Very often, especially with the busy life these days, we feel a nagging feeling in the stomach, especially in the upper part, which sometimes radiates upward also involving the esophagus. It can be heartburn, or more commonly heartburn.
A condition increasingly recognized that depends on the excessive acidity, resulting from its internal cells present on the habit of the walls of the organ, involved in the production of gastric juices, which are essential for digestion.
The main causes of this discomfort may be stress, intake of certain drugs, improper feeding too rich in foods with strong acidity. These factors may affect the normal pH of the gastric juices making them too acidic, to create disturbances.
Sometimes prolonged heartburn can inflame the stomach lining itself, giving rise to the phenomenon of gastritis and in other cases, there may be a return of the acidic contents from the stomach into the esophagus, causing the annoying gastro-oesophageal reflux.
What can we do for heartburn? First, it is always referred to as soon as possible to improve our way of life, so in the first place trying to relax (though not easy), then quitting smoking, trying to decrease body weight if excessive, paying attention to the ingestion of heavy foods, carbonated drinks and alcohol.
There are indeed foods that increase the acidity and should be avoided, such as products with caffeine, chocolate, tomato, mint, liquorices, onion and spices. It better to try to focus on the simple preparations, mainly developed by restricting the cooking fries, which make foods heavier and difficult to digest.
Sometimes also the excess of drugs, especially the so-called NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs) can cause hyperacidity and sometimes ulceration of the mucosa, so do not overdo it, or if we have to hire them to treat an inflammatory disease, we ask the doctor to advise adequate “coverage gastric” with buffering effect of medicinal products.
If symptoms persist for long periods, it is best to consult your doctor, who will prescribe a treatment based antacid medications, and possibly recommend any diagnostic tests usually the main investigation is endoscopy, which allows to assess the state of the walls of esophagus, stomach, duodenum and at the same time, by a biopsy can verify the presence of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, responsible for ulcers, which will be eradicated with appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Another important consideration is the pH-metry, which is mostly used to measure the actual acidity of gastric juices.
In summary, if the heartburn is kind of taking care of passengers, we can fight the power, making small, frequent meals instead of large binges, moving more and trying to live healthier, but when we are in the presence of gastritis or reflux, which can also be quite debilitating, it is good to hear the opinion of a specialist, who will also direct us to a path suitable medication to reduce the symptoms associated with these diseases.
In general, the most-used drugs are the H2 antagonists or proton pump inhibitors, aiming to reduce the acidity, generally with good results on annoying burning sensation. The advice that applies in all cases is always not to stress out too much, sleep the hours needed and take life more calmly.
