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Heartburn
... more than half of all pregnant women will experience occasional
symptoms of heartburn.
Karen Reynolds, Pharmacist, Ottawa, ON
If the burning discomfort of heartburn is all to too familiar
to you, you're not alone. Lots of people regularly suffer from
heartburn.
The medical name for heartburn is gastroesophageal reflux disease.
It's often referred to as GERD, or reflux, for short. Acid indigestion
is another more commonly used name. These names help describe
what causes heartburn.
Heartburn occurs when the acidic contents of your stomach rise
up or "reflux" into your esophagus, or food pipe. The
acid irritates the lining of the esophagus causing "acid
indigestion", or the
burning sensation in the centre of your chest called "heartburn."
This burning sensation can last for as long as 2 hours. Some
people will also experience a sour or bitter taste in their mouth.
While heartburn becomes more common as we get older, it can
occur at any age. Even children and young infants can suffer
from it and more than half of all pregnant women will experience
occasional symptoms of heartburn.
Sometimes heartburn can be confused with the pain from a heart
attack. Pain in the chest that travels down your arm and is accompanied
by sweating and shortness of breath is more likely to be caused
by a heart attack. Pain that begins after eating, stays in the
chest and gets worse when you lie down is more likely to be heartburn.
However, if you are ever in doubt about the kind of pain you're
experiencing, see a doctor immediately.
Heartburn can often be controlled by making some of the following
changes to your diet and lifestyle:
- Avoid citrus juices and foods that are high in fat, tomato-based,
spicy, or contain mint, alcohol or caffeine (tea, coffee, cola,
chocolate)
- Reduce weight, if necessary
- Stop or reduce smoking
- Eat slow and don't overeat
- Avoid snacking before bed
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid wearing belts or clothing that is tight around the
waist
- Elevate the head of the bed 10 to 15 cm ( 4 to 6 inches)
You don't have to make all these changes at once. Start by
choosing just one or two and work up to the others. This will
help to increase your chances of success.
In addition to these diet and lifestyle changes, a number of
products that are available without a prescription can help relieve
your symptoms. Antacids containing calcium carbonate or combinations
of aluminum and magnesium work by neutralizing stomach acid.
Alginates form an antacid foam that floats on the stomach contents
and protects the esophagus when reflux occurs. Drugs such as
famotidine, ranitidine, called H2 blockers, decrease
the amount of acid that your stomach secretes. Some of these
products are sold in both tablet and liquid form. Read the product
label carefully to determine if the tablets need to be chewed
before swallowing in order to be effective.
If you need help in selecting a product, especially if you're
pregnant, ask your pharmacist. If you find that changes to your
diet and lifestyle combined with use of an over-the-counter product
does not help your heartburn, or if your heartburn symptoms are
getting worse, see your doctor. Also see your doctor if your
heartburn symptoms occur regularly each week (4 out of 7 days)
for at least 3 months. this condition is called chronic heartburn
and it needs to be evaluated by your doctor.
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The information in this newsletter was prepared and reviewed
by pharmacists for the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal.
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Ask Your Pharmacist newsletter is produced through
an unconditional educational grant from APOTEX/PACE. |
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