She went through a battery of tests before learning that her body's immune system was rejecting her husband's genetic material. She decided to try immunotherapy. Dr. Cowchock says immunotherapy works by taking a small amount of blood from the father of the unborn child, and injecting the white cells into the mother. Hopefully, that'll teach her body not to attack the couples' fetus. The treatment is typically done before a new pregnancy begins, and in women who've gone through 3 consecutive miscarriages.
Doctors blame severe, chronic heartburn, or acid reflux for more than half the cases.
But that could mean worsening damage to the esophageal lining is being missed. Parkman says severe heartburn that keeps coming back should be evaluated through an endoscopic tube. That's what Eileen Willis had done after acid-blocking drugs couldn't control her reflux and indigestion. In some cases, surgery is recommended to stop the reflux between the stomach and esophagus. Drug czar Barry McCaffrey asked for the review from the Institute of Medicine, which found chemicals in marijuana called cannabinoids helped people who couldn't get relief from other drugs.