The primary cause of GERD and other esophageal disorders is a weakened or damaged lower esophageal sphincter. While we cannot always control what weakens our sphincter, people at risk for GERD can take steps to care for their lower esophageal sphincter.
Here’s everything you should know about why the sphincter valve weakens and how to prevent it from becoming damaged.
To prevent damage to the lower esophageal sphincter, it’s essential to understand how it functions.
What Is The Lower Esophageal Sphincter?
The lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, is the muscle that connects the esophagus to the stomach. This muscle remains closed the majority of the time, only opening to let food through to the stomach or to regurgitate stomach gas.
If a person’s LES is weak or damaged, the muscle can lose its ability to close (as with GERD), or it’s ability to open (as with Achalasia). When the LES fails to close, it allows stomach acid to splash up from the stomach into the esophagus, causing severe acid reflux and heartburn.
The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is the muscle connecting the esophagus to the stomach. Normally closed, the LES relaxes to allow food into the stomach or to release gas upward. If the LES is weak or damaged, it may fail to close fully, enabling acidic stomach contents to reflux into the esophagus, resulting in heartburn.
Alternatively, the LES may not relax properly, obstructing food passage into the stomach, as seen in achalasia. Thus, LES dysfunction, whether too lax or too tight, can seriously disrupt normal digestion.
On the other hand, when the LES fails to open, swallowing food becomes very difficult. Both of these conditions are very challenging and can only be cured with surgery.
On the other hand, when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) fails to open, swallowing food becomes very difficult. Both chronic LES failure to open and chronic LES failure to close are challenging conditions that often require surgery to fully correct.
why the sphincter valve weakens?
There are a variety of reasons why the sphincter valve weakens, and most of these are preventable. Here are a few of the preventable factors that lead to a weak LES.
Numerous preventable factors can weaken the lower esophageal sphincter. This article outlines some of the most common causes that people can avoid to maintain a healthy LES.
1. Struggling with overeating or being overweight
When a person regularly overeats or is overweight, their stomach swells and puts a lot of extra pressure on the LES. Over time, the LES loses its shape and its strength, allowing acid to flow upward, causing further damage to the LES.
When a person regularly overeats or is overweight, pressure from their enlarged stomach weakens the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) over time. This allows stomach acid to flow upward, damaging the LES further.
2. Smoking
Smoking exposes the esophagus to a lot of toxins and chemicals that damage the membranes in the LES, causing it to weaken. In addition to this, smoking raises the acidity of stomach fluids which can impact the LES more strongly than regular stomach acid.
Smoking exposes the esophagus to many toxins and chemicals that damage the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), weakening it. Furthermore, smoking increases stomach acidity, allowing more acidic fluids to reflux into the esophagus than normal stomach acid alone.
3. Drinking Alcohol
Alcohol is known to be a trigger for people with GERD, but for those who do not have it, regular consumption of alcohol can reduce the LES’ ability to close. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the LES and allows stomach acid to flow upward, which over time also causes considerable damage to the LES.
Alcohol can trigger acid reflux in people with GERD. In individuals without GERD, regular alcohol intake may also weaken the lower esophageal sphincter. Alcohol relaxes the LES muscles, allowing stomach acid to flow upward. Over time, this alcohol-induced LES relaxation causes significant damage.
4. Certain Medications
There are a number of medications that can damage your LES by causing it to relax. If they are consumed regularly, the LES will remain relaxed and result in acid reflux, causing damage to the muscles and membranes. Blood pressure medication, sleeping pills and sedatives, antibiotics, antidepressants, iron and potassium supplements, and proton pump inhibitors all cause damage to the LES.
Several types of medications can damage the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) by causing it to relax excessively. If taken regularly, these drugs keep the LES in a relaxed state, allowing acid reflux that can damage esophageal muscles and membranes. Medications that pose this risk include blood pressure drugs, sleeping pills, sedatives, antibiotics, antidepressants, iron and potassium supplements, and proton pump inhibitors.
5. Certain Foods
Trigger foods are something people with GERD always have to avoid, but if you feel that you are at risk for
developing GERD, you will really want to avoid certain foods as well. High-fat foods, for example, tend to cause the LES to relax. Cutting how much high-fat foods you consume every day can help protect your LES.
People with GERD must always avoid trigger foods. However, if you are at risk for developing GERD, you should also limit certain foods. For instance, high-fat foods relax the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Reducing your daily intake of high-fat foods can help protect the LES and prevent GERD.
If you suffer from heartburn and acid reflux more often than you’d like, then you may want to protect your lower esophageal sphincter from all of these risks. Not all heartburn and acid reflux is a symptom of GERD. However, if your diet and lifestyle often trigger episodes of heartburn and acid reflux, then you may be causing damage to your LES and developing GERD.
If heartburn and acid reflux plague you more often than you’d prefer, protecting your lower esophageal sphincter from damage may be wise. While not all heartburn and reflux indicate GERD, if these symptoms are frequent due to your diet and lifestyle choices, your LES may suffer harm over time, potentially leading to GERD development.
