Sleep apnea and acid reflux

Would you like to get rid of your sleep disorders and/or your acid reflux at the same time? Then I suggest you read further! 

Apnea (the word meaning "without breath" in Latin) is a disorder where the sleeping person involuntarily suspends breathing usually for ca. ten seconds but it can last as long as one minute. The muscles of the lung do not move during an apnea and these pauses occur several times throughout sleep. Typical symptoms are snoring, morning headache and constant tiredness.

Acid reflux (or GERD) is a digestive disorder where the acidic juices of the stomach enter the esophagus and damage its mucous membrane. Heartburn is the major symptom of the presence of acid in the esophagus, which is a burning sensation in the chest (usually felt behind the breastbone).

It has been known for long that there is a link between chronic heartburn and sleeping disorders, however, it is still not known which comes first. A recent German study has found that heartburn or acid reflux develops in patients suffering from sleep apnea three times more frequently than in otherwise healthy people. This would mean that sleep apnea is the cause, while heartburn is the effect, but a number of other experiments show that once the digestive disorders are cured, the symptoms of sleep apnea disappear (or at least diminish) as well.