MedlinePlus Health Information: A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health

Heartburn

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartburn.html

Also called: Also called: Acid indigestion, Pyrosis

Almost everyone has heartburn sometimes. Heartburn is a painful burning feeling in your chest or throat. It happens when stomach acid backs up into your esophagus, the tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach. If you have heartburn more than twice a week, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). With GERD, the muscles at the end of your esophagus do not close tightly enough. This allows contents of the stomach to back up, or reflux, into the esophagus and irritate it.

Pregnancy, certain foods, alcohol and some medications can bring on heartburn. Treating heartburn is important because over time reflux can damage the esophagus. Over-the-counter medicines may help. If the heartburn continues, you may need prescription medicines or surgery.

If you have other symptoms such as crushing chest pain, it could be a heart attack. Get help immediately.

Start Here Overviews Diagnosis/Symptoms Treatment Prevention/Screening Nutrition Related Issues Clinical Trials Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Organizations Children Women You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

The primary NIH organization for research on Heartburn is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/

Date last updated: July 24 2008
Topic last reviewed: June 13 2008