Symptoms of acid reflux in men

Acid Reflux Introduction

Acid reflux occurs in a person when the tube that links the throat and the stomach, the esophagus, cannot handle the acid that comes up from the stomach. When a person eats food and it goes down to the stomach, there will be acid in the stomach that will help to break down the food that has been eaten. The stomach walls can sustain this acid, but the lining of the esophagus has problems with it.

When the acid starts to flow back up towards the throat, heartburn will occur, which is usually the first and most common symptom of acid reflux. This condition is usually noted with a constant burning sensation in the chest.

This can happen to people on occasion, but if the burning sensation occurs every time a person eats and continues to cause problems for an extended period of time, there is a good chance that this person has acid reflux.

Acid Reflux Treatment

The best thing to do to remedy it is to change the diet in order to provide relief. Less-acidic food needs to be consumed for starts, and they need to avoid spicy foods, alcohol, and coffee.

Medications can be taken as well.

The acid reflux occurs when the esophageal sphincter is weakened and can no longer stop the acid from coming up from the stomach into that area of the body.

While it can obviously affect both men and women, most studies show that men more commonly suffer from acid reflux. But in some countries, researchers came to different conclusions.

Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has increased in the last decades, and it is now one of the most common chronic and recurrent diseases. The present study aimed at determining the frequency of gender (sex) and age in Iranian patients with GERD symptoms.

In this study, 803 patients aged 11 to 84 years, with erosive and nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux diseases, based on the questionnaire and esophagogastroduodenoscopy findings, participated.
The female group was compared with the male group with respect to age, symptoms, esophageal injury, and hiatus hernia.
Of the 803 participants, 60.5% (n= 486) were female, and 69.2% (n= 555) were younger than 50 years. Of those patients older than 50 years, 32.8% (n= 81) were female. Moreover, 31.0% (n= 249) of the patients had erosive esophagitis (ERD), and 69.0% (n= 254) had normal esophageal mucosa (NERD).
The female to male ratio was 1/1.06 and 1.94/1 in ERD and NERD patients, respectively. Hiatal hernia was more prevalent in females than in males.

✓ Fact confirmed: Gender is a risk factor in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease Hashem Fakhre Yaseri; 2017 Sep 8.

Acid Reflux Triggers in Men

The occurrence of acid reflux is more probably as the man gets older. Many do not realize that they can take steps to get relief from this uncomfortable condition. It is very important to know that acid reflux can develop into a much more serious problem if it is left untreated, so it is important for men to recognize it and change their lifestyles and eating habits accordingly in order to stop it from getting worse.

Men usually eat more food than women and therefore suffer from this condition more. The more food that is consumed, the more acid the stomach will be made to break it down and store it.

Another thing that can trigger acid reflux is when a man sleeps on his back. When a person sleeps on their side the stomach has an easier time digesting the food. It is also of vital importance not to take a nap after dinner or to lounge in front of the couch after eating if possible. The digestive process will be a lot more effective if a person remains active or is at least sitting up straight for about two to three hours after a meal.