There is a constant race in the world today. You either have to be in it or watch the world leave you behind. As such, most of us almost always choose to be in this race and as a consequence put our health and well-being on the line. We choose to take the fast track to every single thing so that we can spend more time with our work lives. And in that process, we stop taking care of ourselves in the way that we should. We stop eating at the right time. We stop eating the right kind of food and consume anything that can fill our stomach for the next few hours and all of these actions harm our health and lead to conditions such as acid reflux, indigestion etc. which would disturb our lives much more than the scenario where we would be taking the time out to inculcate the required good habits.

Acid reflux is the perfect example of one such condition that people might find difficult to handle. Some symptoms of this condition are heartburn – which is a burning sensation of sorts felt in the chest and may be higher during the night. Difficulty in swallowing, the feeling like a lump is present in your throat, regurgitation of food or some kind of sour liquid etc.

What causes GERD?

Acid reflux, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) happens when the stomach acid constantly keeps moving back into the tube that runs in between the mouth and the stomach. Because of this backwash of the acid, the lining which covers the esophagus can get irritated. Acid reflux is actually quite commonly observed. GERD, in particular, is acid reflux which occurs with the frequency of two times a week. If seen in terms of the intensity, GERD can also be considered to be moderate to severe acid reflux which occurs at least once a week.

There is something called the lower esophageal sphincter which is a muscle around the bottom of your esophagus. This muscle relaxes in order to help the food you consume to move into your stomach when you swallow your food. Once the food has passed down, the sphincter closes again. The major cause of GERD is the abnormal relaxation or weakening of this sphincter which allows the stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus. This leads to irritation of the lining and further damage can lead to inflammation.

Risk factors for GERD

The conditions which can act as risk factors and increase the chance of coming face to face with GERD would be obesity, pregnancy, diseases such as scleroderma which can be classified under connective tissue disorders, delayed emptying of the stomach, bulging of the upper part of the stomach right up into the diaphragm. There are also certain factors which can aggravate the situation of GERD or acid reflux. These include late-night meals, smoking, trigger foods such as fatty food, consuming beverages such as coffee or alcohol, medications like aspirin etc.