Heartburn

Heartburn symptoms occur behind the sternum - the central breastbone. The location, near the heart, is the reason for the name "heartburn," but the heart is not involved.

Heartburn symptoms are most frequently described as a burning sensation. Some may say they feel heat or warmth in the upper abdomen. Others describe heartburn symptoms as pain in the lower chest, trouble swallowing, nausea, gas, and bloating. Some people have difficulty sleeping due to heartburn symptoms. Heartburn symptoms can feel much like heart attack symptoms. If you have heart disease, or are at risk for heart disease, seek medical attention immediately, even though you believe it may be heartburn. It is not worth risking serious or fatal results.

The stuff we eat and drink travels from the mouth to the stomach by way of a tube known as the esophagus. In between your stomach and the esophagus there is a valve in whose task is to hold food in the stomach, once it arrives there. Unfortunately, if the valve gets loose or will not perform properly, what we have enjoyed, together with the acid in the stomach, can rise back up the esophagus even to the back to the throat, setting up the condition of heartburn . Developing constant heartburn is definitely the result of the valve between the esophagus and the stomach being weakened and not closing properly, suggesting we've developed a condition identified as Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD for short. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can be treated with life style changes