Pain the chest, upper abdomen, a sign of heartburn

When there is unexplained pain in the chest or upper gastrointestinal tract, that may be a sign of an increased risk of death from alcohol-related causes, pneumonia or lung cancer.


Thus, people with these symptoms are likely to be hospitalized for "ischemic" heart disease - the type of heart disease caused by restricted blood flow in heart arteries which Dr. Estrid Muff Munk and colleagues from Aarhus University Hospital found.

The researchers noticed that when a patient with pain in the chest or the upper abdomen has normal results on a test called endoscopy, in which a scope is used to view the inside of the esophagus and the stomach, the pain may be due to undiagnosed ischemic heart disease.

To date, studies have shown that patients with this type of pain and normal upper endoscopy results have not excluded those with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or ulcers, they add. "Thus, it is uncertain whether all study subjects had truly unexplained pain."


To address this issue, researchers looked at heart disease risk and death over a 10-year period in 386 patients with pain in the chest or upper abdomen, normal upper endoscopy and no existing heart disease, and 3,793 control patients. They excluded patients with reflux, heartburn or other symptoms of GERD or ulcers.

The patients with unexplained pain were 60 percent more likely to be hospitalized over the next 10 years. They also were more than twice as likely to die within the first year of their endoscopy, while mortality risk was elevated for up to five years after the test.

Their risk of death from alcohol dependence, pneumonia or lung cancer was triple that of the general population.

Unexplained chest pain and upper abdominal pain in patients with a normal endoscopy test "is a strong marker for ischemic heart disease and increased mortality," they conclude.

[SOURCE: BMC Gastroenterology, published online July 15, 2008.]

Thus, I believe that once you start to experience the symptoms that indicate you may be having heartburn acid reflux problem, it is best to consult your doctor

How To Relief From Acid Reflux

Heartburn acid reflux is a very common health problem for many people worldwide. Thus, you are not alone.

Here is a video that illustrate how you relieve yourself from heartburn acid reflux


Another important factor that you must look into is your diet. Do you know which types of you food will trigger off your heartburn causing your discomfort?

There is a well-written article about the types of food you should avoid in order not to trigger your acid reflux symptoms.

=====> What Types of Heartburn Foods to Avoid?

Also there is a latest update on dietary changes for GERD and acid reflux patients. Click here for more details - Dietary Changes and GERD / Acid Reflux: The Latest Research

Natural Heartburn Cures

Heartburn is one of the most common and painful ailments that mankind ever suffer. In fact, the drug companies come up with many different prescriptions and medicines very often to help to you combat your heartburn. As you know that taking too much drugs is not good for your health ultimately. You know that heartburn do not happen overnight, hence you can try some other natural heartburn remedies to help you.

Here are some natural cures for heartburn acid reflux, there are a few in particular that you will want to consider.

Orange Peel ExtractOne of the best natural cures for acid reflux is orange peel extract. It has been studied in several clinical trials, and in all of these studies, it proved as being successful in the relieving of acid reflux and heartburn. Scientists believe that orange peel extract helps by moving food through to the stomach effectively and efficiently, and food doesn't stay in the esophagus longer than necessary, lessening the chances for heartburn to develop.

Herbal RemediesThere are various different herbal remedies that can be used for acid reflux. These herbs include chamomile, meadowsweet, slippery elm, cancer bush, fennel, catnip, angelica root gentian root, ginger root, and other botanicals. Modern herbalists have found that a combination of several of these herbs can be even more effective, and so you should take some time and try out a few different combinations in order to see what works best for you.

Proper DietThis is one of the most obvious, and easiest natural cures for acid reflux. Simply by eating fruits, vegetables, and an otherwise healthy and nutritious diet, you will be able to relieve any existing acid reflux problems that you have, as well as prevent any problems with this disease in the future.

As everyone is different, it is not necessarily that all the natural heartburn remedies will work for one person. You need to try out more different things. If you are interested, you can check here:

Video #1: Understanding What Is Heartburn

There is a great video that illustrate what is heartburn. Hope this will help you to understand more about it.



If you are interested to learn more about Heartburn, you check out this Heartburn Blog.

Doctors renew focus on worst acid reflux cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Chronic heartburn is a daily acid bath for the esophagus, and complications from it are on the rise. With the new government figures, it show a worrisome rise in esophagus disorders from severe acid reflux.

To make things worse, esophageal cancer is continuing increase as the nation's fastest-growing malignancy.

More doctors are trying to zap away the worst damage, beaming radiofrequency energy down the throat to burn off precancerous cells.

Heartburn sometimes is a temporary problem, but it also can signal gastrointestinal reflux disease, or GERD, where a loose valve allows stomach acid to regularly back up into the delicate esophagus. Millions have GERD, which is on the rise along with expanding waistlines. For most people, acid-suppressing medications are the answer.

