Heartburn Causes
Heartburn conditions have been one of the major health problems of many people. This is a common condition among the individuals which are usually caused by their usual activities in their everyday life. Unfortunately, most of these people do not know that they are already doing what must not be done since they have this ailment. Their ignorance of the causes of such condition worsens it.
On the other hand, there are people who know the causes of heartburn and yet they still do it simply because it gives them comfort or pleasure. This is much worse. Playing ignorant than being ignorant means that you cannot control yourself. And mastering self-control is another big problem which you can only solve for yourself.
But what really is heartburn? So, what really are the causes of this condition?
Let us first define it. This particular sickness is a kind of condition which generally arises from stomach acid that burns in the human esophagus. Moreover, for better understanding, the name of this illness started off because the human esophagus is near our heart. Thus, our body will then interpret it as an ordeal which originates from the heart.
Normally, the esophagus is guarded by lower esophageal sphincter (LES). LES is a muscle ring located on the peak of our stomach which function is to prevent the contents of our stomach from being “refluxed”. Refluxing generally means the splashing back or return into our esophagus.
Coming now to the causes of this ailment, the most typical are the food choices of the person, a weak lower esophageal sphincter, sleeping, pressure on the stomach, and other certain medical conditions.
First is the food selection which one usually eats. Food is the most common reason of heartburn since this is normally what people desires to eat. Meals that have high percentage of fats or that are cooked fried have the tendency to be slowly digested, putting a much increased pressure on our lower esophageal sphincter. This state will result for the acid entering our esophagus. Another cause related to food is the large amount intake of foods. It will also increase the pressure our lower esophagus sphincter.
Basing from the above mentioned facts, you will notice that having a weak lower esophageal sphincter will give a person high probability of having this condition. There are certain foods that when consumed will cause for the lower esophageal sphincter to relax. This will eventually lead to heartburn.
The most common foods which are the culprits for lower esophageal weakness are
- citrus
- chocolate
- caffeine
- tomato
- alcohol
- and products which are tomato based.
When our lower esophageal sphincter is weak or is relaxed, it will be more painless for the food contents in the tummy to move into the esophagus in which the stomach acid causing the ailment is found.
Most people will have more inclination to suffer from this particular condition during their sleep or when lying down.
Specifically, if you have taken foods 3 hours or lesser than that before you sleep or lay down, the food contents inside your stomach normally press against your lower esophageal sphincter. This will then result for the lower esophageal sphincter to refluxing in the esophagus. In a matter of minutes, you will suffer this particular ailment. This is most especially true when you are fond of lying horizontally after food intake.
In this case, while sleeping, make it a habit that the upper portion of your body must be elevated or on a slant position. This will help relieve any suffering of the ailment at hand.
Another common cause is putting more strain on your abdomen than it normally needs. Pressure on the stomach will also trigger the illness. Often times, this happens when you wear clothes that are very tight around your waist and on your abdomen. Obesity has also been found by experts to be one reason of heartburn.
There are also other medical condition that when a person unfortunately possess will make them suffer this ailment. One example is the syndrome called the Zollinger-Ellison. When a person has this syndrome, they have unusually high stomach acid levels. This make the patients of this syndrome suffer from the ailment.
On the contrary, paradoxically speaking, when a person has abnormally lower stomach acid levels, they are also inclined to have this ailment. This is because the lower esophageal sphincter typically tightens as it reacts on the stomach acid.
Normally, they possess an open LES, allowing the food and other stomach’s contents to splash into their esophagus. This is because despite their acidity being in lower levels, still the contents in the tummy are sufficiently acidic to cause the illness.
