December 16, 2010
Can You Tell the Difference Between Heartburn and Angina?
Chest pain can be a very worrisome symptom, and rightfully so. It?s a symptom of a whole host of medical conditions, a few of which can be fatal if it?s ignored. However, some conditions associated with chest pain are pretty benign. For example, heartburn and angina both involve chest pain, but leaving one of them untreated can be a fatal mistake. So, what is the difference between heartburn and angina, and how can you tell which one you?re suffering from?
Similarities and differences
Both heartburn and angina (a heart attack) present with chest pain, but that?s pretty much where the similarities end.
Heartburn pain is generally described as a burning sensation that radiates from the chest up into the neck. It can sometimes be accompanied by reflux, or the feeling of food or liquid in your throat or mouth, a bitter taste in your mouth, burping, hiccupping and just a general feeling of indigestion. These feelings increase after eating, or after lying down.
Angina pain is more of a pressure or feeling of heaviness in your chest, associated with a whole host of other symptoms. The symptoms often come on very suddenly. They include:
? Shortness of breath
? The pain or a numbing sensation may spread to your shoulders or arm
? Fatigue
? Sweating
? Lightheadedness
When dealing with these two very different conditions, it?s important to listen to, and understand your body?s signals so that you can respond accordingly. Heartburn is nothing that you need to rush to the emergency room for, but angina is.
Treatments
If you think you are experiencing angina, walk away from the computer right now! Go to the hospital immediately! Immediate medical attention is the only thing that can help relieve chest pain due to angina.
Heartburn pain is a little easier to deal with. It can be treated naturally and dealt with fairly quickly to minimize discomfort. For example:
? Something as simple as drinking a large glass of water can often help soothe heartburn pain. It works by flushing acids out of the stomach, keeping them from doing further damage and causing irritation. Additionally, mixing the water with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can help speed pain relief to the area.
? Some people have even found relief from just eating an apple during a heartburn attack.
? Various teas like ginger, chamomile and fennel have also been shown to settle acid indigestion and help soothe fiery stomachs.
? To prevent heartburn attacks, avoid foods you?ve noticed that upset your stomach. Common ones include garlic, onions, caffeine, alcohol and citrus fruits that are full of natural acids.
? Try eating smaller meals, but more often, rather than just a few large meals every day. This helps prevent your stomach from overproducing acid to try to digest the massive amount of food you just threw at it.
Hopefully you?re now armed with information and can respond accordingly if you ever experience chest pain due to one of these two medical problems. However, there?s defiantly more to it than what?s provided in this small article, so for more information please visit www.refluxremedy.com and find out more!
Filed under Acid Reflux Symptoms, Heartburn Remedies by admin
December 9, 2010
How to Get Rid of Heartburn During Pregnancy
Heartburn can frequently plague a pregnant mother. This can be extremely frustrating because she can?t reach for an antacid the way a normal person can, as the drugs may harm the fetus. But, she doesn?t need to suffer in silence. If you?re wondering how to get rid of heartburn during pregnancy, there are a number of natural techniques you can try.
Prevention
First of all, since heartburn tends to pop up a lot during a pregnancy you may want to focus on stopping it before it starts. Try these simple lifestyle changes to keep heartburn at bay.
1. Don?t eat right before bed. Pregnancy cravings can be pretty intense, but if you don?t want to feel the burn later, resist the urge to indulge in that midnight snack. You see, food needs time to pass through your digestive system, and gravity helps that process along. If you lay down right after you eat something food doesn?t have a chance to get where it needs to go. Without gravity to help you out, acid that?s meant to help break down your food can pass freely into your esophagus, which causes heartburn pain.
2. Don?t eat such large quantities. When you?re eating for two it can be hard to satiate your hunger, but try eating less food more often in an attempt to avoid overloading your stomach. Putting too much food in your stomach all at once can result in pressure and acid buildup, which results in acid reflux
3. De-stress. With all the preparations for the new baby to be done, it can be hard to relax, but stress can be detrimental to your body in a number of ways, including signaling the overproduction of stomach acid. So, try to relax a little in order to avoid the onset of heartburn later.
Relief
If you miss the opportunities to prevent heartburn, or you tried them and it came on anyway, try these things to help alleviate heartburn pain during pregnancy.
? Drink a tall glass of water. Water is good for your body in all kinds of ways, including helping dilute toxins and flush unwanted stomach acids through the digestive tract.
? Papaya enzymes help break down food naturally. Eating a papaya or chewing a papaya tablet can help you digest your food more easily.
? Ginger can also help settle your stomach. Ginger has been used for centuries to help indigestion and many other stomach problems. It?s also very effective with heartburn. You can either put it in tea, or eat it in candied form. Either way it?s equally helpful at pouring water on your heartburn flames.
? Eating an apple may also help relieve heartburn pain.
? Almonds have also been shown to help relieve acid reflux. Eat a handful, making sure to chew them thoroughly, during an attack of heartburn pain to feel relief.
These are only a few of the natural remedies for heartburn that can be found in The Reflux Remedy Report. So, stop wondering how to get rid of heartburn during pregnancy and head over to www.refluxremedy.com now to learn more!
