What Is Acid Reflux Disease? Who Has It?
If you have acid reflux, you are definitely not alone. More than 15 million Americans suffer from heartburn daily (a major symptom of acid reflux), with an additional 45 million having heartburn at least once a month.
What's going on inside my body with acid reflux?
When you have acid reflux disease, acid from the stomach flows backward up into the esophagus. So the word "acid" comes from the stomach acid, and the word "reflux" comes from the "backward flow" (or refluxing) of this stomach acid into the lower esophagus. This little backsplash of stomach acid can injure the lining of your esophagus and wreak havoc in your life. It can disturb sleep, make you very uncomfortable after meals, cause a great deal of pain and discomfort, and, when untreated, can lead to serious complications. When the body is functioning normally, this backsplash of stomach acid should never even reach as far up as the esophagus.
You see, our bodies have a muscular valve called the lower esophageal sphincter connecting the lower end of the esophagus with the upper end of the stomach. Food is only supposed to flow downward from the esophagus into the stomach where the food proceeds to get digested. But in acid reflux disease, this valve relaxes too frequently and allows some stomach acid to flow backward up into the esophagus.
What's going on inside my body with acid reflux?
When you have acid reflux disease, acid from the stomach flows backward up into the esophagus. So the word "acid" comes from the stomach acid, and the word "reflux" comes from the "backward flow" (or refluxing) of this stomach acid into the lower esophagus. This little backsplash of stomach acid can injure the lining of your esophagus and wreak havoc in your life. It can disturb sleep, make you very uncomfortable after meals, cause a great deal of pain and discomfort, and, when untreated, can lead to serious complications. When the body is functioning normally, this backsplash of stomach acid should never even reach as far up as the esophagus.
You see, our bodies have a muscular valve called the lower esophageal sphincter connecting the lower end of the esophagus with the upper end of the stomach. Food is only supposed to flow downward from the esophagus into the stomach where the food proceeds to get digested. But in acid reflux disease, this valve relaxes too frequently and allows some stomach acid to flow backward up into the esophagus.
