Heartburn information

There are times when you may experience a burning and painful discomfort just behind the breastbone. This burning sensation that you are experiencing is commonly called heartburn, and most people tend to suffer from frequent heartburn.

Heartburn doesn't have anything to do with your heart. Rather heartburn is what occurs when digested food juices go back into the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube like structure that connects the throat to your stomach.

When the digested food juices go back into the esophagus it is called reflux. The stomach has a high amount of acid within it to help breakdown the various foods that we eat. There is a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter or LES that normally separates the esophagus from the stomach. It is when the LES fails to work correctly or when it relaxes frequently at the wrong moment that we experience frequent heartburn.

Doctors can easily miss heartburn as the correct diagnosis, and frequently do, heart attack being the more common diagnosis. It's easy to see why really. The chest pain, the burning sensation just behind your breastbone, shortness of breath, blurry vision, all these can be symptoms of either a heart attack, or heartburn.

There are certain triggers in our lifestyles and eating habits that cause heartburn. The triggers vary from person to person, and from lifestyles and dietary habits. However there are some common factors.

They include the following. Eating foods such as citrus fruits and drinks, chocolate, peppermint, tomatoes or tomato-based products and fatty or spicy foods. Drinking beverages such as coffee, tea, and sodas that have caffeine substances in them. Also drinking carbonated fizzy drinks and alcoholic beverages can relax the LES.

Heartburn has varying degrees to it. There is episodic heartburn which is generally experienced. There is the more serious GERD disease. Then there is frequent heartburn. This is the type of heartburn that occurs two or more days a week. Frequent heartburn affects people who may be using medication for heartburn symptoms at least two or more days of the week.

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