But severe reflux over many years can cause serious problems for a fraction of people. The lining of the esophagus erodes until it bleeds, narrows to make swallowing difficult or, worse, starts to repair itself with more acid-resistant intestinal cells that happen to be more cancer-prone. That last condition is called Barrett's esophagus, and sufferers are 30 times more likely than the average person to go on to develop esophageal cancer.

[Source - Associated Press]

Surgery may cure heartburn

This is an interesting article that I got it from The Detroit News:

Dear Dr. Donohue: I have been suffering from GERD for 19 years. Stomach acid stays in my throat. I have tried all kinds of medicines, but they make things worse. I have had acid tests with a tube in my throat that indicated an acid rise when I step out of bed. Why on an empty stomach? My sphincter muscle doesn't work. I had a procedure called EndoCinch; it didn't work. I spoke to a surgeon about laparoscopic surgery. Do you feel surgery would benefit me?

L.T.

Dear L.T.: You'd be hard-pressed to find a single person who hasn't had at least one episode of GERD -- gastroesophageal reflux disease, or heartburn, in common language. It's often felt on an empty stomach. Food initially neutralizes stomach acid, but some foods do increase acid production shortly after they hit the stomach.

GERD is like Old Faithful, except instead of water, it is a geyser of stomach acid, which shoots up into the esophagus because of a lax sphincter (SFINK-tur) muscle. The sphincter, if working, would shut and prevent the upward spurt of acid. Sometimes, as in your case, stomach acid can rise as high as the throat and mouth to cause hoarseness, cough or an awful taste sensation.

Have you tried the non-medicine approaches that can sometimes control GERD? Chocolate, peppermint, spearmint, coffee (including decaf), other caffeine-containing foods and drinks, citrus fruits, tomato products, high-fat foods, garlic, onions and spicy foods often make it worse. Six-inch blocks under the bedposts at the head of the bed keep stomach acid in the stomach during sleep. Weight loss, if needed, is another way to stop stomach acid from spurting up. Small meals, slowly chewed, help. Smoking and alcohol aggravate GERD.

If nothing works, surgery is a definite option. The Nissan fundoplication is successful 90 percent of the time. It can be done with a scope. The upper part of the stomach is wrapped around the lower esophagus to create a barrier to acid reflux. A number of procedures, like your EndoCinch, can be done through a gastroscope -- a scope passed into the esophagus through the mouth. The long-term results of these procedures aren't as well-known.

The booklet on GERD, heartburn and hiatal hernia discusses these topics in depth. Readers can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue -- No. 501, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Can. with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

Write to Dr. Paul Donohue at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

Learn about the Foods Heartburn Sufferers MUST Avoid

What acid reflux foodstuffs must I avoid?

It is a perplexing question for many heartburn sufferers. Making changes in your diet and lifestyle have been shown to be natural components of any long-term holistic acid treatment and they cannot be dissociated either. A preference for healthy foods and selective nutrition to ban certain foods and eat more of others can show long-term health benefits to acid reflux sufferers.

The reduction of the consumption of unsuitable foods and the adoption of new diet habits in particular to aid digestion for heartburn sufferers could create a very positive effect on your current heartburn conditions.

The kind of food we eat determines how we can maintain the delicate and natural equilibrium inside our bodies. Certain dietary customs and nutritional habits have been shown to contribute indirectly or directly to the degradation of a heartburn condition.

These kinds of foods are:

Drinks with caffeine content like coffee. They cause increase acidity, so stop consuming large cups of coffee. Where possible, halve your cup of coffee to give two separate drinks and drink less coffee before going to sleep. Do not go over two cups of coffee per day and reduce even further if you can.

Alcohol can also be at the same time a relaxant for the LES muscle and an irritant for the stomach, causing an increase in acidity and reflux.

Foods high in fat content have a longer digestion time and take more effort for your body to get rid of them. They increase the risk of acid refluxing into your esophagus and are among the worst delinquents for triggering acid reflux symptoms. The exceptions are fish and fish oil omega-3 fatty acids. These are actually strong anti-inflammatory substances.

If you are addicted to chocolate, go for dark, organic types in preference to others limiting your consumption to two or three little two or three times in any week. Containing large quantities of caffeine and fat, chocolate can also lead to heightened acidity and degraded digestion, and thus should not be consumed.

Before going to sleep, make sure that you do not drink milk or consume any products based on milk containing a lot of calcium.

Leave aside food with strong mint. The same goes for herbal tea that is mint-based. Acid reflux symptoms can be aggravated still more by peppermint and spearmint amongst others.

The esophageal sphincter is also liable to open in response to cruciferous vegetables (such as spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli) and foods high in acid (tomatoes and oranges, to take two examples) leading to further acid reflux.

