A missing link to chronic illness, allergies and longevity? Vagus Nerve Imbalance/Hiatal Hernia Syndrome

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  August-Sept, 2003  by Steve Rochlitz

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Diet constraints cannot be overemphasized. Eating only small meals is key. Getting complete food allergy testing, (via Kinesiology is recommended here), and possibly rotating foods to avoid new food allergies, can be crucial. Avoiding greasy and spicy foods is also essential. I have found that roughage may have disastrous consequences for the Hiatal Hernia Syndrome sufferer. The cellulose fiber may immediately push the stomach back up, or worsen the condition itself. Likewise for nuts and seeds. So only soft foods, cooked foods or juices should be allowed at first. A pure juice diet may have healing potential at least, in part, because the liquid diet will allow the VNI/HHS to heal. Likewise I have surmised that taking supplements may cause or exacerbate the Hiatal Hernia Syndrome. The hard tablets and capsules (until they dissolve), may also push the stomach right back up through the diaphragm. I have had clients say, "all supplements make me sick." Muscle testing on clients often reveals most are allergic to most of the supplements they take everyday; but never "all." So perhaps the client is just reporting how the supplements push the stomach back up resulting in the myriad of symptoms of the VNI/HHS. Some people take dozens of supplements--because they aren't well and don't know the cause--often at the same time. Pulling capsules apart, and putting the contents in a liquid, may be absolutely necessary, or else avoid supplements until healing has occurred. Previously, as a general wellness modality, I recommended lengthy fasting. In theory, this might help heal this condition. However, the work by E. Denis Wilson, MD on thyroid malfunction, (Wilson's Syndrome), indicates that fasting can disorder the thyroid system, as he calls it. Since his work shows that this may not show up on any blood tests--because 80% of T4 to T3 conversion occurs inside cells--and the thyroid and adrenals are already stressed from the VNI/HHS, I cannot recommend lengthy fasting.

Avoiding caffeine and any other neurotoxins and/or excitotoxins such as MSG, (monosodium glutamate), or aspartame is also crucial. Perhaps the most nerve-damaging substance is mercury. Perhaps too, the vagus nerve, due to its high metabolic rate, preferentially absorbs mercury or other toxins, more than other nerve tissue. And this combination of VNI/HHS and mercury can be devastating. Soda with the extra gas it contains should be avoided. Trapped gas makes this syndrome much worse. Indeed the sufferer may have episodes of feeling as if dying, only to be relieved by belching or perhaps the gas passes down the other way unnoticeably. Likewise, when the practitioner pulls the stomach down, much gurgling is often audible. One hundred years ago, medical schools taught Roemheld's, (or Gastro-Cardiac) Syndrome which described significant cardiac complaints arising from stomach problems. Unfortunately, this now seems to have disappeared from all but the homeopathic medical literature.

The gastroenterolgist will do an endoscopic exam. The patient is put to sleep and a tube is inserted down the esophagus. Some gastroenterologists use a numbing, throat spray at the outset. Others have found this is often allergenic and unnecessary. The video camera that the endoscopic tube contains reveals the status of esophageal, gastric and duodenal tissues. Ulcerations, inflammations, and growths are looked for. The tube/device is also used to take biopsies. These tissues are then tested for cancer or pre-cancerous conditions and to look for bacteria, especially the ulcer-causing Helicobactor pylori. This examination also looks for the potentially, dangerous pre-cancerous, esophageal condition called Barrett's Esophagus, which can occur after long-term GERD.