Tag Archives: heartburn

Halt Heartburn With Three Lifestyle Changes

Are you ready to beat heartburn? Recurring heartburn can disrupt your eating habits AND your sleeping habits. Believe it or not, food isn’t generally the cause of recurring heartburn. Stanford University reviewed one hundred different studies on heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease to figure out the most effective remedies. Stopping the late-night snacks or changing what you eat in the evening didn’t make the list. Here’s what did. Lose weight. Dropping twenty pounds or more can reduce your heartburn or GERD symptoms by as much as forty percent! Doctors think that the weight loss does two things for you: it … Continue reading →

Out to Eat with All the Boys

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It’s very hard for a family with five boys ages two through eight to go out to eat. We have been able to go to Luby’s, but that is when Nancy and I are both feeling very energetic and patient. Little things like having the trays carried to the table by cafeteria staff are a given. The bright side is that with the children’s plate going for $2.99, we can get out cheaper than at a fast food place. Two years ago in a weak moment, we decided that it was time to actually try to go out to dinner. … Continue reading →

Heartburn or Heart Attack

One of the most common reasons for a person to visit the emergency room is for chest pains. But is that chest pain a heart attack, or just a really bad case of heartburn? Knowing the symptoms can help you determine when you’ve got an emergency on your hands. Heartburn and heart attacks frequently occur in similar types of people — especially overweight people and older people. Believe it or not, the pain of a heart attack and the pain of a severe case of heartburn can be difficult for even the experts to distinguish. A person with severe chest … Continue reading →

Heartburn

Heartburn isn’t really about your heart. It is a common condition of the stomach and esophagus — more than sixty million Americans experience heartburn symptoms at least once a month. Heartburn is also known as acid indigestion. When you swallow, food goes down your throat and esophagus, through a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter, and into the stomach. The valve closes when you have finished swallowing. The stomach releases acids to break down the food and start the digestion process. If your lower esophageal sphincter opens too often or does not close tightly, stomach acid can creep back up … Continue reading →

What Is GERD?

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You may have heard of reflux, reflux esophagitis, or even hiatus hernia… all of these are names for GERD: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. GERD is a backflow of acid from the stomach into the esophagus. Just about everybody experiences reflux at some point in their lives — if you’ve had heartburn, you’ve probably had gastroesophageal reflux. GERD is a step beyond, when the reflux is bad enough and frequent enough to damage the esophagus and alter your quality of life. The main symptoms of GERD are: Heartburn Regurgitation of sour-tasting stomach acid into the mouth Difficulty swallowing or painful swallowing Chest … Continue reading →

Coping with Heartburn

Heartburn is a common complaint during pregnancy. More than half of all pregnant women will experience this discomfort to some degree. For some, it is a minor irritation that requires little or no treatment. For other women, it can be very uncomfortable and interfere with eating and sleeping. Heartburn occurs when acid from the stomach moves up into the esophagus. There are a few reasons for heartburn during pregnancy. There is a muscle at the top of the stomach that usually helps keep stomach acids contained. During pregnancy, hormonal changes cause this muscle to become relaxed, allowing acids to escape. … Continue reading →