Baking Soda as Treatment of Barrett’s Esophagus, Heart burn and Digestive Upset

Baking Soda to Treat Barrett Esophagus
Barrett’s oesophagus or Barrett's oesophagus is a condition in which the lower end of the oesophagus is involved. The innermost lining of the lower end of oesophagus changes from oesophagal to intestinal form. The main cause of this change is the reflux of acids from the stomach. These acids damage the lower end of the oesophagus and our body tries to combat this damage. Our body has the ability to adapt itself according to the new situation. The intestinal type of tissue lining withstands the acids better than the oesophagal type. Therefore, our body changes the innermost tissue lining of the lower end of the oesophagus into the intestinal type to minimize the damage caused by acid.
The reflux of acid content has given the name of GERD (Gastro-esophageal reflux disease). Treating the GERD at a proper time reduce the risk of getting Barrett oesophagus. The risk of getting Barrett oesophagus is not very high. So if you have any symptom of GERD don’t think that It will certainly lead to Barrett's oesophagus.
Here we are going to discuss specifically the role of baking soda in the treatment of Barrett's oesophagus. Baking soda (scientifically called sodium bicarbonate) is strongly basic in nature. The base has the ability to neutralize the acid. It means that Baking soda can nullify the effect of acid. But baking soda can only give the temporary symptomatic relief. It can’t treat the cause of the gastro-oesophagal reflux. The insufficiency or damage to lower oesophagal sphincter is one of the causes of Barrett's oesophagus that can’t be treated by baking soda alone and it needs surgical correction also. Similarly, there are other causes also. Conclusively, Baking soda neutralizes the stomach acid and decreases their ability to damage the lower end of the oesophagus or stimulate the change of normal inner lining of the lower end of the oesophagus to intestinal type.
Long-term use of baking soda has a number of shortcomings or drawbacks. It provides quick temporary relief but its long-term use may aggravate the gastro-oesophagal reflux. It causes gaseous distension of stomach that may promote the reflux and increase the chances of getting Barrett oesophagus instead of decreasing them. Moreover, baking soda also contains sodium and taking it on regular basis increase the level of sodium in the body which may lead to hypertensive, heart and kidney disorders. Hence, long-term use of baking soda and relying solely on it to treat heartburn should be strongly discouraged and the opinion of a certified physician should be taken in such matters.