GERD - the fire in your chest.
Today, we are going to address a specific problem that limits our life, and is common at this time of year-the effects of overeating lead to disruption of your esophageal lining as acid comes from your stomach back into your esophagus. Why does this limit your life? Well, even if you do not develop the horrible end result-esophageal cancer-your stem cells rush in to repair your esophageal burns (sun burns are another area we waste our precious stem cells on), making less available to repair other areas of your body. And since we only get so many stem cells (we think, although science is working on how to increase them; exercise, massage, and meditation seem to help each of us preserve what we have). But, let’s start at the beginning…
We are born to eat, and our stomachs can digest nearly anything. But, in order to experiment with new and sometimes poisonous foods, humans must have the ability to vomit food or burp gas. The esophagus makes a sharp angle as it enters the stomach to reduce this regurgitation, but if the junction is opened (the angle is reduced), we get burning and indigestion from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder). Yes, once you’re done chewing your food, it passes into the esophagus and through your gastroesophageal junction. Let’s look at the anatomy of the esophagus. It doesn’t enter from straight down; it enters like Jennifer Aniston trying to sneak into a restaurant-from a side door. As your stomach curls around your esophagus, that side entrance actually helps prevent stomach fluid from regurgitating back up to or at least toward your mouth.
When you get older, though, your stomach becomes more sensitive to the foods you eat, and you wind up with more acid than a 1970s rock concert. Regurgitation is actually one of evolution’s greatest gifts. The ability to regurgitate protects us. Horses, for instance, can’t vomit, so when they eat poisonous stuff, they can’t get it out of their system. That promotes a condition called colic-or severe abdominal pain caused by trauma in the digestive tract-and that’s the leading cause of equine deaths. So the stars of MTV’s Jackass aren’t the only ones who should be thankful humans can vomit, spit up, and vent air with Richter-registering burps. This poison-control system helps you clear harmful substances out of your body, but it also contributes to acid reflux. Your esophagus enters at an acute angle, which kinks off after the food passes to prevent the stomach contents from going back into your esophagus. If the acute angle is distorted, for example by a hiatus hernia (an abnormal hole where muscle should be to keep the angle acute), the acid can flow backward into your esophagus.
When you produce a lot of stomach acid-or overeat late at night-you risk becoming bloated and having that fluid top off in your esophagus. It’s just like when you overfill your gas tank-all that fuel runs out of the opening through which it entered. Because your esophagus has less protective lining than your stomach does, it’s much more sensitive. And that’s what causes the pain in your throat that feels as if somebody’s running a lit match up and down it. When that kind of heart-burn recurs, that’s GERD-or gastroesophageal reflux disease. Besides being more uncomfortable than high heels that are two sizes too small, GERD can also be dangerous because it leads to chronic inflammation in your esophagus, which has been linked to cancer.
