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I did my project along the lines of acid reflux. Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD for short occurs when our esophageal sphincter that prevents back flow becomes very week and people experience heart burn two times a week or more. Something that can commonly happen at the same time is for the area in the diaphragm that makes room for the esophagus, the hiatus, can expand allowing the stomach to actually move upward causing even more pain and more reflux. The main reason I chose this topic was because I had an uncle that went through the exact same thing. In the project I attempted to show what a hiatal hernia would look like (apologies in advance since I’m bad with art).
Hi Michael, Thank you for sharing about your uncle. I had no idea one could develop a Hiatus Hernia from GERD. That sounds awful. Just the thought of having your stomach slip through your diaphragm and into your chest, ouch! I think my coworker might have this, I see her eat tums like they are candy and she is constantly talking about an acidic taste in the back of her mouth. Thanks to your steam project I am now going to encourage her to seek medical attention. Thank you.
After learning about this, I did some more research and found there are actually three types of hiatus hernias; The Sliding hiatal, the Paraoesophageal hernia and then the combination of both the Sliding and the Paraoesophageal hernia. I didn’t know the hernia can cause reflux to the lower esophagus causing coughing episodes and even spasms in the air ways of the lungs. I guess I didn’t realize how serious acid reflux could get. Again thank you for sharing and I like your art, especially the esophagus!!