Acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a fairly common affliction. It is characterized by bouts of intense heartburn or a burning sensation in the back of the throat. A lot of the time, the pain is experienced during sleep periods. This is not the case all the time, but it is common to have attacks at night.
As stated earlier, heartburn is symptomatic of GERD. If a person is having attacks of heartburn more than three times a week, acid reflux disease is a good probability for that person. Prompt attention is required to avoid serious damage to the lining of the esophagus or the formation of ulcers both in the stomach and in the esophagus.
There are many drugs that can be used to treat acid reflux disease. You have probably heard of Zantac 75, Prilosec OTC or Nexium. These are available at local drug stores and can help the symptoms, yet do nothing for the condition itself. They hold a small dosage that is allowable over the counter without a prescription. In order to treat the entire condition, however, a physician's care is recommended. Acid reflux disease is also a known cause of esophageal cancer and other related maladies. This is why you should seek a physician immediately.
Acid reflux can be treated in several ways including watching the diet, elevation during sleep and pharmaceutical therapy. There is no tie between spicy foods and GERD, but it doesn't help. More important is the amounts of food that are eaten. When you overeat, the stomach has to produce more acid than your stomach can get rid of.
Foods that are hard to digest also can bring on attacks of GERD. Foods like peanuts, milk or dairy products and such force the stomach to, again, produce more acid than is necessary. The excess finds it's way into the esophagus and results in a painful heartburn sensation. The attacks feel like heartburn but much more intense and can last for hours at a time.
To avoid attacks during sleep periods, it is common to elevate the head slightly at bedtime. This keeps the throat area higher and gravity is employed to keep the acid in the stomach. What happens during sleep is that the valve between the stomach and the esophagus relaxes (or possibly is weak) and allows stomach contents to enter the esophagus and up to the throat. This is when you feel the heartburn sensation mentioned earlier.
The causes of GERD are still under research, but there are two basic situations in the disease. Either the stomach simply produces too much acid or the stomach cannot process a normal amount of acid. Either way, the effect is the same.
So if you are experiencing heartburn more than three times a week or your heartburn is excessively painful, consult a physician immediately. If you do have GERD, you are running the risk of other more serious conditions like stomach cancer, esophageal cancer and ulcers all along the digestive tract. GERD has been tied to these diseases and this is a real danger.
When you have acid reflux, the gastric juices that contain all the acid will return back to the esophagus from your stomach. Acid reflux is a serious condition that needs to be checked and treated at an early stage. Though this condition may not be life threatening at first, but the inconveniences that this bring is more than enough to affect the way of life of the person who is suffering it.
In fact the person who suffers acid reflux cannot perform much of his day to day activities since most of the symptoms of this condition can be painful at times. This condition also is the cause of heart burn so it is important that this should be guarded and shouldn't be left un-attended for a long time. If one person experiences this condition, it is suggested that this condition should be addressed at the onset so that the condition should not extend for long.
Everyone may experience this condition at one point of their life and there are some people that may experience this at a regular basis. For that person who experiences this condition on a regular basis, then that person may have the gastroesophegal reflux disease.
There are many things that allow for this condition to develop in one person. When a person is obese or a woman is pregnant then there is a chance that these persons may experience this condition. Their conditions like pregnancy and obesity effectively increase the pressure within the abdomen and in the process pushing the food that was digested back to the esophagus.
It should be remembered as well that when a person has a stomach full of food and acid, then the chances of having acid reflux will be quite high as well. Aside from these things, there are a number of other factors that increases the risk of this condition on a person. Some of these factors include the consumption of fatty foods and the consumption of cigarettes, caffeine and alcohol.
When a person has this then this person will experience a number of discomforts and pains. Some of the more popular signs of this condition include heartburn, chest pain and the regurgitation. This condition happens when the food that a person has just consumed goes back to the mouth once again. Difficulty in swallowing and hoarseness, dental erosion and asthma are other signs in one person that will suggest that acid reflux is the problem.
Treatment For Acid Reflux If these things are observed, then acid reflux should be addressed and treated. There are many medications that are used in order to address this condition. Examples of these include the acid suppressants and the proton pump inhibitors.
Examples of acid suppressants are the histamine-2 receptor blockers. Prokinetic agents are also used and these are used to promote the emptying of the stomach so that stomach of one person will not become full. Over the counter antacids are also used and these are used to treat mild acid reflux. But the use of antacids isn't recommended to contain recurring heart burns.
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