Education is one of the most effective things you can do when it comes to preventing the effects of a disease on your health. Did you know that acid reflux is a problem for at least 35% of all overweight people, plus many others who are not overweight?

In this article we’re going to look at several important facts about acid reflux which will hopefully help you to minimize its effects on your life.

More than 60 million Americans are effected by heartburn due to acid reflux at least once a month. That’s about 20% of the entire population! And roughly 25 million (one twelfth) of the total population experience it daily.

Acid reflux isn’t only a problem with the digestive system, it can also affect your mental health. Roughly 80% of the people who deal with it experience the symptoms during the night, and about 75% of those people wake up as a result.

This can cause many problems during the day, including increased irritability, lack of proper concentration, and an increased risk of being in an accident involving an automobile.

While heartburn is technically incurable, there are things that you can do to help offset the chance of you getting this disease. If you worry that you are at risk for an acid reflux condition, it is important to review the types of foods that you are eating and change your habits to lessen the number of acid-creating foods you ingest.

Drinking alcohol and smoking can also both contribute to acid reflux. Smoking will increase the acid production in your stomach, which can make the acid reflux even more damaging to your esophagus.

Plus, both nicotine and alcohol are known to relax the lower esophageal sphincter muscle. When this muscle relaxes, it can allow reflux to work its way into the esophagus.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Acid Reflux. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.