A Typical Case History

J.B., a company administrative secretary, developed peptic ulcer disease when she was thirty-three(33) years old. The usual medications - antacids that neutralize the acid in the stomach - could not give relief. Stronger prescription medications (which are actually very strong histamine-blocking agents that temporarily stop acid production in the stomach) would at best partially relieve her symptoms of severe dyspeptic pain.

On and off, the disease recurred several times a year for a number of years. On a number of occasions, she had to seek her doctor's advice for her stress and ulcer pains on a weekly basis.

A few years ago, during one of these periods of persistent stomach pains that seemed reluctant to yield to the effect of very strong medications, her doctor -- with much caution -- told her that severe peptic ulcer pain seemed to have been satisfactorily relieved with ordinary tap water. J.B. was encouraged to increase her water intake anytime she developed stomach pain to see if this could be effective. the treatment worked.

For a numbers of years now, J.B. has followed this advice. With the slightest indication of her pain coming back, an increase in her daily intake of water makes it disappear. As a result of a program of drinking eight98) glasses of water a day, J.B. no longer suffers from ulcer pains. She has no more need for any medication other than the water she now drinks regularly to prevent the pains from recurring.

The explanation for the occurrence of heartburn as a signal of water deficiency is very simple. When we drink water, it is immediately passed into the intestine and absorbed. it seems that, within a half hour(or 30 minutes), the water is once again secreted into the stomach from the base of the dents in the mucosa. One of the major events that take place is a backwash of the mucus layer that expands and stores naturally secreted bicarbonate that neutralizes the acid on its surface.

For the cells under it, the mucus layer lining the stomach is a preventive insulation against the acid, which is poured on food/mixed with food for the process of digestion. This backwash of the mucus by the water we drink is an ESSENTIAL part of the maintenance of the protective system of your stomach wall. Water flowing thorough the mucus layer brings about the expansion and thickening of this protective layer in your stomach. Mucus is 98% water and 2% scaffolding that holds the water in place. the water in turn dissolves the bicarbonate that acts as the buffer for the acid that will try to pass through the mucus. This is a constantly active process.

Dehydration alters the consistency of the mucus barrier, rendering it ineffective as a buffer against the acid in your stomach. It allows the acid to go through and reach the cells below, thus causing pain - "heartburn." Heartburn is named such because the pain region is around the heart we describe it to people, but it is not the heart is "burning", it is the stomach is dehydrating. So just rehydrate your body faithfully, daily, will solve the pain.

Can someone pass the water, please?

(I will be back. Go for water break)
P.S. A hydrated mucus barrier is uniform in consistency and prevents acid penetration. That is why your stomach in protected from its own acid. Dehydrated mucus becomes stringy and allows acid penetration.