Heartburn and Gastric Reflux

What is heartburn?

Heartburn is a burning sensation that rises from your stomach or lower chest up towards your throat. Occasionally it may feel like food is coming back up, and some people get an acid or bitter taste in the back of the mouth. Heartburn can last for several hours and is often worse after eating, or when lying down or bending over. Heartburn is the most common symptom of reflux.

What is reflux?

Reflux occurs when acid in your stomach, which is there to help you digest your food, rises up into your oesophagus ( the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach), causing irritation, pain and discomfort. Other symptoms of reflux include difficulty swallowing, excessive burping and regurgitation.

What Causes reflux?

Normally the contents of your stomach are prevented from moving up into your oesophagus by a ring of muscle. The muscle acts as a one-way valve, allowing food to enter your stomach but not to exit the same way. Sometimes this valve doesn’t work properly and allows stomach acid to rise up into your oesophagus. When your oesophagus is exposed to the acid it may become irritated and painful.

How serious is it?

Most people experience reflux occasionally, but some suffer from it more regularly. If you experience heartburn or other symptoms of reflux more than twice a week, or these symptoms adversely affect your wellbeing, you may have gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), GORD can have a significant impact on quality of life and may damage your oesophagus if it is not treated appropriately.

If you have GORD, refluxed stomach acid may inflame and damage the lining of your oesophagus. It is not possible to tell from your symptoms whether or not you have damage to your oesophagus. You need to see your doctor if you have troublesome symptoms or you symptoms occur more than twice a week. If left untreated, GORD may also lead to more serious complications.

Tips for reducing reflux symptoms

Dietary

• Particular foods can make reflux and heartburn worse. These foods may differ from person to person. Try to identify and avoid the foods that make your symptoms worse.
• Foods that commonly cause increased efflux and heartburn include fatty and fried foods, spicy foods, chocolate, alcohol and caffeine.
• Avoid eating for three hours before going to bed.
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals.

Lifestyle

• Smoking can aggravate heartburn.
• Try to lose excess weight. Being overweight puts extra pressure on you stomach.
• Avoid clothing with tight waistbands especially after meals.
• When lying down, try to keep you head higher than your stomach. Raise the head of your bed by 20 cm or use a wedge pillow to keep your head higher than your stomach.
• Try to reduce stress as much as possible.

Medication

Some medications may aggravate heartburn - for example, some anti-inflammatory medications used to treat arthritis. Ask your doctor about any medications you are taking.