose GERD can be invasive and even scary to us as parents... but the out come and diagnosis can mean the world to the child, and to our peace of mind.

Diagnosis There are several ways to diagnose GERD, although not one of them is fool proof. Each test has its downfalls and often times a normal result occurs even if the child has GERD. My daughter under went three of the tests while she was in the hospital, most of which weren't terribly comfortable for her. If you would like more information on the tests which can be performed, please visit this web site: Gastroesophogeal Reflux in Infants and children for more in depth information. This site has a wide array of information regarding the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of GERD.

*****************Other Helpful Links*********************

GERD Information Resource Center

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Charlotte Clinic for GI and Liver Disease

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Jefferson Health System

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Australian Gastroenterology Institute

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Planet Rx

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