What Causes GERD?

張貼日期：Jan 30, 2016 12:43:15 PM

What Causes GERD?

Stephanie Wu

     Gastroesophageal Reflux disease (GERD) is the most common stomach illness of modern people. According to news, there are one in four people suffering from GERD in Taiwan. We can also see many advertisements of stomach medicines on television, which shows that GERD has become one of the common illnesses. Actually, I am also suffering from GERD; therefore, I have paid special attention to the reports concerning GERD. And I concluded there are three causes of GERD. One is the lives of modern people are too stressful, another is the irregular lifestyle of modern people, and the other is the improper use of medicine.

    Modern people are living under great pressure, which is one of the main causes of GERD. For example, as a student, our biggest stress comes from schoolwork. In Taiwan, students are expected to get good grades and attend great schools by their parents and others. Living under the giant academic pressure, many students are the sufferers of GERD nowadays. After graduation and starting to work, we’ll have to face the working pressure. The working pressure includes the work overload and overtime, the job promotion and relationship with co-workers and superiors. Furthermore, living in the big city can also cause a lot of pressure. The environmental pressure derives from the noisy and crowded environment, which is detrimental to our health. Living under much pressure is proved to be damaging to our health.

     Another feature of the modern lives that worsens GERD is irregular lifestyle. First, because of the busy life, people tend to eat at irregular time. Many people say it is easy for them to forget having meals when they are busy. But if the interval between each meal is too long, gastric acid will erode the stomach. Second, many people are overeating, especially those who have irregular eating time. Overeating also injures the stomach a lot. The best eating habit is eating appropriate amount and regularly. Last, the lack of sleep also causes big damage to the stomach. Those who lack sleep tend to drink coffee or tea when they feel tired, which causes more harm to the stomach.

     The last impairment of the stomach is taking too much medicine. People now attach more importance to health, so we eat much health-food. Somehow these kinds of health-food have to be digested by the stomach. During the process of digestion, the ingredients of the health-food would damage the stomach. Due to the busy life, many people prefer to eat the painkiller rather than going to see the doctors when they catch a cold or have a headache. Needless to say, the painkillers can injure the stomach. According to some doctors, the painkillers of the stomach also harm the stomach.  

     Stomach is the most important digestive organ and it works for us every day. Hence, we have to take good care of it. Yet the stressful life, the irregular lifestyle and the misuse of medicine let lots of people suffer from GERD. Having known of the causes of the problem, we should amend our incorrect lifestyle. We can’t cure GERD, but we can ease this illness by releasing our pressure properly, adjusting our lifestyle, and getting medical advice directly from medicine professionals.