“What is heartburn? Is it a mild condition a person experiences before heart attacks? Is it another kind of health condition?” These are the questions most people ask when they first experience mild to severe chest pains. Because the pain often occurs on the chest area, many people confuse these symptoms to a heart attack.

Knowing what heartburn is can help you prevent possible panic or concern that you or your loved one is experiencing a heart attack. If you know what heartburn is, you can immediately take antacids or other prescribed medication to relieve the pain. However, understanding what heartburn is can also help you seek medical attention right away when you are actually having a heart attack.

Since many people know that symptoms of heartburn and heart attack are similar, they often disregard the chest pains and take heartburn medication. While the condition can be a simple heartburn treatable by antacids, it could also be a fatal condition. Differentiating each condition can save your life when chest pains occur.

Heartburn versus Heart Attacks

Heartburn is the result of stomach acid that reacts strongly to specific foods during digestion. When this happens, juices of stomach acid push upward to the unprotected esophagus, causing a chemical burn that you feel in your chest region.

In normal digestion, your esophagus (located from your mouth to the stomach) should never be exposed to harmful stomach acids. Since the stomach has mucus that protects the lining from acid, these juices cannot damage your stomach.

On the other hand, your esophagus does not have this kind of protection, making it sensitive to acid exposure. It does, however, have a sphincter muscle that works as a one-way valve. When this muscle becomes weak or damages, stomach acid can enter the esophagus causing heartburn episodes.

This condition is called gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

When a person experiences heart attack, the pain radiates through the back and to the arms, causing dull heaviness in the chest region. On the other hand, heartburn symptoms are often experienced in the central chest and cause sharp chest pains. Understanding what is heartburn and the difference of this condition to an authentic heart attack is very important.

When you’re in doubt of taking antacids for heartburns or rushing to the hospital to receive a check up for possible heart attacks, it is always the best idea to seek medical attention immediately. Remember that is better to be sent home instantly with a prescription for heartburn medication rather than to diagnose your cardiac pains as heartburn episodes.

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People with heartburn experience chest pains that begin at their breastbone and rises up to the neck and throat. They can also experience that liquids or food is coming back up into their throat or mouth.

Many people describe a bitter or sour taste in their mouth during heartburn, while others report an increased pain in the chest, especially when bending forward or lying down.

There are several causes for heartburn or acid reflux, which are the common reasons for this uncomfortable chest pain. Over 90% of people with this condition report that the cause for their heartburn is linked to the food or drink they consume.

Spotting the foods that triggers your heartburn episodes is important to prevent these conditions from occurring in the future.

Tea, coffee and other caffeinated drinks relaxes the LES (lower esophageal sphincter), which is responsible for keeping stomach acid out of the esophagus. When the LES relaxes, stomach acid pushes back into your esophagus, which is one of the major causes for heartburn.

Chocolate, citrus fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, tomato-based products and alcoholic beverages are also main causes for heartburn because they also relax the LES, preventing it to function normally. On the other hand, eating fatty foods and tobacco smoking can weaken the LES and increase the pressure on your stomach, causing the reflux of stomach acid into your esophagus.

Medical Causes for Heartburn

The causes for heartburn are medically described as the feeling when the juices of stomach acid flow backwards into your esophagus. This occurs when the LES relaxes or becomes unable to function properly.

When the LES functions normally, this valve opens a door that enables food into your stomach to come in, but not go out the same way. When your LES relaxes, it allows the acid juices to flow upward to where they came from – straight to the esophagus. As a result, this acid endangers your esophagus from the harmful acid from your stomach. Doctors refer to this condition as GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).

In general, the causes for heartburn may vary depending on personal lifestyle and dietary habits. However, regardless of the things that trigger heartburn, they contribute to the occurrence of heartburns by increasing acid production in your stomach, increasing relaxation levels of your LES, increasing stomach pressure (through dressing in tight clothes or sleeping right after eating a heavy meal), and by making your esophagus more sensitive to stomach acid.

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Heartburn is an uncomfortable burning sensation or pain below the breastbone or sometimes goes up to the neck. Heartburn symptoms usually appear when lying down, after meals or when sleeping. Most of the time, heartburn is due to GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease – the condition wherein your stomach acid rises back up into your esophagus.

If you experience burning sensations that may mimic the signs of asthma or heart attack, then you may be experiencing heartburn symptoms. You should not disregard these signs and symptoms because it could lead to other serious health conditions.

Heartburn symptoms may also occur due to negative interactions with specific drugs, such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sedatives, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers used for high blood pressure, bronchodilators, progestin hormones and other drugs. However, it is not recommended to stop medication without proper medical consultation.

The most common heartburn symptom is the pain described as a burning sensation or feeling in the chest. This sensation usually spreads up to the neck, throat, jaws, arms and back. This is the main reason why many people mistake heartburn with heart attacks.

For this reason, you should never predict that your condition is truly a representation of heartburn symptoms and not heart attacks. Seek medical attention immediately when chest pains occur.

Heartburn symptoms usually occur an hour or less after fatty and protein-rich meals. Chest pains are worse when you are bending forward, lying down or straining your back.

