What is Hiatal Hernia?

There are 3 types of hiatal hernia;

• Sliding Hiatal Hernia - part of the stomach moves through the diaphragm so that it is positioned outside of the abdomen and in the chest. The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) often moves up above its normal location in the opening of the diaphragm.

• Para-esophageal Hernia - the stomach bulges up through the opening in the diaphragm (hiatus) alongside the esophagus. The LES remains in its normal location inside the opening of the diaphragm. This type of hernia most commonly occurs when there is a large opening in the diaphragm next to the esophagus. The stomach and rarely other abdominal organs (such as the intestine, spleen, and colon) may also bulge into the chest in a paraesophageal hernia.

• Mixed Hiatal Hernia - the LES is above the diaphragm similar to the sliding hiatal hernia, and the stomach is alongside the esophagus similar to the paraesophageal hiatal hernia.

What causes Hiatal Hernia?

There are many contributing factors to hiatal hernia.

Some include;

• Injury
• Trauma
• Obesity
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Age

In some people, a congenital shortening of the GI tract may be a causative variable. Those individuals would have a predisposition to hiatal hernia, which could develop later in life as the result of some sort of stress, such as pregnancy or extreme physical exertion.

What are the signs and symptoms of Hiatal Hernia?

A sliding hiatal hernia may cause only mild, if any, symptoms. The most common symptom is heartburn.  

The para-esophageal hiatal hernia may produce no symptoms because the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) is not displaced. However, should the stomach get pulled higher into the chest and become pinched by the diaphragm, an emergency situation called “strangulation” may result requiring immediate surgery. 

Both the sliding and the paraesophageal hiatal hernias may, on rare occasion bleed from their lining.

How common is Hiatal Hernia?

According to the Canadian Association of Gastoenterology, small hiatal hernias are very common and more than half the people over age sixty have one.

(http://www.cag-acg.org/patinfo/hiatal_hernia.htm 05/02/06)

What health problems are caused by Hiatal Hernia?

Besides having heartburn, small amounts of blood loss may cause anemia. Massive blood loss, although not common, can be life threatening.

What can be done to help with Hiatal Hernia?

While only surgery can fix a hiatal hernai, the following products can help alleviate some of the symtoms of hiatal hernia.

• HeartburnSTOP - for acute heartburn symptoms.

• IntestiNEW - to soothe and heal the digestive tract.

• FishSMART - to help reduce inflammation.