After savoring a delicious meal, heartburn is the last thing one wants. The uncomfortable feeling, the burning in the chest; although heartburn is common among many, it can become serious to some.
Because of its unpleasant nature, heartburn can seem worse in itself, but according to Dr. Michael Chiorean, assistant professor of medicine, division of gastroenterology, Indiana University, heartburn is a symptom in the disease called GERD, which stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Doctors debate over the true meaning of heartburn but usually it’s characterized by burning behind the breastbone that moves up from the stomach into the chest and sometimes into the throat.
Other symptoms include regurgitation and chest pain.
“It is described by patients as being a pain, not very unlike cardiac chest pain. That’s why one of the most common things under the branch of cardiac chest pain is reflux disease,” said Chiorean.
“If you have pain behind your breastbone, it is important to make sure it is not caused by a problem with your heart,” added Healthwise, a consumer health content provider, in a recent report.
Healthwise also goes on to say heartburn can be caused by eating too much, or bending forward after eating. Stomach acid and juices flow from the stomach back up into the esophagus, a tube that leads from the throat to the stomach.
“Acid should stay in the stomach below the diaphragm,” added Chiorean.
Even though 80 percent of those with heartburn symptoms have reflux, having occasional heartburn doesn’t mean you have GERD. Signs that do point you into the doctor’s office happen when there’s difficulty swallowing. Due to the long-term exposure to acid, ulcers can develop in the esophagus causing scarring that narrows the esophagus.
To test for GERD, there are several methods such as an endoscopy, a test that lets the doctor look inside the esophagus and stomach using a tiny camera, or an upper gastrointestinal series using X-rays.
In severe cases, esophageal cancer can develop characterized by bleeding, difficulty swallowing and weight loss. Studies show about 16 percent of the population experiences heartburn at least once a week, but the rate of esophageal cancer is extremely low.
Those who experience mild symptoms of heartburn, can find relief right in their local drug store, which include H2 blockers like Pepcid, or a proton pump inhibitor such as Prilosec OTC. Over the counter drugs do provide short term relief, but once symptoms are more than once a week, the feeling of food sticking on the way down, difficulty swallowing, weight loss, bleeding, or anemia, those are signs for medical evaluation.