So finally, which acid reflux food has to be taken out of your nutrition? It doesn't matter what your current level of acid reflux level is; when you make the choice of an improved quality of life, you can make the choice to terminate heartburn permanently, with a holistic solution. You can move to eliminate acid reflux and put your well-being and quality of life on a different level, by making these modifications in your diet and having the right motivation to revamp your lifestyle.

The keys to solving the problem will be yours. To learn more, click here to find out in more details and steps to prevent your heartburn symptoms.

Heartburn Cures - Heartburn & Diet Part 1

The occurrence of heartburn is closely related to your daily diet.

Everything in your body must have a good balance and interestingly, our human body is like a miracle of systems that manage to maintain all the right conditions to keep everything running smoothly. Hence, the stomach regulates acidic digestion with enzymes that convert acids into manageable alkaline or basal substances, this creates an acidic balance or equilibrium.

However, when there is an over-production of stomach acid, which usually with the help of lifestyle choices like overeating or smoking, heartburn is likely to occur. If it goes unregulated or treated, heartburn disease can develop and become cancerous.

One of the most important things you can do to cool heartburn down is to avoid certain foods. In many cases, just changing the diet is all that is necessary to control acid reflux. Most health care professionals recommend a low-acid diet consisting of more alkaline or basal foods. Foods such as chocolate, foods with a lot of extra cheese, tomato sauce or catsup based foods, onions, chilies, caffeinated beverages, fatty or fried foods, alcohol, mint, and citrus fruits have been known to aggravate digestion, acting as catalysts for acid reflux.

Heartburn Cures - Black Raspberries May Protect Against GERD Cancer

The black raspberry may be one of the reason why Barrett’s Esophagus patients can use to stay strong and prevent their heartburn acid reflect condition from turning into cancer, health professionals said.

According to the National Institutes of Health, Barrett’s Esophagus is a condition which the esophagus changes so that some of its lining is replaced by a type of tissue similar to that normally found in the intestine. The condition usually starts as heartburn acid reflux problem which affects about 700,000 Americans.

For more than 10 years, Danny Harris has struggled with heartburn after he eats. He learned his reflux had turned into Barrett’s Esophagus, and that an interesting thing happened when he ate black raspberries.

“I really didn’t have any flare-ups or episodes after I had taken the berries,” he said.

Harris was part of a new study led by a research team at Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. For six months, he and other Barrett’s Esophagus patients drank a black raspberry powder and water mix.

The study said that the black raspberry actually helped many patients to reverse the negative impact of the reflux acid. Nearly every four in 10 patients saw a boost in a protective enzyme and six in 10 saw a decline in oxidative stress, which can cause cell damage, researchers said.

Researchers said they believe the fruit’s combination of nutrients gives it super healing power.

“They’re really strong antioxidants. They’re also a good source of multi-vitamins and minerals,” Dr. Laura Kresty of Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center said.

A larger study is likely the next step to see if black raspberries yield more positive results for patients with Barrett’s Esophagus, officials said.

Night-time Heatburn Cures

Here are the simple ways that you can help to prevent having night-time heartburn symptoms:

1. After you eat, walk around to help with your digestion. Do not lie down immediately for 2 to 3 hours after you eat. Sitting upright with the help of gravity can drain food and stomach acid into your stomach and intestines.

2. Avoid taking snack before going to sleep. Eating close to bedtime can set off heartburn symptoms.

3. Have your meals about 2 to 3 hours before your bedtime. This gives time for the food to digest.

4. Eat less spicy food and fatty food. These foods can easily trigger heartburn.

5. Adopt new habits of eating your food slowly and eat smaller and frequent meals instead of having a quick bit or 3 large meals a day. These new habits can help to avert activating heartburn acid refluet symptoms

6. Cut back on stuff like chocolate, mint, citrus, tomatoes, pepper, vinegar, catsup and mustard.

7. Avoid drinks that can activate reflux, like alcohol, drinks with caffeine and carbonated drinks. Alcohol can relax the esophageal sphincter, worsening GERD, so avoid it.

Natural Heartburn Cures: Chamomile

Chamomile has many medicinal uses. It is often used to treat motion sickness, tension, restlessness, spasms, headaches, migraine and depression.

It is often taken as tea. Chamomile tea is an extremely effective remedy for hysterical and nervous breakdowns and is also used as an emmenagogue.

When chamomile flower combined with ginger and alkalies, this cold infusion proves an excellent tonic to indigestion problems such as flatulent colic, heartburn, acid reflex, loss of appetite, and also in gout and periodic headache.

For more other natural remedies using chamomile, find out from Alternative medicine: Chamomile

Heartburn Cures Overcome Acid Reflux Symptoms during Holiday Season

Pat Baird, Registered Dietitian and National Heartburn Alliance (NHBA) member offers some ways to overcome our heartburn or acid reflux symptoms.

