Acid Reflux Disease and Its Impacts on Our Body
Gastroesophageal reflux disease which is also called as GERD is one of the common problems. In common terms, this disease is also called as acid reflux disease or heart burn. In simple words, during this problem the gastric or stomach contents ascends back in to the food pipe or esophagus and cause pain and discomfort for the patient. It is should be noted that the stomach contents, that ascend back in the esophagus may contain secretions of the gastrointestinal tract like bile, acids, liquids and semisolid food particles. There are a lot of reasons of acid reflux disease that should be prevented in order to avoid worrisome symptoms of this problem.
What are the Common Reasons of Acid Reflux Disease?
One of the major causes of heartburn disease is the food itself. For instance, there are some food substances which cannot be tolerated by an individual. There are several people who experience heartburn disease due to overeating, poor posturing during or after taking the meals. Along with that, there are some physical conditions which aggravate the heart burning and hence produce the basis of heartburn disease. Although these causes may be seen in any individual, and there is a specific group of individuals, in which this problem is seen more frequently.
The majority of the food items which are responsible for heartburn disease are spicy and fatty in nature. Therefore; in order to avoid the symptoms of heartburn disease or heart burning, a person should take these food items always in moderation. As it is already mentioned that another common cause of GERD disease is overeating, since in this condition, the stomach is overly filled and unable to contain food properly. Hence the proper emptying of stomach is delayed significantly. If a person moves suddenly, the stomach contents start regurgitating and they intend to ascend back in the esophagus. Similarly, if somebody lies down or bends after taking a heavy meal, the occurrence of GERD disease should not be surprising for him.
There are some mechanical reasons of GERD disease as well. A person may experience this condition if his or her lower sphincter of esophagus or food pipe is weak and does not function properly. This is a ring which opens when food arrives in the stomach and closes once the food reached inside the stomach to prevent regurgitation. The second important organic cause of GERD disease is the hiatus hernia. This is the condition, in which the lower sphincter of esophagus is situated at some wrong place, usually one to two inches above to its actual place.
Acid reflux disease may also occur, if the esophagus does not contract in the normal fashion. When esophagus contracts rhythmically, it pushes down the food particles from the esophagus to the stomach. If the contractions are not good, food particles do not move down to the stomach properly. There are some other modifiable causes of this condition as well. For instance, smoking is one of the leading causes of acid reflux disease. Smoking is responsible for malfunctioning of lower sphincter of esophagus and hence it can generate acid reflux disease easily.
