Imagine you have just finished your meal and starting to relax a bit but suddenly your chest feels like it is on fire. This is a sign of acid reflux. GERD also called as acid reflux or heartburn is a digestive disease in which stomach acid or bile irritates the food pipelining.

GERD usually affects people who are over 40 years of age and can be very painful. In India along approximately 10 million people suffers from GERD every year. If we dig deep then you will find that one in ten adults has heartburn at least once a week and one in every three adults has it monthly. If you are feeling heartburn twice a week for three months regularly then you probably have GERD.

So how does acid reflux actually happens? It occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter which is the valve separating the esophagus and stomach does not close completely that allows the acid to back up into the esophagus causing heartburn.

If left untreated, GERD can be highly dangerous by allowing stomach acid to corrode the tissue lining. Over time it can cause permanent damage to the esophagus and sometimes even cause cancer.

Women usually experience GERD for the first time during pregnancy due to a result of hormonal changes and pressure from growing fetus. Rather, around 50% of expecting women experience heartburn.

Studies indicate that in between 31 to 43% of acid refluxes are hereditary especially in cases of Barrett’s esophagus which happens due to long-term GERD.

One of the reasons behind GERD is peptic ulcers that happen usually because of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs). In one of the extensive studies happened for three years, it has been found that people who consume NSAID drugs have high chances of getting GERD.

Around 75% of patients with GERD symptoms, experienced during the night with pain levels are as severe as angina and heart failure.

How to prevent GERD?

• Eat a smaller portion of food. Large meals boost stomach pressure and the likelihood of reverse flow. Have smaller and more frequent meals.
• Reduce weight to avoid intraabdominal pressure.
• Reduce the intake of fatty foods, chocolates, peppermint, tea, coffee, carbonated drinks, and alcohol. Spicy and fatty foods are difficult to digest and take time to empty the stomach. It leads to the risk of entering stomach juices into the esophagus.
• Avoid tomatoes and citrus fruits or juices. Such food increases the acid that irritates the lower esophageal.
• Avoid having dinner just before you get onto the get. Rather, eat three to four hours before going to bed and completely avoid bedtime snacks.
• Raise the bed head by six inches to allow gravity to not letting stomach acid come out.
• In fruits, bananas and apples are safe however the best choice is pineapple. It neutralizes the stomach very fast.
• In vegetables, green beans, peas, carrots, and broccoli are highly recommended. Avoid eating potatoes like mashed potatoes and French fries as potato is a filling food and takes time to digest.
• Grains such as cereals, whole wheat bread and brown rice are safe to eat.
• Drink a lot of water. Sometimes the simplest solution makes the most sense. The pH of water is neutral and thus helps in neutralizing the stomach.

Some important facts of GERD:

• Sometimes GERD develops very uncommon symptoms like a cough, asthma or even laryngitis.
• Almost close to 15 million people have heartburn every day. This is increasing at an alarming rate.
• Around 80% of GERD patients reported that heartburn awake them up from sleep during the night. Sleepless nights are very common among GERD patients.
• 94% of heartburn sufferers link it with some specific foods.
• As mentioned earlier heartburn is very common among expecting women. Around 5% of them experience heartburn on daily basis.