Acid Reflux Disease Symptoms: Knowing your Body
Acid reflux disease is caused by stomach acids becoming too overwhelming and abnormally reflux up into the esophagus. Most people experience this after eating certain foods or large meals, depending on the person and the food.
The human body will create gastric and stomach acid to help digest the foods we eat. Normally, after the digestion in the stomach, the food is delivered by the digestive muscles to the intestines for extra digestion. However, people who experience acid reflux disease it is because, the stomach contents move back up the esophagus which makes them feel bloated. Certain food items are known to increase the problems associated with acid reflux disease; such as: cigarettes, caffeine, alcohol and fatty or deep fried foods.
Our present knowledge about acid reflux based on medical research, tells us that this disease is common in men as it is in women. There is no sexual preference. Still, it is most commonly reported to be found in people that are of 40 years of age or older.
The symptoms of acid reflux can be either typical or atypical. However, it is interesting to know that around 70% of the people that struggle with it; do not have any of the typical symptoms early on.
Often, most of the typical symptoms and concerns are related to the esophagus. Such symptoms include the following:
1. Heartburn. This can be a painful symptom and is a condition that feels like a deep burning sensation in the esophagus. The pain often develops in the chest and may swell to the neck or throat. This is most probable to occur in relation with these activities: after a heavy meal, lifting, bending over, and lying down. Research has shown that around 75% of all people with heartburn, have found it to occur at nighttime. Often when it occurs in the evening, it is much more painful then those whose symptoms happen at other times of the day.
2. Dyspepsia. Researches show that about half of acid reflux patients have dyspepsia. Dyspepsia is upper abdominal fullness and feeling full earlier than expected with eating. It can be accompanied by bloating, belching, nausea or heartburn. It is not a rule however, that those who have dyspepsia have acid reflux.
3. Symptoms of Regurgitation. When regurgitation occurs, it is from the gastric contents backing up into the pharynx area and sometime will go into the mouth. In cases where the acids have spilled into the tracheobronchial tree, respiratory complications can be stimulated.
However, the majority of acid reflux patients do not experience the symptoms associated with regurgitation and Dyspepsia. Most commonly they experience the atypical symptoms that usually include some of the following:
1. Throat Issues. Although it does not commonly happen, acid reflux patients suffer from symptoms that occur in the throat. Hoarseness, the feeling of having a lump in the throat and dry coughs are experience by those who have acid laryngitis, a throat symptom. They can also have a condition known as dysphagia, which makes it very difficult to swallow. In some of the more severe cases, food can get trapped in the throat, which can cause distressing chest pain to occur. A few other throat symptoms include: sore throats and even hiccups.
2. Feeling Nausea and Vomiting. Patients that experience nausea for several weeks on end can have acid reflux from it. There are few instances where vomiting can occur as often as once a day.
3. Respiratory Symptoms. Coughing and wheezing are counted as respiratory symptoms. When the stomach acids back up into the tracheobronchial tree it creates bronchoconstriciton. Bronchoconstriction is the constriction of the airways in the lungs due to the tightening of the surrounding muscles, with consequent coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath
Acid reflux disease can last for several months if not given proper medical attention. Sometime people are prescribed prescription drug treatment; however it can not be used for a long amount of time. But when the symptoms tend to repetitively occur, the drug treatment may have to be reapplied.
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