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Acid reflux is a disease that causes acidic liquid from the stomach to be send backwards up the oesophagus, towards the mouth. This can cause damage and extreme discomfort to the affected person, as stomach acid is nearly as strong as the stuff in batteries, but the disease is rarely life threatening. The common name, acid reflux, is actually another word for Gastro Oesophageal Reflux Disease, which makes it easy to see why a shortened version is normally chosen, although it can be abbreviated to GERD. To fully understand this condition, you need to know just what goes into acid reflux. First take some hydrochloric acid, which swims around with no problems in the stomach. Then add some pepsin, the enzyme that splits food into tiny bits when it reaches the stomach, and if you're one of the few who can't settle for just two ingredients, put in some bile, the liquid that goes on your food to make it easier to digest. Only a small amount of people have bile in their reflux, but this and pepsin have little to do with the damage. Hence the name, it's that acid that's the problem. Those who really suffer from acid reflux generally only experience it during the night, when the body is lying flat and it's much easier for acid to flow up the oesophagus. When half asleep, its incredibly difficult to deal with, and being woken up in the middle of the night is never pleasant, least of all to find a load of acid in your mouth. Most people experience acid reflux in tiny amounts without even noticing. This happens when acid enters the oesophagus during the day, but just falls straight back, if it does reach the mouth, it tastes a little like being sick, and disappears straight away. One group who are particularly prone to acid reflux are pregnant women, where fluctuating hormone levels and the strange position of the abdomen due to the baby growing inside the womb can cause the condition. Most pharmacies sell medications that will help to soothe acid reflux, such as Protonix, Prilosec and Pepsid. Remember that if you do suffer badly from acid reflux it's important that you contact a doctor, as the condition is chronic and these short-term medications may not work. If you're sick and tired of suffering from heartburn and the pure torture that is acid reflux then why not click on over to RefluxNow.com for a cure to your heartburn hell.
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acid, reflux, health, medicine, gerd, disease,
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