However, it can be easily relieved by standing or sitting upright, drinking water, swallowing saliva or taking medications.

When To Seek Medical Help

Heartburn symptoms may vary from one person to the next. Some people can experience a sour or bitter taste in their mouth after eating, while others may affect their throats. Because different people experience different stressful conditions and eat or drink different foods, they also experience various levels of heartburn.

If the acid in your stomach remains for a longer time, your esophagus can become damaged, making it difficult for you to swallow. In serious cases of heartburn, you can experience dehydration, weight loss, bleeding esophagus or blood in your vomit and bowel movements. Although some of these conditions occur on severe cases of heartburn, it is still best to spot those heartburn symptoms early to ensure proper treatment before it leads to serious health risks.

Seek medical attention when antacids and other medications do not work. Consult your doctor if heartburn persists more than three weeks, even after changing your eating patterns. If you can’t spot heartburn symptoms, but feel like you’re having intense chest pains, call your health care provider immediately.

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If you want to stop heartburn attacks without taking daily doses of antacids, you can do it naturally by following some lifestyle changes. Although antacids work effectively in relieving pain or burning sensations in your stomach, these medications are ideal for stress-related heartburns that attack as a result of stressful conditions or environments.

However, for people who frequently experience heartburns, it is about time to stop heartburn attacks for good without being very dependent to medications. In order to prevent the occurrences of heartburn, you should watch what you eat and drink because over 90% of people who experience this condition link the symptoms to specific foods.

The first thing you can do to stop heartburn naturally is to watch your food portion size. Since large meals often have higher fat contents, these foods stay longer in your stomach. As a result, the acid contents of the food directly affect your esophagus, causing heartburn. For this reason, you should eat small portions of food and take them within four to five hours.

Although food is the main cause of heartburn, you can never pinpoint which specific foods are the culprits. In order to discover the foods that trigger your heartburn, you should keep notes of what you eat or drink and record the symptoms you feel when you are experiencing heartburn.

Foods To Avoid That Could Stop Heartburn

When you eat right, you can stop heartburn easily. When you know the foods that usually trigger heartburn and you determined which specific foods cause your body to experience burning sensations, then you can avoid these foods and drinks, while developing a healthy eating habit.

Be aware that two kinds of foods commonly cause heartburn – protein-rich and high-fat foods. When you choose low-fat alternatives and reduce the amount of protein in your diet, you are about 50% on your way to stop heartburn for good.

Although “trigger foods” may vary from one person to the next, some foods and drinks are more likely to allow stomach acid in splashing up to your esophagus. You can stop heartburn by avoiding or reducing the consumption of meats, fats, oils, carbonated and caffeinated drinks, sweets, acid-rich fruits and vegetables, acid juices, grains and dairy.

Smoking also plays a large role in putting pressure on your stomach, forcing the acid content to push back into your esophagus. By avoiding these foods, changing some eating patterns and adding some changes to your lifestyle, you can stop heartburn and yield the long-term benefits of your food choices.

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Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, is a burning or painful sensation in a person’s esophagus caused by the regurgitation of gastric acid. Since the esophagus is located just below the breastbone, many people mistake heartburn from a heart attack. However, when heartburn occurs, the pain rises in the chest and then radiates to the throat, neck or jaw.

Contrary to popular belief, this condition has nothing to do with the heart. It is just called as so because of the pain or burning sensation near the heart. However, some heart diseases have similar symptoms to heartburn. This condition is also identified as chronic cough and could sometimes mimics the symptoms of asthma.

Stress-related conditions could cause heartburn.

Some foods can give a burning sensation in the esophagus, such as chocolate, caffeinated drinks, alcoholic beverages, red wine, carbonated drinks, citrus fruits, tomatoes, peppermint, spicy foods, peanuts or other dry foods and fatty foods.

Treatments Of Heartburn

Pyrosis usually attacks people when lying down. When this happens, you should raise your head with pillows to relieve the pain. You can also avoid any strains on the neck and refrain from eating foods before bedtime to prevent possible attacks.

If preventive measures did not treat your heartburn attacks, doctors can provide you with medications depending on your condition. Antacids, proton pump inhibitors and h2-receptor antagonists are commonly used to relieve symptoms. Antacids and other acid-blocking medication are the most effective treatment for over 25% of people with mild forms of this condition.

When heartburn occurs and you have no medicine available, you can drink a large glass of water. Some doctors suggest water to dilute the high levels of acid in the stomach, which could allow the pain to subside temporarily.

When antacids and other acid blockers do not work, proton pump inhibitors can be an effective alternative to treat heartburn. These inhibitors work by directly blocking the production of acid in your stomach cells and providing instant relief. Once the inhibitors reach your stomach, it disables the “protein proton pumps”, which controls the stomach pH levels. 

H2-receptor antagonists work by decreasing the acid production of “parietal cells” in the stomach. However, with the popularity of proton pump inhibitors, these h2-receptor antagonists are rarely used.

For those who wish to avoid medicine and look for natural alternatives, you can simply change your eating habits, refrain from fatty foods and avoid some foods that may cause heartburn. Be aware that over 90% of people who experience heartburn are caused by specific foods.

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