Acid Reflux And Sleep Apnea Seem To Go Hand In Hand
Acid reflux disease, commonly referred to as GERD Gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a condition in which the liquid contents in the stomach refluxes into the esophagus. This liquid can harm the lining of your esophagus. Although visible signs of inflammation occur in a minority of patients. The regurgitated liquid mostly contains acid and pepsin that are produced by the stomach. Pepsin is an enzyme that starts the digestion of proteins in the stomach. The refluxed liquid may also contain bile that has gone-up into the stomach from the duodenum. Acid reflux disease affects more than 20% of Americans. At least 80% of the 60 million Americans who have been diagnosed with acid reflux disease recount worse symptoms at night, and three in four say they routinely wake up from sleep because of it.
This relationship between sleep apnea and acid reflux makes good sense because when you’re awake, gravity helps keep acids needed to digest food down where they belong, in the stomach. But when you’re lying down, these acids can wash back into the esophagus, irritating the lining and significantly growing the risk of esophageal cancer.
A number of researchers think that sleep apnea is caused by airway pressure changes that can cause acid reflux to occur, still other researchers believe that the reflux of acids may be caused by spasms of the vocal cords that can then lead to sleep apnea.
Common Causes Of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a widespread disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.
These Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Normally, normal breathing then starts again, from time to time with a loud snort or choking sound.
Sleep apnea usually is a persistent condition that interrupts your sleep 3 or more nights of the week.
This disturbance causes poor sleep quality that makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness.
What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
When we are awake, your throat muscles help keep your throat stiff and open so air can flow into your lungs easily. When you sleep, these muscles are more relaxed. Usually, the relaxed throat muscles don’t stop the airway from staying open to let air into the lungs.
Acid reflux is more often than not a frequent condition. After it begins, it is usually a life-long condition If you have injury to the lining of the esophagus this also is a chronic order. There are a lot of different acid reflux treatments you can consider using. One popular option is Nexium .
