How is Acid Reflux detected? 

The most common way of detecting Acid Reflux is by looking at its symptoms. Heartburn is the most characteristic complaint of Acid Reflux. Especially when it comes after a meal or gets worse after the patient lies down for some time. In these cases the doctor often finds that the patient responds well to medicines that suppress the formation of acid. A more detailed examination of Acid Reflux is done with the help of a technique called Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Under this technique a surgeon passes a small light tube through the mouth into the patient's esophagus, stomach and duodenum. An endoscopy is a good procedure for seeing if there are any inflamed or scarred tissues in the gastro intestinal tract, which can indicate Acid Reflux. If during the endoscopy the doctor suspects that the patient has developed Barrett's Esophagus, then he may send some samples of tissue for a bioposy to rule out cancer. 

Another sure way of detecting Acid Reflux is to test the level of acid in the patient's esophagus. Acid Reflux is a disease caused by the presence of gastric acid in the food pipe. As mentioned earlier, all of us have some gastric acid flowing into our esophagus after we have eaten. But it has been noticed that people who have developed Acid Reflux either have more acid than others in their food pipe as well as the acid is present in the esophagus for a much longer time. 

Doctors can now test how long the acid has been present in the food pipe through a simple procedure that measures the PH (the value of acidity) level of the esophagus over a 24-hour period. A small tube is passed through the nose into the food pipe, which contains a sensor and a recorder that can measure how many times there was reflux in the food pipe. Ph testing is a good way to monitor if the medication for Acid Reflux is effective in suppressing the acid or not. It can also clearly establish if the symptoms of heartburn are caused by acid reflux or something else. The catheter method can also be used to determine how well the esophageal muscles are working. A small sensor attached to the tube can record the change in pressure when the muscles contract and expand thereby giving a good indication of whether the LES muscles are working efficiently or nor. 

There has been much recent advancement in the diagnosis and monitoring of Acid Reflux. One such recent development is the use of a wireless capsule, which transmits signals from inside the esophagus to a recording machine outside the body. The capsule (which is ingested into the body through the nose or the mouth) can measure the number of times acid regurgitated into the food pipe from the stomach for two days. After three or four days the capsule gets flushed out of the body in the stool. Although less painful than the Catheter method of Ph testing, the capsule technology is still new and quite expensive. But it opens up exciting new opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of this very painful disease. 

As discussed earlier, a slow emptying of the stomach can also trigger off episodes of Acid Reflux. Doctors can now measure how much time it takes for an individual's stomach to empty. For this test to work, the patient consumes a meal laced with a radioactive substance. A sensor that can detect the presence of this substance is then placed on the patient's stomach and it records the time in which the food passed through the stomach into the intestine. If the tests show that the individual takes a long time to empty his stomach, doctors can prescribe medicines that would help him in faster digestion.