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Treating or preventing reflux esophagitis
may be as simple as supplementing traditional acid suppression
treatment with an antioxidant extract of the wormwood
herb Artemisia asiatica.
Reflux esophagitis is an
inflammation of the esophagus caused by regurgitation
of the stomach contents, or acid reflux. The condition is
more commonly recognized by its symptom of heartburn which
reportedly affects 10% of
American adults every day.
Currently the treatment of reflux esophagitis
is mostly based on the suppression
of acid. Therapy with readily available antioxidants
such as vegetables and fruits may help prevent and treat the
condition, researchers noted.
Investigators surgically induced reflux
esophagitis in 60 rats and divided them into four different
groups: one that received no treatment; two that were pretreated
with 30 milligrams (mg) and 100 mg, respectively, of the oral
antioxidant; and one that received the traditional
Zantac treatment. A fifth
group that was not subjected to reflux disease was used for
comparison.
The antioxidant
treatment, as opposed to the
traditional drug therapy, decreased
the severity of reflux disease and was more protective
against ulceration and inflammation of the esophagus. The
best results were seen in rats that received 100 mg of the
antioxidant.
For example, 80% of the rats that received
no treatment developed large ulcers in the lower and middle
parts of the esophagus, compared with 27% of the rats that
received 30 mg of antioxidant treatment and 20% of the rats
that received 100 mg of the antioxidant, the report indicates.
In contrast, nearly two thirds of the rats that received the
acid suppressant developed ulcers.
Rats treated with the antioxidant also
exhibited greater evidence of healing in the affected areas
of the esophagus and less cell damage than did the rats treated
with ranitidine.
The rat model is unlike human reflux
disease, particularly because "humans do extremely well
on acid suppression," one of the authors noted
Gut September
2001;49:364-371
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