Smoking and Your Stomach – Are You Suffering With One of These?

If you’re a smoker who has problems with your stomach whether heartburn or an ulcer then cigarettes could be a primary factor and causing long term damage.

It is not just the lungs and the heart that are adversely affected by your smoking habit. Smoking affects many aspects of the human body including the digestive system. Smokers are more likely to suffer from gallstones, peptic ulcers and heartburn than non-smokers. This is because smoking upsets the delicate balance of the stomach and all of the organs that make up the digestive system.

If you suffer from gallstones then researchers believe smoking can make this condition even worse, in terms of discomfort as well as the rate at which it advances to a more serious condition.

Smoking can also increase your potential for developing Crohn’s disease. For those unfamiliar with this disease it is an inflammatory bowel disease which affects the small intestine and can lead to painful cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Sorry – not great subjects to bring up in any company I know. The fact is if you’re not suffering with these at the moment – good. But you’re probably laying  the “seeds” for them in later life by continuing to smoke.

Smoking Can Lead to Heartburn:

However, if you suffer from heartburn then you’re part of a large group. An estimated 60 million Americans suffer with the effects of heartburn once a month while as many as 15 million find themselves living with it daily. Smoking can lead to heartburn for some individuals while for others who already have the condition it can make it worse.

At the end of the esophagus (or the food tube) there is a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The function of this valve is to keep stomach acids where they’re supposed to be – in the stomach – as opposed to them finding their way back up into the esophagus and causing mayhem with your health.

In those who smoke, the LES is not as strong. What this means is stomach acid does not remain where it should. It can easily find its way out of the stomach and travel up into the esophagus, bringing with it plenty of discomfort.

Over time heartburn can weaken, and put a strain on, the esophagus, because it can wear down its protective lining.

This can make the esophagus more vulnerable to problems such as infections and tumors. A condition known as duodenogastric reflux can also be the end result of too much heartburn. The more acidic the stomach acid becomes and the more often it backs up into the esophagus, the more damage it will cause. Smoking can interfere with the proper movement of stomach acid and cause it to travel in the wrong direction.

If you suffer from stomach issues then this may be the time to give up smoking.

Erika Slater, CH
Director
Free At Last Hypnosis
http://www.freeatlasthypnosis.com
http://www.smoke-free-at-last.com