Acid Reflux : What causes acid reflux disease, its symptoms and treatments

Acid reflux is a common term for esophagus gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, the reflux of abnormal condition of the lining that causes damages. The disease can affect both adults and children or babies, but gives high vulnerability to pregnant women, smokers and people who doze off right after eating, after resting.

The symptoms of acid reflux are: acidity, which is characterized by chest pain, inflammation of the lining and difficulty in swallowing, cough and hoarseness. These symptoms are felt by the person infected after eating a fatty meal or drinking liquor, when bending, and worse when constantly smoking.

Acid reflux is mainly caused by the malfunction of the esophageal sphincter. In other cases it may also be caused by the abnormal production of gastric acid. If there is insufficient supply of stomach acid, the valve in the stomach responsible for the agitation of the food that the bowel does not open. This irritates the esophagus and leads to inflammation.

Some of the factors that can trigger acid reflux are hiatus hernia, Zollinger-elison hypercalcemia syndrome, scleroderma and systemic sclerosis.

According to the paradoxical belief, drinking alcohol, tea and coffee can lead to gastro esophageal reflux. However, recent studies show that although people already infected by this disease may be aggravated by alcohol, tea and coffee, these elements do not cause disease. Compared with smoking that amplifies the risk of contracting the disease, alcohol, tea and coffee had the least impact. But this does not mean that people infected GERD are free to take the drinks mentioned above. Doctors still suggest avoiding alcohol consumption in order to avoid further aggravation.

Smoking is the main culprit that causes acid reflux disease. Regular smokers for twenty years, 70% are susceptible to acid reflux disease compared with nonsmokers. And the symptoms of those who developed GERD are worsened by the day due to consumption of snuff.

The climax of the research is that large amounts of salts are found to be equivalent to regular snuff in terms of risk of developing GERD. This is not a common knowledge that table salt can cause acid reflux disease, but researchers found in their studies that people who are constantly using the extra salt from 70% in the risk of gastro esophageal reflux disease. Gastroenterologists of New York University Medical Center demonstrated that fact.

Gastro esophageal reflux disease can be diagnosed even by the infected person himself through the onset of symptoms. At the onset of these symptoms are advised to undergo the tests conducted by medical experts to clear doubts that the disease or to carry out possible treatments. To deal with this type of disorder, there are varieties of ways. It can be cured by prescription drugs, such as antacids, naturally, such as change of power supply system, raising the head when lying down, or at best is surgery. And, of course, it will be better to stop or avoid smoking and drinking alcohol, especially to people who are vulnerable to acid reflux disease.

Gastro esophageal reflux disease causes a great deal of discomfort that can ruin even your lifestyle. To avoid its negative effects, precautionary measures should be considered. The cliché quote that prevention is better than cure always applies.