If the husband sleeps on the left side and the wife sleeps on the right side… My wife’s esophagus is also dangerous

Managing and preventing esophageal disease

The esophagus is a long tube-shaped organ located between the mouth and the stomach. It serves as a passageway for food to enter the digestive tract. It takes less than 10 seconds for food to pass through the esophagus. It is used without a break to eat food, but its importance is often overlooked because awareness is relatively low compared to the stomach and intestines. However, if there is an abnormality in the esophagus, it becomes difficult to swallow food, and chronic pain, bleeding, coughing, foreign body sensation, etc. appear, making daily life difficult. Let’s practice a lifestyle that protects the health of the esophagus and enjoy a ‘comfortable life’.

There is a sphincter at the top and bottom of the esophagus that prevents air from entering and helps prevent stomach acid and food from regurgitating. The sphincter helps keep the esophagus healthy. However, there are many modern people who suffer because the pressure of these sphincter is lower than the appropriate level for some reason. Stomach is sore, sick, and complains of a foreign body sensation when swallowing food. In severe cases, the esophageal mucosa may be damaged and bleeding may occur. In particular, the esophageal sphincter relaxes a lot and is easily damaged when abdominal pressure is increased.

The most fatal thing that causes an increase in abdominal pressure is abdominal obesity. Abdominal obesity causes the esophageal sphincter to loosen as abdominal pressure increases and pressure is applied to the stomach. To reduce abdominal pressure, it is good to lose even a few kilograms of weight. Avoid wearing clothes that tighten your stomach, such as tight waistbands, skinny jeans, girdles, and corsets, as they tend to increase abdominal pressure. If you have reflux symptoms, you need to be careful of wearing several layers of thick coats, jumpers, or jackets because it is cold. Excessive sit-ups, weight lifting exercises, and running can strain the abdominal muscles and related muscles, reducing the function of the diaphragm and adversely affecting the sphincter, so it is better to refrain.

Esophageal disease is closely related to eating habits. In the case of esophageal cancer or reflux esophagitis, Westernization of diet, high-fat diet, consumption of salted foods and processed meat are cited as causes of the disease. In order to make the esophagus comfortable, there are basically four things to remember: news, format, dry food, and wedding ceremony. News and format literally means to eat less and slowly. When you eat too much, the amount of stomach contents increases and the secretion of stomach acid increases. It also takes a long time for the food in the stomach to be excreted into the intestine. As the stomach stretches, the esophageal sphincter loosens, making reflux more likely. It is best to chew slowly to avoid overeating.

Dry eating means not eating rice with soup or water. For good digestion, food must be chewed thoroughly, broken into small pieces, and then swallowed. However, people who have a habit of eating rice in soup or water eat quickly without chewing well, and it can adversely affect the health of the esophagus by interfering with the secretion of digestive juices. Eating a balanced diet is also important. Spicy, sweet, and salty foods preferred by modern people captivate the taste buds and encourage biased eating habits, while making them reluctant to consume fresh vegetables and fruits that taste bitter and sour. However, if you eat vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and fish evenly, you can get enough vitamins A, C, E, zinc, selenium, folic acid, and riboflavin, which are known to be related to the reduction of esophageal cancer.

Foods that are too hot or too cold are incompatible with the esophagus. Eating hot foods and drinks frequently can cause inflammation by repeatedly stimulating and damaging the cells of the esophageal mucosa. In the process, when cells are transformed, the risk of cancer increases. Also, for those who have frequent esophageal pain, cold food can aggravate it, so it is good to warm it up to room temperature.

One of the bad habits that harms the health of the esophagus is the act of lying down right after eating late at night. It aggravates the reflux of gastric acid and gastric contents. If you have a late meal, do not lie down immediately after eating. Do light exercise, such as walking for 20 to 30 minutes, and digest it properly in a sitting or standing position. After that, it is better to go to bed at least 2-3 hours later. When sleeping, raise the head of the bed by about 15 degrees, and if you lie on your right side, the passageway connecting the upper esophagus of the stomach is directed downward, making it easier for food to flow back into the esophagus, so lying on the left side can be helpful.

Also, if you have sleep apnea, it is better to treat it. This is because reflux esophagitis can occur frequently in patients with sleep apnea or mouth breathing. As abdominal pressure rises, it presses on the stomach, causing gastric juice to flow back into the esophagus. According to the American Society of Gastroenterology, 74% of patients with reflux esophagitis are accompanied by sleep apnea, and symptoms improved in about 65% after positive airway pressure treatment.

To maintain the health of the esophagus, when you have suspicious symptoms, you must visit a hospital to determine the exact cause. It is also necessary to make efforts to detect diseases early by undergoing periodic examinations. Symptoms such as reflux esophagitis, difficulty in swallowing food, swallowing disorders, esophageal bleeding, weight loss, and anemia can be seen as red flags for esophageal health. At this time, gastric endoscopy is performed to confirm that there are no accompanying gastrointestinal diseases and to evaluate the presence or severity of esophageal diseases. In most cases, symptomatic improvement can be expected if drug treatment is administered first.

Malignant diseases such as esophageal cancer are highly likely to be cured with endoscopy or chemotherapy if detected early. Therefore, it is recommended that adults over the age of 50 who have a family history or risk factors such as drinking or smoking undergo an endoscopy every year.

Help = Kim Shin-hee, professor of gastroenterology at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Kim Bum-jin, professor of gastroenterology at Chung-Ang University Hospital

Sunyeong Kim (kim.sunyeong@joongang.co.kr)