What causes heartburn at night?

The occurrence time of many diseases is divided into time periods, just like some skin diseases, which will make the human skin feel itchy. Some people feel itchy when it is cold or hot, and some people feel itchy every night when they go to bed. The symptoms will be different depending on the duration of the itching. The same goes for heartburn. Some patients with stomach problems will feel heartburn after eating, some will feel heartburn at night, and some will feel stomach discomfort after waking up. What happened that I didn't pay attention to it that night?

Many people have experienced the symptoms of "acid reflux and heartburn", and most people think that this is caused by improper diet and don't pay much attention to it. But when these symptoms occur frequently or are accompanied by other symptoms, it may be a pathological phenomenon, clinically known as "gastroesophageal reflux disease."

Gastroesophageal reflux can be caused by many reasons, such as: dysfunction of the lower esophageal sphincter; delayed gastric emptying; decreased peristaltic function of the esophagus itself, which cannot quickly clear refluxed materials; part of the stomach abnormally protruding into the chest cavity, forming a hiatal hernia, and the natural anti-reflux barrier is destroyed. Gastroesophageal reflux is prone to occur in the above situations.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is caused by the reflux of gastric and duodenal contents into the esophagus, which can cause damage to the esophageal mucosal tissue. In severe cases, it can cause reflux esophagitis, esophageal ulcers, esophageal stenosis, or even cancer. When reflux enters the respiratory tract, it can also cause aspiration pneumonia, asthma and other diseases.

In addition to gastroesophageal reflux disease, acid reflux and heartburn symptoms can occur in normal people as well as in ulcer patients. However, when normal people experience this symptom, it usually lasts no more than 5 minutes each time and no more than 1 hour throughout the day.

The acid reflux and heartburn symptoms of ulcer disease often occur on an empty stomach and can be relieved after eating. The symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, such as acid reflux, heartburn, regurgitation, belching and pain behind the sternum, often occur after a full meal. Some patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease may experience atypical symptoms such as abnormal sensation in the throat, chest tightness and shortness of breath, which can sometimes easily lead to misdiagnosis.

The treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease is a long-term and systematic process. Treatment options include changing lifestyle habits, medication, and surgery. Drug treatment mainly includes inhibiting gastric acid and promoting motility. Because the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease sometimes do not correspond to the severity of the disease, and the symptoms are very likely to recur after inappropriate discontinuation of medication, patients should receive regular treatment under the guidance of a physician and undergo regular check-ups.

When drug control is unsatisfactory, esophageal mucosal suturing or surgical treatment can be performed under gastroscopy.

One of the main symptoms of ulcer patients is acid reflux. So does acid reflux necessarily mean that they have ulcer? The answer is no. What is the basis for denial? This has to start with stomach acid. The digestion of food cannot be separated from the help of gastric acid. There are "micro chemical factories" in the stomach that produce gastric acid - parietal cells. The total number of parietal cells in normal people is about 1 billion for men and about 800 million for women. Under normal circumstances, every 50 million parietal cells secrete 1 milliequivalent of gastric acid per hour, so the maximum gastric acid secretion rate of a normal person is 21 milliequivalents per hour. Under normal circumstances, when we see food or smell the aroma of food, the parietal cells begin to produce gastric acid; when food enters the stomach, the parietal cells will further increase gastric acid secretion; when the stomach digests the food and the chyme enters the duodenum, the parietal cells increase gastric acid secretion for the third time.