Professor Du Xiaoquan’s Experience in Treating Acid Reflux

Abstract

Acid regurgitation is a common symptom in digestive system diseases which is mainly caused by emotions, diet, and other factors. It is related to gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic gastritis, and other diseases in Western medicine. According to modern medical research, acid reflux is related to Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, weak effect of anti-reflux barrier, decreased clearance of esophageal acid, dysfunction of esophageal mucosal barrier, strong stimulation of reflux on esophageal mucosal wall, and other factors ^[1]. It can be divided into four types which are heat, cold, food stagnation, and yin deficiency. It is often accompanied by vomiting, heartburn, stomachache, and other symptoms. Clinically, it is a mixture of cold and heat, as well as excess and deficiency. Professor Du’s self-made method of “first soothing, second reducing, and third harmonizing” (soothing liver and stomach, relieving stomach qi, and neutralizing stomach acid) is used to treat both, symptoms and the root causes. The commonly used prescriptions are left-running metal pill, cuttlefish bone and fritillaria powder, calcined ark shell, oyster shell, etc.