What Are Causes For Persistent Heartburn?
Heartburn is an extremely common affliction that affects more than 20 million people is USA alone, on a daily basis. Statistics show that this number increases by three times for people who suffer from this problem at least once or twice a month.
What Is Persistent Heartburn?
In lay person's language the heartburn is an acid related digestive problem which feels like your heart is on fire. This is why the affliction is named 'heartburn', though it has nothing to do with the heart. Heartburn occurs when acid from the stomach finds its way back into the food pipe moving against its natural flow. Sometimes, the backflow is so powerful that you could even taste the acid in your mouth.
Most people experience heartburn off and on when they overeat during holidays or when they indulge in some particular foods such as fatty foods, deep fried foods and other similar hard to digest foods. When this problem becomes a daily routine and is chased away only with the help of medication, it is termed as persistent heartburn.
What Are The Causes Of Persistent Heartburn?
There are many, many things that cause the acidity of the stomach to rise and to get regurgitated. Some of the main causes for persistent heartburn are explained briefly hereunder. Pregnancy is a very common cause for this type of heartburn; this happens when the baby presses hard on the stomach in the late stages pushing its contents upwards.
If this happens once in while, let us say a few times per week, it is acceptable. However, if this occurs more often it could mean that the persistent heartburn is caused by more serious problems. Two most probable causes would be hiatal hernia and GERD (or gastro esophageal reflux disease).
Hiatal hernia is a condition where a segment of the stomach pushed through the diaphragm infringing the space which is meant for the esophagus alone. When this happens a lot of pressure is put on the lower esophageal valve which in turn malfunctions and allows the acid from the stomach return into the food pipe. It is not very clear why this condition develops; however, it is found mostly in people who are obese, pregnant, constipated, or addicted to smoking.
The GERD is a condition where the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) fails to work thereby allowing the acidic content of the stomach back into the food pipe. This problem is also known as reflux or in simple words, leaking back. This causes persistent heartburn which can be cured only with appropriate medical intervention.
