Heartburn Care
Is the nagging of heartburn familiar to you? Frequent, severe heartburn could actually be gastroesophageal reflux disease, often called GERD. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, approximately 25 million adult Americans suffer from heartburn - the most common symptom of acid reflux or GERD - on a daily basis. Lower Keys Medical Center is here to help you take the first steps toward finding relief.
What is Heartburn?
When everything is functioning as it should, a muscle at the lower end of your esophagus opens when you swallow, allowing food to pass into your stomach. If that muscle is weakened or relaxes at the wrong time, acid from your stomach can come back up into your esophagus (acid reflux), creating the sensation of heartburn. Other symptoms of acid reflux may include persistent sore throat, hoarseness, chronic cough, asthma, chest pain or a feeling of having a lump in the throat.
If acid reflux becomes a chronic problem, it can lead to trouble swallowing, esophageal bleeding or ulcers, and an increased risk of developing pre-cancerous cells at the bottom of the esophagus and eventually cancer. An upper endoscopy (EGD) is a thin flexible camera that can be passed into the esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine under sedation/anesthesia to assess for chronic changes related to long term acid reflux or other upper gastrointestinal disorders.
Talk with your doctor if you experience persistent heartburn.