- DO NOT overindulge yourself. Eat only smaller portions of your favorite holiday foods. Bear in mind that too much good things can lead to heartburn.

- Avoid heartburn trigger foods like red wine, alcoholic beverage, fatty foods and spicy foods.

- Avoid eating late at night or right before going to bed. This is to decrease your chances of suffering from nighttime heartburn.

- Relax. During the holidays, stress levels tend increase because of the anxiety of getting things ready for the holidays. Holidays are meant to let you wind down and enjoy your family and friends times. Every day, just give yourself 15 minutes to relax and do nothing. How about taking a 10-minute walk after a holiday dinner for some stress-free time.

- Practice moderation in eating. From Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve, holiday celebrations and alcoholic beverages are plentiful. If you are going to drink, choose cocktails that are easier on the tummy, such as a wine spritzer (white wine and club soda).

The First Ever Heartburn Awareness Month -November

Do you know that each month heartburn problem is causing a lot of pain to 60 million Americans? This is according to the National Heartburn Alliance (NHBA) who recognized urgent need to provide heartburn education to the people. Thus, they sponsored the first ever Heartburn Awareness month.

In the recent survey, it shows that 66% of Americans experience their heartburn symptoms most during the holiday season. Among this group of people, 94% of them would want to enjoy their holidays without worrying about heartburn & acid reflux problem.

During the Heartburn Awareness Month, the goal is to educate, screen and treat the heartburn sufferers. All heartburn sufferers are encouraged to take an active role in consulting their healthcare professionals during November. They can receive better information about heartburn which can them to eliminate symptoms when they are more likely to indulge in holiday meals and spirits.

"November is a perfect time for heartburn sufferers and healthcare professionals to address heartburn, because more people tend to over-indulge in holiday meals," says Pat Baird, Registered Dietitian and NHBA Board member.

"By incorporating lifestyle changes into their diets, heartburn sufferers can learn to alleviate symptoms so they can enjoy the holidays."

For more information, you can visit the Heartburn Awareness Month Web site at http://www.heartburnmonth.org/. It provides great information about to change your lifestyles to combat against heartburn and you can order free educational brochures, available in English and Spanish.

Natural Heartburn Cures: using spices and herbs

For years, our ancestors had been using natural herbs like spice as a form of natural remedy to their illness. Spices and herbs are primarily used for cooking and recently, more for their medicinal effects.



Turmeric is a very interesting spice which has the functions as a healer and cooking flavor. It has a bitter, peppery flavor. The spice is yellow in color which is commonly used in cooking curried food to add color and flavor to the food.

If you've never used turmeric in cooking, you may have eaten foods that are prepared using it such as plain yellow mustard, pickles, relish and popcorn. Even, people use it to color butter and cheese.

Most importantly, in ancient Indian medicinal system(Ayurveda) and traditional Chinese medicine, turmeric has been used for a wide range of medicinal purposes.

One of the great medicinal uses is aid in our digestion. Turmeric has been used widely treat various stomach and gastrointestinal problems such as gastric, heartburn acid reflux. It also helps to promote liver function. It can be taken as a powder in a capsule each time prior to the meal or mixed in a cup of hot water as tea.

Another function is to use as an anti-inflammatory agent which can be used to help relieve pain from arthritis.


[Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine]

Technorati Profile

News: New Incisionless Surgery Offers Hope to Heartburn Sufferers

A new cutting-edge simple operation can give hope to the millions of people are suffering from acid reflux or heartburn.

Recently, the surgeons at the Ohio State University Medical Center have performed the first incisionless procedure on first 2 patients that leaves no outside scarring. There is very minimal post-operative pain and at the same time, it reduces the patients' recovery time significantly.

This procedure makes use of a device known as EsophyX which was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.The mechanism is relatively new in the United States and it has been proven safe and effective in patients treated throughout Europe for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as heartburn or acid reflux.

The incisionless surgery allows reconstruction of the one-way valve at the top of the stomach, when the valve is defective. The new tubular device is introduced to the body totally through the mouth, and is then advanced down the esophagus into the stomach. During the procedure, the operation is viewed through a small fiberoptic camera located within the tubular surgical tools.

Patients are normally stay overnight in the hospital. After the procedure, the patients reported to be symptom free.

[Source: Fox News]

Is heartburn surgery remedy overused medical treatment?

In the latest Nov issue of Consumer Reports magazine, there is a list 10 overused tests and treatments. Heartburn surgery is one of them.

HEARTBURN SURGERY.
Doctors surgically tighten a sphincter muscle that blocks stomach acid from backing up into the esophagus. But research shows the operation, which costs $14,600 or more, provides no better long-term relief than taking a proton-pump-inhibitor drug such as omeprazole (Prilosec OTC), which costs less than $1 a day.

Are we really overused surgery as our remedy for heartburn? Actually there are many natural remedies for heartburn as long as you bother to research more about it.