GERD Risk Factors that You Should Know About

Find out below what the Risk Factors of the disease are

Although the most common symptom linked with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is heartburn, many different factors may be involved including being overweight, pregnant, asthmatic, diabetic, delaying the emptying of stomach contents, connective tissue disorders and hiatal hernias. However, it is the weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter muscle that turns out to be a common factor in most GERD cases.

Here are some other factors that contribute to the dangers

Contributing danger factors for GERD include hernias that may be hiatal or diaphragmatic in nature, where part of the stomach distends beyond natural limits to move into the lowest chest. When this protrusion is big enough to affect the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, GERD can happen. Stomach contents with gastric juices then find their way back into the esophagus, and the result is severe heartburn.

GERD can also come from being overweight. Excess weight puts strain on the stomach and the diaphragm that is in between the stomach and the abdomen. This in turn affects the lower esophageal sphincter, which then malfunctions and lets gastric acids flow back to the esophagus and cause heartburn. Avoid GERD therefore by reducing your weight.

Risk factors that come from lifestyle and diet habits

Lifestyle and diet habits can also have a negative effect. Smoking or drinking or indeed eating to excess will put you in danger of GERD.

Asthma is also indirectly involved because the medicaments that act to widen the air path also dilate the muscle of the lower esophageal sphincter muscle. This is what allows gastric juices to flow back to the esophagus. There is also the suggestion that excessive coughing and related breathing problems from asthma also put extra pressure on the stomach and increase the danger of GERD.

In a similar way, pregnancy also puts extra pressure on the stomach. Pregnant women therefore may be under significantly more danger of GERD. The risk is compounded by the fact that pregnancy triggers production of progesterone, a hormone that relaxes several muscles including the muscle of the lower esophageal sphincter.

Tackling the risks of GERD

Although treatments exist for GERD using conventional drugs, there are also holistic remedies. Conventional drugs unfortunately address only the superficial manifestation of the disease, and do not tackle the real underlying reasons. This is where holistic remedies are much more effective, because they treat the fundamental causes and truly allow GERD to be reduced or even eliminated.

GERD is a complex condition and the causes are also multiple, including diet habits, lifestyle, genetically inherited characteristics and even candida infections. Taking a holistic approach is therefore important to treat the body as a whole. This is why the holistic cures work so much better to eliminate GERD.




Jeff Martin is a medical researcher, certified nutritionist, health consultant and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Heartburn No More- Open The Door To an Acid Reflux Free Life". Jeff has written dozens of holistic health articles and has been featured in ezines and print magazines, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide.

To Learn More About Jeff Martin´s Unique 5-Step Holistic Acid Reflux Cure System Visit: Heartburn No More.

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