Acid Reflux Cause: WHY You Have Acid Reflux?

by Jeff Martin

Acid reflux causes are complicated and multiple. The disease of acid reflux, known also as GERD – gastro-esophageal reflux disease, comes about because of the coincidence of several medical and lifestyle factors. Physiological conditions that provoke reflux include LES (lower esophageal sphincter) hypotonia (the progressive weakening of the LES), together with the backwards flow of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus and the sensitivity to the reflux content of the mucus of the esophagus.

A mechanism exists at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach that acts like a valve. This is the LES (lower esophageal sphincter). When you swallow food it travels down your throat where movements of the esophagus muscles then move it towards the stomach. Closing the LES stops stomach acid from returning or refluxing into the esophagus.

For healthy people, the LES will only open when food travels from the esophagus into the stomach. The valve shuts again when the food inside the stomach, to prevent stomach acid and content coming back up. LES difficulty is the first factor that sets off the disease of acid reflux. The pain and the burning sensation called heartburn is caused when a weakened LES no longer succeeds in closing as it should, opening the way for acid to move back up your throat.

There are several conditions or factors preventing the LES from properly shutting. They include genetic weakness, being overweight and eating too much fatty foods. As well as those factors, the aging process undergone by humans tends to make all muscles sag, not just the LES.

As already seen, an LES that is already weakened has a direct physiological link to the onset of acid reflux disease. The next factor or set of factors resulting in acid reflux disease are due to behavior and lifestyle. Different nutrition, drugs and interactions of the nervous system can make the LES muscle lose its force and in turn create acid reflux. Orange juice, lemons and lemonade, grapefruit juice, tomatoes and their juice, fried potatoes, sour cream, tea and coffee are nutritional elements that may increase the risk of heartburn.

There are several possibilities for dealing with symptomatic acid reflux. Nevertheless, the classic often used approaches, based on prescription and over the counter medication, only deal with the symptoms of chronic acid reflux. They may not be sufficiently effective to give long-term prevention of acid reflux. These classic approaches do not heal or protect the esophagus correctly and using these over the counter and prescription drugs, including antacid, over a long duration can cause multiple side effects ranging running the gamut from uncomfortable to dangerous.

Other than prescription medication, there is a large choice of alternative treatments including homeopathy, herbal remedies and all encompassing all natural holistic therapies that address your acid reflux problem while also resolving the internal causes of acid reflux and healing them rather than targeting only related symptoms that are external.

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