You searched for: “reflux
reflux
1. A returning flow of something.
2. In medicine, a back-flow of liquid in the opposite direction to its normal movement; for example, the regurgitation of stomach and peptic juices associated with acid indigestion (when liquid backs up into the esophagus from the stomach) and hiatal hernia, the protrusion of the stomach up into the opening that is normally occupied by the esophagus in the diaphragm, which is the muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen.

See related words in this gurgit- unit.

3. In physics, heating while condensing vapor: a method of heating liquid so that escaping vapor is condensed and returned to the liquid.
This entry is located in the following unit: fluct-, flucti-, -flux, flu-, flum-, -fluent, -fluence (page 8)
(Latin: a doorlike structure in a passageway that hinders or prevents the reflux or flowing back of its contents)
Word Entries containing the term: “reflux
pyrosis, acid reflux
1. A technical medical term for what is popularly called "heartburn", a burning sensation in the upper abdomen.
2. An uncomfortable burning sensation in the lower chest, usually caused by stomach acid flowing back into the lower end of the esophagus.
3. A burning sensation, usually centered in the middle of the chest near the sternum, caused by the reflux of acidic stomach fluids that enter the lower end of the esophagus.
This entry is located in the following units: fluct-, flucti-, -flux, flu-, flum-, -fluent, -fluence (page 8) pyro-, pyr- (page 5)
reflux laryngitis
Inflammation of the voice box (the larynx) caused by stomach acid backing up into the esophagus.

Reflux laryngitis is associated with chronic hoarseness and symptoms of esophageal irritation such as "heartburn".

Reflux is caused by a weakness in the muscle at the junction of the esophagus (food tube) and the stomach. Normally, this sphincter muscle opens to allow food to go down to the stomach and closes to keep the stomach's contents from coming back up. The backward movement of stomach contents up into the esophagus is called gastroesophageal reflux.

The refluxed stomach acid irritates the lining of the esophagus, larynx and throat. This can lead to erosion of the lining of the esophagus (erosive esophagitis), narrowing of the esophagus (stricture), chronic hoarseness, chronic throat clearing, difficulty swallowing, cough, spasms of the vocal cords and growths on the vocal cords (granulomas). Reflux also increases the risk of cancer of the esophagus and larynx.

Heartburn is the most common symptom of reflux. Other symptoms include non-cardiac chest pain, chronic hoarseness, asthma, or the feeling of a foreign body in the throat (the globus phenomenon).

—Excerpts for this "reflux laryngitis" section came from
Webster;s New World Medical Dictionary, 3rd edition;
Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey; 2008; page 238.
This entry is located in the following unit: fluct-, flucti-, -flux, flu-, flum-, -fluent, -fluence (page 8)