Acid reflux disease, commonly referred to as acid reflux, is a condition in which the liquid contents in the stomach backs up into the esophagus. This contents can inflame 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 begins the digestion of proteins in the stomach. The refluxed liquid may also contain bile that has backed-up into the stomach from the duodenum. Acid reflux disease involves more than 20% of Americans. Some 80% of the 60 million Americans who have been diagnosed with acid reflux disease describe being worse at night, and three out of four say they routinely wake up from sleep because of acid reflux symptoms.

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 boosting the risk of esophageal cancer.

A few researchers think that obstructive sleep apnea results in airway pressure changes that can cause acid reflux to occur, yet other researchers assume that the reflux of acids may be a result of spasms of the vocal cords that can then lead to sleep apnea.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which person has one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while they sleep.

These Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They can occur 5 to 30 times or more per hour. Usually, Typically, normal breathing then begins 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 problem results in poor sleep quality that sometimes makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness.

What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

When you’reawake, your throat muscles help keep one’s airway stiff and open so air can flow into your lungs easily. When sleeping, these muscles are more relaxed. Usually, the relaxed throat muscles will not keep your airway from staying open to allow air into your lungs.

Acid reflux is usually a chronic condition. When it begins, it usually is life-long. If there is 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 of these is Pepcid ac .

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