Heartburn, also know as acid reflux, is a painful and burning sensation in the esophagus, just behind the breastbone usually associated with regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux). The pain often rises in the chest and may radiate to the neck, throat, or angle of the jaw. Heartburn is a major symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease, otherwise known as GERD; acid reflux is also identified as one of the causes of chronic cough, and may even mimic asthma. Despite its name, heartburn actually has nothing to do with the heart; it is so called because of a burning sensation near to where the heart is located – although some heart problems may give rise to a similar burning sensation.
The pain associated with acid reflux is due to the presence of acid in the esophagus. Acid is produced in the stomach as an aid to digestion and is not intended to be present in the esophagus. Unlike the stomach's lining that can tolerate very high concentrations of acid, the presence of acid in the esophagus, eats away at the lining of the esophagus and causes pain. Acid reflux does not occur because there is too much acid created by the stomach, but because the muscular barrier or valve between the esophagus and the stomach opens prematurely allowing acid, bile and other stomach contents into the esophagus. The name of this muscular barrier is the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES). Other sphincters in the body include the anal and bladder sphincters, in addition to the mouth and the eye. Each of them closes in circumference around a radius. When the LES doesn't stay closed or when it opens at the wrong time, reflux can occur.
In many cases, acid reflux medications known as PPI's (proton pump inhibitors such as Nexium, Prilosec, etc) work well enough at reducing acid levels that the pain goes away. Unfortunately PPI's don't help reinforce the LES and in some cases surgery may be required. According to research conducted by the American Gastroenterological Association, 38% of PPI users experience break-through pain while taking PPI's.
The LES is also sometimes referred to as the cardiac sphincter, referring to a part of the stomach referred to as the cardia and not, as might be thought, to the heart, lending some additional confusion to the term "heartburn".
Further Reading
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article on
"Heartburn"
All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Wikipedia® itself is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.