Alternative Health Blog

As medical director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Dr. Ben Danielson offers a credo for kids and parents alike: Listen to the body.

“And don’t put earmuffs on the stomach,” added Danielson in between patients last week.

Danielson explained the stomach and digestive tract lining or gut has a “mind to interpret how food can be used by the body.” Studies indeed show that neural cells in the digestive lining are remarkably similar to neural cells in the brain. Some researchers even refer to the gut as “second brain.”

Seems there is something to the concept of following your gut instinct.

I will admit to a gut instinct about the recent Food and Drug Administration announcement that the pharmaceutical drug Nexium—you might know it from TV ads as the “purple pill”—has been approved for use among children one to 11 years old. Nexium was approved a few years ago for kids 12 and up who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

The news makes me wince. Whether adult or child, taking any drug for GERD is not intended to be an early treatment. But let’s face it: Some doctors and patients (and now, potentially, parents) are quick to seek out a pill that will “solve” the digestive problem.

GERD is caused by weakening of a muscle or sphincter in the lower

esophagus. The sphincter typically contracts to prevent stomach content (with strong acids) from backing up into the esophagus. Some foods and medications can act to inadvertently relax the sphincter.

Nexium is designed to heal the esophagus. Opponents of the approval quickly point to reported side effects such as diarrhea, dizziness, headaches, nausea and vomiting.  It should be noted the new FDA approval is for short-term use of time-delayed capsules or liquid at about half the teenage dose.

 “While Danielson endorses a “step-wise approach” that shelves Nexium until all other options are exhausted, he does recommend parents taking a child to see the doctor if digestive problems or symptoms are persistent.  Severe abdominal discomfort, lower chest pain, heartburn, hoarseness, unexplained vomiting, anemia, respiratory symptoms and the sensation of food backing up into the mouth or getting stuck in the throat all formidable reasons for a physician’s visit.

“Reflux has an emotional and stress element to it,” said Danielson. “Stress can trigger reflux in a child just as much as an adult.

 “Like any medical condition in children, it always makes sense to look for the simplest, most natural and feasible treatment,” said Danielson. “Before medications or chemicals or even radical changes in lifestyle, you want to look the simplest adjustments in diet, sleep and exercise.”