Heartburn? How to deal with acid reflux when you overeat this festive season
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Heartburn? How to deal with acrid reflux when you overeat this festive season
There are many over-the-counter medicines to soothe the heartburn caused by acrid reflux but you should watch which ones to take.
(Photo: Unsplash/Matheus Ferrero)
03 Dec 2022 06:30AM (Updated: ten Nov 2022 09:20AM)
After a big, hearty dinner, exercise y'all ordinarily adopt the food coma position on the sofa in forepart of the TV? You know, half-lying down, half-sitting, and completely unwilling to movement more than muscles than necessary?
Well, if you typically experience a called-for sensation in your chest and/or a sudden impulse to gag while you're doing so, y'all're experiencing acid reflux.
Also known every bit gastroesophageal reflux illness (GERD), "it happens when the acid in the stomach and its contents backflow into the oesophagus, causing troublesome symptoms such equally heartburn and regurgitation", said Dr Melvin Look, director of PanAsia Surgery at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Novena Infirmary and Parkway Eastward Infirmary.
WHAT CAUSES Acrid REFLUX?
With the festive flavor – and lots of eating – coming up, chances are it'south going to happen to quite a few people. But even outside of information technology, nigh one in v Singaporeans is known to suffer from acrid reflux, said Dr Ho Gim Hin, acquaintance consultant with Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's Division of Gastroenterology.
And in that location could be two possible reasons. "Nutrition plays a very important role in acid reflux," he said. "Certain foods are known to contribute to and aggravate reflux symptoms. These include caffeinated and carbonated drinks, spicy, sour and citrus nutrient products, oily and greasy food, chocolates, and alcohol."
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Meanwhile, Dr Andrew Ong, who is with Singapore General Hospital's Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, believes that it is obesity – and non the type of food y'all eat – that contributes to acrid reflux. "Obesity is a risk factor of acrid reflux, therefore, oily nutrient may indirectly lead to acrid reflux symptoms. And our population today is more obese than before, especially in our school-going children, and so this prevalence may fifty-fifty exist higher."
DOES LYING DOWN Beal THE BURNING SENSATION?
Your stomach is "numb" to the acid but your oesophagus – the muscular tube that connects your mouth to your tummy – isn't, which is why acid reflux burns, explained Professor Adam Taylor, director of the Clinical Beefcake Learning Centre at Lancaster University in England, on The Conversation website.
And while lying downwardly after a big meal certainly helps to encourage this backflow of acid, it sometimes doesn't require a horizontal position for the acid to rise – because yous're already and so stuffed with food.
"Overeating causes indigestion when the stomach acid churns upwardly into the oesophagus," wrote Prof Taylor.
CAN Acrid REFLUX Pb TO SOMETHING SERIOUS?
As unpleasant equally acid reflux is, it is "not life threatening", said Dr Ong, although he warned that long-term damage to the oesophagus caused past the acrid backwash can lead to its narrowing and "pre-cancerous changes called Barrett's Oesophagus".
"Nevertheless, broadly speaking, acid reflux is withal an uncommon cause of oesophageal cancer," he clarified.
Just Dr Ho highlighted that acid reflux may too bring nigh other health issues in the digestive system, including "oesophagitis (inflammation of the oesophagus), peptic (or gastric) ulcer disease, gallstone disease, and even disorders of the colon and pancreas". Sometimes, acid reflux could exist a sign of heart attack or asthma, besides.
If y'all find yourself increasingly relying on antacids for the quick relief of heartburn and acid reflux, information technology can be a sign that something more serious is going on, said Dr Wait.
Just as suspicious is when an older person above the age of 40 develops acid reflux out of the blue. "The best way to assess reflux symptoms and to exclude more than serious issues is to perform a gastroscopy. This is a simple visual assessment of the oesophagus and stomach using a long, thin and flexible telescope," he said.
WHAT'Due south THE All-time Manner TO DOUSE THE BURN?
At that place are a few options to calm down the burn, with each bachelor as over-the-counter as well every bit prescription medicines. These include H-2-receptor blockers (they reduce acid production) and proton pump inhibitors (they cake acrid product and heal the oesophagus).
READ: Is it ok to skip meals, fifty-fifty occasionally? Here's what happens to your body
However, do notation that the Health Sciences Authority has taken eight brands of ranitidine (a H-two-receptor blocker) off the shelf for containing the cancer-causing impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine, in quantities beyond the internationally adequate level.
- Aciloc
- Apo-Ranitidine
- Hyzan
- Neoceptin
- Vesyca
- Xanidine
- Zantac
- Zynol-150
READ: Smart phones, weight lifting and mala are causing bug in the loo for Singaporeans
And then, there are antacids, which are by and large equanimous of an alkali metal mixture that increases the pH level of the breadbasket and reduces the likelihood of the acrid injuring the oesophagus, said Dr Ong. Some antacids also have alginates, which demark to the superlative of the acid layer to reduce the likelihood of acidic injury.
According to Dr Ho, some antacids may contain aspirin and patients with a history of peptic ulcers should non take them. "Aspirin tin cause ulcers, which may lead to gastrointestinal haemorrhage."
Too, "many patients take antacids to care for gastritis," said Dr Ong. "Although they may find curt-term relief due to the cooling nature of these substances, they have not been shown to improve symptoms. Some patients too take antacids to reduce the production of gas, simply once more this has non been shown to be the case."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/acid-reflux-heartburn-eating-christmas-234281
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