Acidity is a very common problem. But do you ever wonder what people mean when they say they have acidity? What causes acidity? What can you do to prevent acidity-related symptoms? You must grasp what acidity is in order to respond to all of these queries.
What Does Acidity Mean?
The oesophagus transports the food we eat to our stomach. Acid is produced by the gastric glands in the stomach, which is essential for food digestion. Acidity is the condition when a burning feeling can be felt below the breastbone as a result of the production of more acid than necessary for the digestive process.
Acidity is sometimes also known as acid reflux. A burning sensation or pain in the chest is the most typical sign of acid reflux. Despite the fact that most people experience discomfort, they are unaware of the fact that acidity is primarily caused by bad lifestyle choices.
What is Gastric Acid and its Role in the Stomach?
Gastric glands present in your stomach secrete gastric acid, which is necessary for food digestion. However, these gastric glands occasionally create more acid than is required for the digestion process due to factors like overeating, which causes heartburn, reflux and indigestion.
What Are the Causes of Acidity?
Some major causes of acidity include-
- Eating spicy, and fatty foods
- Smoking
- Low fiber food
- Extreme stress
- Over consumption of alcohol
- Digestive problems like gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcers, and stomach tumours
- Medicines like NSAIDs (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
What are the Symptoms and Signs of Acidity?
Following are the early symptoms of acidity-
- Discomfort, pain or burning sensation in stomach, throat or chest
- Swallowing issues or a feeling that food is stuck in your throat
- Frequently hiccupping or burping without obvious cause
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Bad breath
- Restlessness
Symptoms of chronic hyperacidity include-
- Heartburn- Burning sensation or discomfort that may originate in the stomach and spread to the chest, abdomen, or even the oesophagus is known as heartburn.
- Regurgitation: An acid with a sour or bitter taste will flow back up into the mouth or throat, eventually leading to ulcers in the areas.
- Upper abdominal ache
- Dark stools, frequently with bloody vomiting
- Loss of weight
How do you Diagnose Acidity?
Various techniques are used to determine if the acidity is due to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Following is a list of a few of these:
Monitoring the pH: It determines how acidic the oesophagus is. The doctor inserts a device into the oesophagus and leaves it there for two days to monitor when and how long the acid backs up.
Barium swallow: It aids in locating ulcers and a constricted oesophagus. After applying a solution, an X-ray will be done.
Endoscopy: This procedure involves inserting a long, flexible light-filled tube through the mouth and checking the oesophagus and stomach for problems using the camera at the bottom. Sedation or anaesthesia are used to do it.
How Can Acidity Be Treated?
Acidity treatment can be done by using antacids containing aluminium, calcium, or magnesium. H2 receptor blockers, often known as histamine-blocking medications, like nizatidine, famotidine, ranitidine, and cimetidine, are frequently employed. In the event that you have extreme acidity, your doctor may also prescribe proton pump inhibitors. In case of acidity, home remedies include eating or drinking pacifying foods like bananas, cold milk, aniseeds, cumin, cardamom, cloves, mint leaves, and ginger.
Vitamin C from fruits, vegetables, and supplements has been reported to help reduce acidity and related symptoms.
Drinks to control acidity-
- Coconut water
- Herbal tea
- Curd
- Low-fat milk
- Hot water
- Fruit juice
- Smoothies
How to Prevent Acidity?
You can prevent acidity by avoiding spicy foods and pickles during meals, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables, avoiding NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and steroids, and lowering your stress levels.
In other cases, eating right before bed can also make you more acidic. This causes acid reflux by encouraging the flow of stomach enzymes back up into the oesophagus. This poses a serious risk to health.
Summary
Acid reflux is a term used to describe acidity. Gastric acid flows back into the oesophagus in this condition. Acidity is perfectly natural when it occurs occasionally, but when it occurs frequently, it is a matter of concern. Acidity can be treated with antacids, H2 blockers, and proton pump inhibitors, among other things. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent problems such as oesophageal strictures, ulcers, and inflammation from developing. The disorder can be controlled in part by making some dietary and lifestyle adjustments.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
