Stop Sleep Acid Reflux
Sleep acid reflux is such a disturbance for some people. This condition refers to the backflow of stomach contents into the esophagus which happens when the person is asleep and is possibly also experiencing sleep apnea. This condition has also been referred to as nighttime acid reflux.
Definition of Terms
Sleep Apnea – is a sleeping disorder where an individual stops breathing for a short period of time, more or less about ten seconds. This is like a quick, sudden pause in the breathing pattern of a person. Snoring may also be one of its characteristic signs. Sleep apnea poses dangerous risks. It is often an indication of an underlying disease process. Sleep apnea is diagnosed using polysomnography.
Acid Reflux – is a manifestation of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD. GERD is a GIT malady wherein the cardiac sphincter, a tissue that prevents stomach contents to backflow, is either too narrow or too lax thereby permitting food to regurgitate into the esophagus and causing the patient to vomit. Sometimes the terms “acid reflux” and “GERD” are interchangeably used although the latter is much more complex.
Relationship Between Sleep Apnea and Acid Reflux
Medical researchers strongly believe that there is a very strong link between sleep apnea and acid reflux. This statement is concretized by a study presented at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.
Findings from the study reveal two points. The first point is that individuals suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease report a) sleep disturbances; b) frequent arousals at night, and c) frequent nighttime acid reflux. The second point is that individuals with no GERD symptoms but with sleep problems also suffer the same sleep acid reflux conditions.
On the other hand, another study at the Duke University Medical Center suggests that patients who are suffering from sleep apnea may experience more difficulty and disturbance from their GERD symptoms.
It is significant to note then that sleep apnea and acid reflux both potentiate each other’s negative effects. However, sleep apnea seems to be the condition mostly inclined to cause sleep acid reflux.
Treatment for Sleep Acid Reflux
Fortunately, individuals who suffer from sleep acid reflux can avail themselves of an effective treatment option. According to the findings of yet another study concerning the same aforementioned institution, Duke University Medical Center, but now with the cooperation of the University of South Alabama – a method commonly used to treat obstructive sleep apnea can also be used to treat sleep acid reflux. This method is the use of positive pressure.
The findings of the study were published earlier on January 13th, 2005, at an issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The treatment method was called continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP (SEE-pap) and the device is called a nasal-CPAP machine.
The device is attached through a mask placed snugly over the patient’s nose, and it should be worn during sleep. The mask is then attached to a machine that delivers pressurized air. The device works by creating a continuous positive air pressure that will make the air passage open thereby preventing breathing pattern interruptions. Among the 165 patients who received treatment using CPAP, 74.5 percent of them reported positive results and improvement.
Hopefully, through further studies and research regarding the strong relationship between sleep acid reflux and sleep apnea and the effectiveness of using a CPAP machine as the treatment option, this success rate of 74.5 percent will even rise much higher.
Indeed, there is a great deal of association between sleep apnea and acid reflux. Good thing, though, sleep acid reflux already has an effective treatment.
