Even without knowing the causes of heartburn you know why the name is appropriate.
It feels as though a fire is raging in your chest. The pain can be so intense, in fact, that some people rush to the emergency room in fear they're having a heart attack.
But contrary to its name and its sensation, heartburn has nothing to do with the heart.
It's a burning sensation and pain in the stomach and/or chest, behind the breastbone and is related to indigestion.
In fact, people use different names to describe the same digestive discomfort, but whatever we call it, we're probably trying o describe the uncomfortable results of a meal that disagreed with us.
Discomfort may be mild and infrequent, intermittent, or intense and constant.
Apart from the burning pain in the chest, other
symptoms of heartburn may be:
In industrialized countries heartburn and indigestion are quite common. In fact, approximately 60 millions of Americans suffer from these conditions.
Heartburn occurs when hydrochloric acid (HCl), which is produced by the stomach to digest food, heads in the wrong direction and backs up into the oesophagus, the tube that connects the mouth with the stomach, causing sensitive tissues to become irritated.
Normally, a tight little muscle at the base of the oesophagus, called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), prevents juices from escaping, by pinching itself shut once food has entered the stomach.
But, like an old rubber band, this muscular ring can become weakened and stretched so it no longer snaps tightly shut. Or it may relax and spring open at the wrong time.
In either case, acid-laden digestive juices and partially digested food spill past it and back into the oesophagus, causing the "burning" sensation that is heartburn or acid reflux along with a bitter acid taste in the mouth.
The tender lining of the oesophagus, unlike that of the stomach, was not made to endure contact with such caustic substances and thus reacts with irritation and pain.
This is also called gastroesophageal reflux, and conditions that affect the oesophagus and cause a reflux of stomach acids into the oesophagus are now referred as gastroesophageal reflux diseases (GERD) rather than dyspepsia, chronic heartburn or acid indigestion.
GERD can scar the oesophagus and if stomach acids make their way into the lungs, it can cause asthma-like symptoms.
GERD can also lead to a condition called Barrett's oesophagus, which is characterised by changes in the cells lining the oesophagus that results in scarring, constriction of the oesophagus and swallowing disorders. Although Barrett's doesn't cause cancer, it often precedes it.
If you're not sure which foods affect you, you might want to try an Elimination Diet to find out.
SEE YOUR DOCTOR IF:
Unquestionably, what you eat is a prime - and perhaps THE prime - factor in whether heartburn strikes, how severe it is and whether it worsens through the years.
According to Donald Castell, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, although some people may be born anatomically more vulnerable to heartburn, most often the predisposing culprit is your dietary pattern. He blames diet greatly for both bringing on and aggravating heartburn.
A tiny amount of reflux may causes no problem because the area just above the sphincter contains glands that will secrete enough alkaline juices to neutralize the acid.
It's comforting to know that the oesophagus has an amazing ability to self-repair. But repeated attacks or larger quantities of acid will causes pain and burning and, eventually, erosion of the unprotected lining of the gullet.
Much more is said about digestion in Indigestion Causes and Symptoms, where I discuss the role of digestive enzymes and stomach acid.
And the article Natural
Remedies for Heartburn vs. Antacids discusses in detail how digestion works and how antacid
medications deal with the symptoms.
So it's essential that you find out how changing your diet can deal with the causes of heartburn and get to the root of the problem by reading the following articles:
Heartburn Remedies and Indigestion Relief
Heartburn During Pregnancy - Healing Foods to Relieve Heartburn
Return to Foods' Healing Power Homepage from Causes of Heartburn
Causes of Heartburn and Acid Reflux
Indigestion Causes and Symptoms
Natural Remedies for Heartburn
Heartburn Remedies and Indigestion Relief
Heartburn During Pregnancy - Healing Foods to Relieve Heartburn
This book will show you how Heartburn and Acid reflux are not diseases that require expensive drugs for the rest of your life!
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.