Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Heartburn

It's been so long since my last update. Been very busy with classes and body's getting weaker. I was diagnosed with Heartburn.

What is Heartburn?

Heartburn or pyrosis is a painful or burning sensation in the esophagus, just below the breastbone caused by regurgitation of gastric acid. 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, although some heart problems have a similar sensation to heartburn.

The sensation of heartburn is caused by exposure of the lower esophagus to the acidic contents of the stomach. Normally, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) separating the stomach from the esophagus is supposed to contract to prevent this situation. If the sphincter relaxes for any reason (as normally occurs during swallowing), stomach contents, mixed with gastric acid, can return into the esophagus. This return is also known as reflux, and may progress to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) if it occurs frequently. Peristalsis, the rhythmic wave of muscular contraction in the esophagus, normally moves food down and past the LES and is responsible for ultimately clearing refluxed stomach contents. In addition, gastric acid can be neutralized by buffers present in saliva.

Foods that may cause heartburn:
Alcohol, especially Red wine.
Coffee, tea, cola, and other caffeinated beverages
Sodas (including cola), and other carbonated beverages
Chocolate
Citrus fruits and juices
Tomatoes and tomato sauces (such as pizza and pasta sauce)
Spicy foods
Red pepper (capsicum)
Peppermint and spearmint
Dry foods such as peanuts
Fatty foods such as
ice cream
Drugs are also known to cause or trigger heartburn symptoms.
Tobacco products (cigarettes, snuff, etc.)
Cocaine, and especially Meth is known to trigger heartburn.
It can also be
psychosomatic, primarily in relation to stress.

Gonna go on a strict diet already. Sobs..

7 comments:

macK said...

take care dear.....take care of that back too k?

Xavier Wong said...

Yoz, Teoh. Cool blog.

M@njAkid said...

u too take care there ya.. :)

Xavier????? Spore??

Xavier Wong said...

heh. yeah. you remember me?

M@njAkid said...

of course! wonder how did you find my blog? :) what's ur blog? msn?

Xavier Wong said...

my friend chanced upon ur blog and told me. msn @ cxavierwpy@singnet.com.sg

M@njAkid said...

icic....