Have you ever experienced these uncomfortable phenomenon immediately after taking down a very nice diet? Have you ever
wondered what might be causing the unpleasant soft burn somewhere around your heart? It feels like someone has just set up a tiny flame inside of you that burns softly.
Heart burn also called pyrosis,cardialgia , or acid indigestion. It is a burning sensation in the chest, somewhere behind the breastbone or in the epigastrium, referring to the upper, central abdomen.
We all know about the esophagus right? The tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. It is made of muscles that work to push food towards the stomach in rhythmic waves.
Within the stomach, food is prevented from refluxing (flowing back into the esophagus), by a special area of circular muscle located at the junction of the esophagus and stomach, called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). A pressure difference across the diaphragm, the flat muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen, also tends to keep stomach contents within the stomach.
The stomach was designed to combines food together with acids, and enzymes so as to break them down, that is digestion. There are special protective cells that line the stomach to prevent the acid from causing inflamation on the walls of the stomach but the walls of the esophagus does not have this protection on them, and if stomach
acid and digestive juices reflux back into the esophagus, they can cause inflammation and damage to its unprotected lining and when this occurs, that is when.we feel the burning pain.
Common Treatments For Heart Burn
- Eat smaller, more frequent meals
- Avoid eating before bedtime
- Avoid alcohol, aspirin, ibuprofen, and caffeine
- Stop smoking
- Elevate the head of the bed (or use two or three pillows) to allow gravity to keep acid in the stomach and avoid acid reflux.
- Take Antacids after meals, at bedtime, or when needed, to bind excess acid in the stomach and to coat the esophagus.
- Take it easy when we consume some common foods and drinks stimulate or cause irritations which increase stomach acid secretion which can set the stage for heartburn. Examples of these irritants include:
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Aspirin (Bayer, etc.),
- Buprofen (Motrin, Advil, Nuprin, etc)
- Naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve)
- Carbonated beverages,
- Acidic juices (grapefruit, orange, pineapple) and
- chocolate.
Etc......
Heartburn appears not to be so complicated but sometimes if ignored can put on some red lights. Recurrent irritation and inflammation of the esophagus can lead to ulcers. These can cause serious bleeding.
Scarring and stricture during acid reflux can changes the type of cells lining the esophagus, causing a condition known as Barrett's esophagus, which is associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer.
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