Acid reflux disease, commonly referred to as GERD Gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a condition in which the liquid content of the stomach refluxes into the esophagus. The contents can inflame the lining of the esophagus. Though visible signs of inflammation occur in a minority of patients. The regurgitated liquid mostly contains acid and pepsin which are produced by the stomach. Pepsin is an enzyme that starts the digestion of proteins in the stomach. The refluxed liquid may also contain bile that has gone-up into the stomach from the duodenum. Acid reflux disease involves more than 20% of Americans. At least 80% of the 60 million Americans who have been diagnosed with acid reflux disease report worse symptoms at night, and three in four say they routinely wake up from sleep because of acid reflux symptoms.

This connection between sleep apnea and acid reflux makes perfect sense because when you’re awake, gravity helps keep acids required to digest food down where they belong, in the stomach. But when you’re lying down, these acids can leak back into the esophagus, damaging its lining and significantly increasing the risk of esophageal cancer.

A number of researchers think that sleep apnea results in airway pressure changes that can cause acid reflux to occur, still other researchers believe that the reflux of acids may be caused by spasms of the vocal cords that can then lead to sleep apnea.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a widespread disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while they sleep.

The Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. They can occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Normally, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking noise.

Sleep apnea usually is a persistent condition that interrupts your sleep 3 or more nights each week.

This problem results in poor sleep quality that sometimes makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

When we are awake, the muscles help keep your airway stiff and open so air can flow into your lungs easily. When sleeping, these muscles are more relaxed. Usually, the relaxed throat muscles don’t keep your airway from staying open to allow air into your lungs.

Acid reflux is usually a chronic condition. Once it begins, it is usually a life-long condition If you have injury to the lining of the esophagus this also is a chronic order. There are a lot of different acid reflux treatments you can consider using. One of these is Protonix .