The American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines provide rules for preparing manuscripts. This template provides a basic layout based upon the fifth edition of these guidelines. The APA guidelines define an abstract as a single paragraph, without indentation, that summarizes the key points of the manuscript. The purpose of the abstract is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the paper. The total length should not exceed 120 words, with each sentence written concisely.
GERD.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or (GERD) as it is commonly called is a digestive disorder that affects many people in this country. It can be associated with heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest, which most of us have experienced at some point in our lives. It is estimated that 17 million Americans suffer from heartburn and other systems of GERD. (http://www.intelihealth.com) It typically occurs after a large meal, or after eating spicy foods. .
To better understand GERD, let us first examine what happens when we eat. First, we take a bite of food. We begin to chew the food and it mixes with saliva. Once the food has been chewed, we swallow it, and it travels through our esophagus. Chewed food is helped through our esophagus by an action called peristalsis, "a series of squeezing waves that start with the tongue's movement during a swallow and pass all the way down the esophagus" (Sizer & Whitney, 2003, p.78). The saliva helps to lubricate the food. Where the esophagus ends and the stomach begins, there is a muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). This muscle acts like a valve between the esophagus and the stomach (http://www.niddk.nih.gov). When food reaches the LES, it opens to allow the food to enter the stomach. Sometimes, after that large meal, the LES relaxes without food being swallowed. This allows stomach acid to reflux and touch the lining of the esophagus causing that burning sensation we all know as heartburn.