What is Acid Reflux Really All About? - Toronto NewsFIX

30Nov

Acid reflux often starts after a meal or a snack. There’s a burning sensation along with a tight feeling in the chest area. Sometimes it can be quite bad and the pain spreads to the neck, back or arm. That looks and feels suspiciously like a heart attack and can cause extreme panic in the affected person. Fortunately, in many cases, it’s just a severe case of acid reflux.

Despite the panic-inducing symptoms, the remedy can be quite simple – a deep burp will bring relief in a lot of cases. The burning sensation may be caused either by stomach acids in the esophagus or by acidic fumes trapped in the esophagus or both. That’s why burping can help – it releases these fumes from the esophagus and brings relief.

The symptoms of acid reflux are usually called heartburn. The medical term for the condition is gastroesophageal reflux disease, which is abbreviated to GERD. As much as 36% of all Americans have this condition, according to some estimates.

Here is how acid reflux occurs. The stomach contains an acidic fluid that is necessary for digestion. The upper part of the stomach contains a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter or LES. The function of the LES is to keep the acids and the food within the stomach and prevent them from coming up into the esophagus.

The LES does its job well in most cases. However, in acid reflux patients, the LES tends to relax more than it is supposed to and as a result, food and acid sweep upwards into the esophagus.

The stomach is equipped to handle this acidic medium, but that’s not true of the esophagus. So acid tends to damage the esophagus lining and produces the burning sensation referred to as heartburn.

What happens when acid reflux occurs? A process called secondary peristalsis starts off. The esophagus pushes the food-acid mixture back into the stomach. Usually at least 90% of this mixture is sent back into the stomach and what remains in the esophagus is neutralized by saliva.

Many cases of acid reflux are relatively harmless. They are transient and don’t do any lasting damage.

GERD, mentioned above, is actually a larger category to which acid reflux belongs. GERD includes any symptoms or changes in tissue structure that might result from the contents of the stomach or duodenum moving into the esophagus.

GERD can have many causes. Some include delayed gastric emptying, lowered tissue resistance, problems with LES tone at rest or lower saliva production. Sometimes, GERD is caused by a transient relaxation of the LES.

Acid reflux is often a lifestyle disease. Consuming large, heavy meals is one possible cause. This puts pressure on the LES and may push the stomach contents up into the esophagus. Excess consumption of caffeine and fatty foods can also produce acid reflux.

So can smoking. In fact, smoking is a common reason for acid reflux symptoms. Smoking causes problems because it alters the bicarbonate levels in saliva.

More reasons for acid reflux include lying down shortly after a heavy meal and wearing tight clothing among other things.

Acid reflux is usually not completely curable, but it can be managed well by adopting healthy lifestyle changes.

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