Filed under Heartburn Remedies by admin
November 22, 2010
Acid Reflux Disease Diet
For those who suffer from acid reflux, burning, pain and discomfort are frequent companions.? However, they don’t have to be.? There’s a huge amount of natural remedies out there to try that are effective and won’t break your bank.? Often managing your diet is the easiest way to get your acid reflux under control.
There are various types of fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, herbs and others that can help you manage acid reflux disease. These foods can help your body create an acidic balance, and keep acid from creeping into your esophagus.. Many fresh fruits are extremely helpful for people suffering from acid reflux problems. Among them, apples and bananas are very popular.? Additionally, consuming apple in other forms, like dried apples or apple juice can help too. Papaya is also said to have some acid fighting properties.? It contains a digestive enzyme that helps break down food, which prevents pressure from building up and overproduction of acids, which prevents heartburn pain.
Some of the vegetables that can help stem acid reflux include cabbage, peas, broccoli, green beans, baked potato, carrots and others. However, tomatoes, citrus vegetables and fruits like raw onions, cranberry juice and tomatoes can be problematic for people withacid reflux problems and should be consumed sparingly.
Dairy products such as ice creams, sour cheese, milk shakes and others are not good for people suffering from acid reflux disease. These products are hard to digest and cause the body to overproduce acid.? However, when consumed in moderation, products like fat free sour cream or cream cheese and dairy cheese can provide some relief.
Though there is a perception that most meats are bad for the patients suffering from acid reflux disease, there are several animal foods that can help cure relieve symptoms. These include skinless chicken breast, egg whites, fatless fishes, steak, ground beef and others.
Ginger is an herb that may prove helpful for acid reflux relief.? It has been used to relieve all types of stomach discomfort for centuries and heartburn is no exception.? It can be found candied, or in tea form and both are equally useful in neutralizing and eliminating stomach acid.? Chammomille tea is another herbal remedy some have found helpful.
Simple dietary changes can also help significantly relieve discomfort from acid reflux.? Things like eating smaller meals more frequently help to prevent the buildup of pressure and overproduction of acids.? Basically, smaller meals are easier to digest and are less likely to cause heartburn than that huge Thanksgiving feast.? Also, avoiding food two hours before you go to bed can prevent that night time burn.? Gravity helps your body keep stomach acids where they belong, and when you lay down to soon after eating, acids can meander out of the stomach.? Along those same lines, sleeping with an extra pillow under your head can help keep your head properly aligned above your stomach and give gravity just enough of an edge over your stomach acids.
For more natural remedies and dietary suggestions for resolving your acid reflux issues, visit www.RefluxRemedy.com today.
Filed under Acid Reflux Remedy by admin
November 16, 2010
Where does Heartburn Hurt?
They call it heartburn for a good reason . . .one of the most corrosive acid substances in the world, called your stomach acid, is breaching the stomachs natural perimeter and causing a searing, burning effect in the throat, voice box, mouth, lungs and sinus areas.
The fact is you have a special valve that is designed to keep your stomach acid down below, where it belongs. Problem is, due to extraordinary circumstances this so-called valve becomes compromised, or by-passed for one reason or another.
This valve is technically referred to as the Lower Esophageal? Sphincter or better known as your LES. This valve, or sphincter is located just above your diaphragm, right next to the top of your heart.
Hence the term heartburn refers to the sensation of caustic gastric fluids breaking through this vital biological seal.
Once the stomach acid gets passed your LES, it’s up to you how far it goes.
Your simple acid reflux, heartburn or acid indigestion could do harm to even more sensitive areas as I mentioned above from not knowing what to do to control acid reflux and what the cause is from
The worst thing you can do is lay down after eating, or especially after having a heartburn “event.”
Picture this hydrochloric stomach acid burping up pass your LES and then dripping back down to rest on the “wrong ” side of the seal, right next to your heart.
Now imagine that same heartburn sensation moving slowly further and further upward along your throat because you decided to lie down.
In fact, this is the worst thing you can do after a heart burn attack, it’s likely that by lying down on a full stomach, more gastric acid will by-pass your LES valve and create even more damage and heartburn pain.
This bad habit is largely responsible for causing further corrosive damage to your LES and your throat. The gastric acid from heartburn is so nasty that it will ultimately mutate the cells lining your throat and make them more like your stomach acid.
Giving you a permanent heartburn sensation called GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Isn’t it amazing how the built in Intelligent design of your mind automatically knows what’s best to do to keep your body alive.
All you have to do is pay attention and learn better ways to work with your body/mind, rather than against it.
Heartburn feels like your heart is burning because one of the largest and most sensitive nerves in your anatomy , called the vagus nerve, runs through your throat and to all your organs. So it’s easy to picture how once stomach acid erupts up into your throat and inflames your upper chest, respiratory and the wrong side of your LES valve, that your heart is going to feel as if its burning alive.
Like mother said,? “Sit up straight when you eat” and maybe try going for a walk after eating.
For best results avoid eating too much at one time, chew your food extremely well and don’t eat iceberg lettuce before a greasy meal. In fact, I chose to eat my mixed green salads the European way, which is “after” the greasy meal.
Soon you’ll forget where your heartburn used to hurt.
You were born to heal,
Todd M. Faass?
Health Ecologist
Filed under Acid Reflux by admin