People use the term acid reflux and GERD interchangeably on a daily basis, but these are actually referring to different things that might not have a lot of differences between one another, but it is always important to know a little bit more about this and that, and it is always more important to know the difference so that you can better identify any of these when you have them.
As such, we are going to look at the differences between GERD and acid reflux in this article, To start things off and to put it simply, it is important to note that acid reflux is a very common medical condition that is probably not serious, but it sometimes has some seriousness attached to it. On the other hand, GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a more serious problem, since it is a chronic and a more severe form of acid reflux.
Acid Reflux
When you eat, food goes through a whole system before it even reaches your stomach, and right before reaching the stomach, it goes through the esophagus. You have a muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) that is responsible for closing the “door” there is between the esophagus and the stomach after the food gets to the stomach.
If this muscle is, for some reason, to fail in its task, the acid from the stomach can go into the esophagus, and that is what is known as acid reflux. There are a large variety of reason for your muscle not to be able to do its task properly, as it simply needs to be a little weaker than normal to fail at it.
Your esophagus isn’t used to facing the acid from your stomach and, as such, it is a lot more sensitive than your stomach. Whenever the acid from your stomach is in the esophagus, you are going to feel a burning sensation on your chest, and that is what is known as heartburn.
GERD
GERD is a little bit more complicated than acid reflux, since it is something that keeps on occurring, and not something that occurs once in a while due to a muscle failing in its task. GERD is diagnosed when acid reflux happens to an individual more than twice a week, or when it actually causes the esophagus to swell.
Usually, you can just take antacids and over the counter medication to battle the pain that you get from acid reflux, and then the problem is solved. On the other hand, with GERD, the pain is going to be a little more severe and most of the time you are not going to be able to solve the problem with this simple medication.
GERD has a few more symptoms, other than heartburn and lack of comfort. It usually includes these, as well as chest pain, dry cough, asthma, regurgitation (feeling that the content of your stomach is going to come back up), and sometimes even trouble swallowing. As you can see from the symptoms, it is a much more serious condition.
These symptoms can actually end up disrupting your daily life. It is hard to be happy and free when you feel like at any given moment the lunch you just ate is going to come back up and leave your body, on top of all the pain and asthma. It can, however, be controlled with a few adjustments to your life style, as well as medication.
These changes usually include some drastic ones, such as quitting smoking, changing your diet so that you are getting more vitamins and consuming a lot less harmful products, and finally losing weight so your body can function better in a general manner. The medication usually just helps reduce the amount of acid produced by the stomach, but for a lot of people this might not even be enough. In some cases, it is even necessary for a patient ti have surgery in order to strengthen the LES and solve the problem (hopefully).
If left untreated, GERD can actually be a huge problem in your life, since the acid from your stomach can end up seriously damaging your esophagus, which can then cause bleeding, ulcers and scars. In some people, it is even possible that the acid changes the cells located in your esophagus over time, and that is called Barrett’s esophagus. This has the ultimate consequence of increasing the risk that a patient might have esophageal cancer. This, however, is incredibly rare.
When To Seek Help
Since acid reflux is a pretty common problem, and since heartburn comes along with it, you should understand that you shouldn’t seek help every single time you have acid reflux, that is just going to clog up the health system (imagine everyone doing that).
If you notice that you are having acid reflux quite frequently, the first thing oyu need to do is to change your diet to a healthier one and, if that doesn’t work, than you should start trying medication. If all of this fails and if acid reflux keeps on being a common problem, you should seek help because you might have developed GERD.
A lot of people confuse heartburn with a heart attack. These are not the same, but if you feel more than your heartburn discomfort such as intense chest pain and difficulty breathing, as well as pain in the arms or in the jaw, you should call the emergency services immediately, as that can be a heart attack.