Heartburn overview
|
Heartburn Microchapters |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Heartburn overview On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Heartburn overview |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Heartburn or pyrosis is a painful or burning sensation in the esophagus, just below the breastbone (sternum) caused by regurgitation of gastric acid.[1] The pain often rises in the chest and may radiate to the neck, throat, or angle of the jaw. Heartburn is also identified as one of the causes of chronic cough, and may even mimic asthma. Heartburn actually has nothing to do with the heart. It is so called because of a burning sensation of the breastbone where the heart is located although some heart problems do have a similar sensation to heartburn. The term "heartburn" may come from the fact that hydrochloric acid from the stomach comes back up the esophagus because of a problem with the cardiac sphincter, a valve which misleadingly contains the word "cardiac" (an adjective referring to the heart) in its name.