Acid
Reflux Cause: Many Situations May Aggravate Acid Reflux
Whether you blame your acid reflux
on food, genetics, or stress, the truth is, there
appears to be no one acid reflux cause for the millions
of Americans who have acid reflux symptoms. Some patients
can make lifestyle changes to relieve acid reflux
pain completely, while others use every acid reflux
medication available and still do not find anything
that works for them.
In
addition to foods to avoid with acid reflux, the medical
community has found many other possible acid reflux
causes. Conditions which may cause or worsen acid
reflux include:
Valve
malfunction: the lower esophageal sphincter
(the muscle tissue and valve separating the esophagus
from the stomach) weakens and loses tone, so that
the barrier between the esophagus and the stomach
fails to keep stomach acid from seeping into the esophagus.
Obesity
and tight-fitting clothes: extra weight puts
pressure on your abdomen, forcing stomach acids to
back up into your esophagus
Tobacco:
may weaken the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a
valve or band of muscle tissue that closes the esophagus
off from the stomach
Hiatal
hernia: a very common yet rarely serious
condition, the hiatal hernia occurs when part of your
stomach protrudes into your lower chest
Asthma:
for reasons not completely understood, at least half
of those who suffer from asthma also have acid reflux
disease, but it’s not known if asthma is an
acid reflux cause
Diabetes:
can cause your stomach to empty too slowly, meaning
stomach contents can regurgitate into your esophagus
Blockage
between the stomach and the small intestine:
causing food to build up in the stomach and back up
into the esophagus
Abnormalities
in the stomach: causing a delay in stomach
emptying or rare disorders causing extremely high
amounts of acid in the stomach
If
you have improved your diet and made other changes
to your lifestyle yet still have not discovered your
acid reflux cause, it can be a frustrating and painful
experience. In this case, it’s possible that
your acid reflux cause is actually a sign of a different
ailment—perhaps even a serious illness—that
requires other treatment.
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