Are you suffering from heartburn or acid reflux? Well, you are definitely not alone.
Heartburn is such a common condition that it probably affects millions of people every single day.
For those who are suffering from very mild heartburn, you can easily improve your health by implementing some basic diet and lifestyle changes.
However, for those with more serious conditions, you may have to consume some medications under the advice of a qualified medical professional.
So what is heartburn in the first place? Is it a condition of the heart? Well, the answer is a 'no'.
Although this disorder is called 'heart'burn, it is definitely not a disorder of the heart.
Instead, heartburn is a disorder of the digestive system.
How does heartburn occur? Heartburn usually happen just after a meal.
When we are consuming our meals, the food first enters the mouth.
After we swallow, the food pass through the esophagus, which is essentially a pathway linking the mouth to the stomach.
Eventually, the food will enter the stomach after passing through the esophagus.
Once the food is inside the stomach, the stomach acid will commence that digestion process.
At the lower part of the esophagus, there is this valve called the LES.
The purpose of the LES is to stop the stomach acid from entering the esophagus.
However, there are times where the LES fails to function properly.
When this happens, the stomach acid will have a chance to flow into the esophagus.
In case you do not know, the stomach acid is extremely acidic.
The stomach itself is protected by a protective layer so that it doesn't get 'burned' by the stomach acid.
However, our esophagus isn't protected by this protective layer.
Thus, when the stomach acid flows into the esophagus, it will burned the tissues of the esophagus, causing a burning sensation knowns as heartburn.
Common medications that are being used to treat heartburn includes antacid, H2 blockers and prokinetics.