Page contents
- What is heartburn disease?
- symptoms
- Causes and risk factors
- Multiples
- Diagnosis
- treatment
- protection
- Alternative therapies
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When a person finishes eating a heavy meal and begins to relax or fall asleep, chest pains begin to appear similar to the feeling that the chest is on fire, and this is known as heartburn.
Heartburn is a common phenomenon that is often occasional and of no particular concern. Many people experience heartburn and a burning sensation along or just behind the esophagus on a daily basis.
Heartburn that occurs frequently or even daily is a precursor to gastroesophageal reflux disease, a disease in which stomach acids and sometimes bile juices also back up into the esophagus.
Most people can cope with the discomfort caused by heartburn by making lifestyle changes and by taking over-the-counter medications, but if the heartburn is very severe, all these medications provide is temporary or partial relief of the accompanying symptoms. .
Symptoms of heartburn disease
The initial symptom of heartburn is a feeling of burning and pain in the chest area and below the sternum. This pain may increase and intensify when bending forward, lying on the back, or when eating. Heartburn may appear frequently and intensify at night.
Heartburn disease causes and risk factors
When swallowing, the annular valve at the bottom of the esophagus, which is a ring of muscle around the lower part of the esophagus, opens and allows food and drink to pass through it into the stomach, after which it closes again.
However, if the valve opens by itself or if the muscle is weak, stomach acids may move up into the esophagus and produce heartburn, and the acid leakage increases to the top when lying down or bending forward.
Heartburn and hiatal hernia
Heartburn that occurs frequently and frequently is a precursor of GERD, although other medical conditions such as hernias may also cause heartburn.
When a hernia of this type, also called a hiatal hernia or hiatus hernia, occurs, part of the stomach bulges into the cavity under the chest, and if the hernia is very large, it may worsen heartburn symptoms by weakening the valve at the bottom of the esophagus. .
Heartburn risk factors
There are many factors that may increase the severity of heartburn, including:
- Some specific types of foods such as: fatty foods, spicy foods, chocolate, caffeine, onions, tomato sauce (ketchup), soft drinks, mint.
- Alcoholic beverages.
- Fatty meals.
- Sleeping right after eating.
- Taking certain medications such as: sedatives, antidepressants, and calcium-blocking drugs to treat high blood pressure.
- smoking.
Some conditions that may cause digestive upsets can also increase the risk of heartburn, such as:
1. Overweight
Excess weight causes additional extra pressure on the stomach and the diaphragm, which is the large muscle that separates the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity, which leads to the opening of the valve at the bottom of the esophagus, opening the way for stomach acids to return to the esophagus, and may cause eating fatty or rich meals With fats a similar phenomenon
2. Hiatal hernia
If part of the stomach enters the chest area to a relatively large extent, it may cause additional weakening of the valve muscle at the bottom of the esophagus, which will worsen the heartburn more and more.
3. Pregnancy
Pregnancy creates additional pressure on the stomach and increases the production of the hormone progesterone, this hormone works to relax most of the muscles in the body, including the muscle of the lower esophageal valve.
4. Asthma
Doctors have not yet confirmed the existence of a direct relationship between asthma and heartburn, but the cough associated with asthma, in addition to difficulty breathing, may cause an imbalance of pressure in the chest and abdomen, in addition to some medicines used to treat asthma that expand the respiratory tract.
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5. Diabetes
Gastroparesis is one of the complications of diabetes, which is a disorder in which the stomach needs a longer period of time to empty, and if the contents of the stomach remain for too long, these contents begin to rise up into the esophagus and cause heartburn.
6. Blocked at the gastric outlet
It is a partial blockage that forms as a result of a scar, a peptic ulcer, or a cancerous tumor in the valve area separating the stomach and duodenum. This causes stomach acids to build up and flow up the esophagus.
7. Delayed gastric emptying process
In addition to diabetes and peptic ulcers, muscle or nervous dysfunction may also impede gastric emptying, which leads to the return of gastric acids to the esophagus, and some types of opioid drugs such as: antidepressants or antihistamines contribute to this condition as well.
8. Connective tissue defect
Diseases such as sclerosis, which cause muscle tissue to thicken and swell, may also cause the muscles of the digestive system to contract without relaxing as they should, causing stomach acids to back up into the esophagus.
9. Zollinger-Ellison syndrome
One of the complications of this rare phenomenon is the production of stomach acids in excess, which in turn increases the risk of these acids back up into the esophagus.
Complications of heartburn disease
Most cases of heartburn are transient, acute or chronic heartburn may be an indication of the presence of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Among the complications of this phenomenon are:
- Esophageal irritation and inflammation.
- Slightly increased risk of esophageal cancer.
Diagnosis of heartburn
Diagnosis of heartburn in general and mainly depends on a detailed description of the patient's total symptoms, but if the symptoms are very severe and the patient's body does not respond to treatment, or if the doctor suspects that the patient has gastroesophageal reflux disease or any other disease, he may need to undergo The patient undergoes a number of additional medical examinations, including:
- X-rays with barium.
- Endoscopy.
- Tests to find out the concentration of acidity of the stomach.
Treating heartburn
If the heartburn is moderate and appears infrequently, the symptoms and accompanying phenomena can be alleviated by taking non-prescription medications or by self-treatment.
Among the drugs that are marketed without a prescription:
- antacids;
- H2 receptor blockers.
- Proton pump inhibitors.
If the heartburn is permanent and constant, it may be an indication of gastroesophageal reflux disease, which may lead to esophagitis. This phenomenon generally requires taking strong prescription medications, undergoing accompanying medical treatment and sometimes surgery.
Heartburn prevention
Heartburn can be reduced or even eliminated by making some lifestyle changes, including:
- Maintain a moderate weight.
- Avoid any foods and drinks that aggravate symptoms.
- Wear loose-fitting clothing around the waist.
- Eat smaller meals and try not to overeat.
- Do not smoke.
- Avoid constipation.
- Get enough sleep and reduce stress.
- Not going to sleep immediately after eating.
- Elevate the head area in the bed.
Alternative therapies
There are a number of home medicines that are able to treat the phenomenon of heartburn, but they achieve only temporary relief from its symptoms. These medicines include drinking water with soda powder or drinking soda mixed with water and tartaric acid.
Although these recipes temporarily relieve the symptoms of heartburn by balancing the acidity and washing it, they may in turn worsen the situation by adding excess gas and fluid to the stomach, which increases pressure on the stomach and then produces more stomach acids, which This leads to an increase in the amount of acid back into the esophagus.
The addition of sodium to food would raise blood pressure and increase pressure on the heart, and the excessive digestion of sodium solution would lead to an imbalance in the acid-base balance in the body.
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