A Silent Killer: Hiatal Hernia
By Dr. Rowland Turner, Jr., DC

A HIATAL HERNIA occurs when the stomach rises above the diaphragm causing the volume of blood pumped from the ventricles to decrease as the stomach mass increases. According to medical statistics, seventy-five percent of Americans have this condition and are walking around with a time bomb ticking inside them. A true silent killer in today's society, the Hiatal Hernia creates a multifaceted domino effect in the body.

Because blood volume decreases, an adrenal reaction called sympathetic dominance causes the adrenals to compensate for the reduced circulation throughout the body. This can lead to adrenal exhaustion, which then pulls on the thyroid to help run the ailing heart. When the adrenals begin to fail, they influence the strength of the psoas muscles, which attach on both sides of the spine and across the pelvis attaching to the inside of the top of the thigh. When this imbalance occurs, the lumbar spine is pulled into rotation displacement, causing lower back pain, stiffness, and difficulty in raising from the sitting position. As this condition persists, further distortions in the spine take place until the sacrum is forced to slip inferior due to the increased pressure of the psoas muscle. Arthritic conditions develop because of pressure on the joints of the skeletal system. The more distorted the skeletal system becomes, the more energy the body must exert to stay erect, thus causing further muscle fatigue.

Another significant structural change is a tightness in the shoulders, particularly the levator scapula muscles located on the inside top of the scapula running to the top five cervical vertebrae. The levator scapula muscle causes the shoulder joint to put increased stress on the rotator cuff muscles. This can result in injury or weakness to the muscles, with an inability to raise the arms above the head without pain.

Internally, the Hiatal Hernia causes congestion to occur in the circulatory system with a decrease in blood flow back to the heart. Ankles swell as the weakened heart is unable to pump blood up the legs. Overall blood pressure rises because heart ventricles have been reduced in size, and the blood volume stays the same, thus increasing the blood pressure.

Why does a Hiatal Hernia occur? The first negative impact is toxins which start to form in the intestinal system due to a poor diet – a diet full of processed foods, carbohydrates, food coloring, preservatives, coffee, English teas, and carbonated soft drinks. When this toxicity reaches a critical level, the liver begins to leak toxins into the arterial blood. The toxic blood level rises to a point when the esophageal muscles contract from the increased toxicity in the blood. This esophageal contraction pulls the stomach up into the heart chamber, starting the domino effect of the Hiatal Hernia.

Fortunately, there is hope for the seventy-five percent of the population that have symptoms of a Hiatal Hernia. The first step is to change your diet. Second, seek out a physician who knows how to treat this condition. Although it is correctable, a life style change is in order. After all, if you continue to do what you have always done, you will always have what you have now!!

Rowland Turner, Jr., DC is “Changing the World One Spine at a Time” at Turner Life Chiropractic Clinic in Winston-Salem , NC . For appointments call 336-659-0503. Dr. Turner is a graduate of Life Chiropractic College and has been in practice since 1982.