Heartburn can be mistaken for coronary artery disease because it can mimic angina, or chest pain

Heartburn can be described as a discomfort, heaviness, pressure, aching, burning, fullness, squeezing, or painful feeling in your chest accompanied by shortness of breath.

The difference between heartburn and angina is that angina, which is usually felt in the chest area, may also be felt in the shoulders, arms, neck, throat, jaw, or back.

So there’s no confusion, I’ve listed other symptoms of coronary artery disease:

* Shortness of breath

* Palpitations (irregular heart beats, skipped beats, or a “flip-flop” feeling in your chest)

* A faster heartbeat

* Weakness or dizziness

* Nausea

* Sweating

It is possible that a severe acid rebound event, in the right situation could cause gastric acid particles to go down the wind pipe triggering a severe coughing spell that not only may feel like an attack of angina, but could end up causing heart failure either from suffocation or overstressing an already weakened heart condition.

Acid reflux, heartburn and the acid rebound disease Over-The-Counter (OTC) antacids can induce are very serious health concerns.

I realize the drug companies have disarmed your natural sense of alarm on the subject of heartburn, but it still drastically affects your quality of life. Not only has heartburn become a casual term, it still leads to Gastric-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which can also end up as terminal throat cancer.

If you’re lucky you’ll just end up with a radical surgery that will permanently ruin your quality of life, as well as shorten life expectancy.

Then there’s what doctors call “chemical pneumonia.”

Also called “chemical pneumonitis,” which is inflammation of the lungs ?due to inhaling chemical fumes, or aspirating (breathing in and choking on) gastric acid from the stomach, mineral oil, gasoline, or other damaging chemicals.

Yes your stomach acid is equal to an industrial strength chemical, hydrochloric acid. When it’s in a gastric form the fumes can permanently damage your lungs. Once the stomach acid particles are splashed, inhaled or coughed into the lungs an immune reaction begins in an effort to fight off the noxious chemical attack.

This can lead to too many white blood cells (cytokines), severe inflammation and enough mucus to choke a horse.

Chronic chemical pneumonitis can happen after exposure to small amounts of acid reflux particles or fumes causing irritation over a long length of time. This triggers inflammation and may cause “fibrosis” (scarring) which makes it difficult for the lungs to get oxygen to the body and release carbon dioxide as waste, leading to a stiffening of the lung.

Unchecked, this long term exposure to gastric acid fumes and acid reflux may ultimately lead to respiratory failure and death.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist

You?ve tried everything they told you to and your heart burn just won?t go away.

There is a solution, but first you have to agree to stop taking the blame. Sure, ultimately we are all responsible for our own health in the end. You really need to be your own authority of these matters, especially when it comes to heartburn.

But your acid reflux suffering is being prolonged by false advertising, incorrect medical diagnosis and deceptive products that only make acid reflux worse.

Did you know the direct-to-consumer advertising you?re exposed to is illegal in every country but the US and New Zeeland?

Why?

Because real health issues are being played down and disease symptoms are being played up, just to get you to ask your doctor to sell you the latest drug or to get you to ignore a serious health condition.

Other countries see through their game and refuse to allow corporations to manipulate the masses with the unethical use of ?the power of negative autosuggestion.?

Just the word ?heartburn? plays down the seriousness of the underlying health problem. Everyone just thinks popping an antacid will get you over it. Well the fact is you?re just treating a symptom by popping that candy elixir, which means you?re ignoring the root cause.

That?s why scientists estimate at least 15,000,000 million Americans suffer from acid reflux diseases, because no one?s acid reflux disease ever gets cured here.

Obviously something is wrong with this picture. If antacids worked why are so many people developing an ?acid reflux disease??

That term sounds a lot worse than having a simple case of ?heartburn?, doesn?t it?

Your heartburn isn?t just a ?food hang over.? There?s something much more serious going on here.

Direct-to-Consumer advertising is a multi-billion dollar investment. No one spends anywhere close to the amount of money drug companies in America do.

Many years ago Swedish researchers proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the antacids where less than effective, in fact it?s clear that antacids cause acid rebound.

Acid rebound is like heartburn on steroids.

That?s right these drugs just delay people from addressing the root cause of acid indigestion. Drug companies are making themselves a fortune by adding more customers, through deceptive means.

Here are some other things you can do to address the cause of acid reflux diseases:

Don?t eat so many processed foods, they only aggravate your acid reflux problem. The most common irritants are caffeine, alcohol, pasteurized milk dairy products, fried and high-fat foods, milk chocolate, blanched, pasteurized or oiled nuts, some tomato products and sugary juices.

Here are some more self-health care tips:

* Don?t eat 3 hours before lying down

* Don’t smoke cigarettes

* Eat smaller, more frequent meals.

* Eat slowly and chew thoroughly.

* Lose 10 pounds

* Sleep with the head of your bed elevated

* Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and other similar analgesic medications; they can make acid reflux worse.

* eat more magnesium rich foods

* Avoid antacids that contain aluminum if you must take any

* Drink water only between your meals

If you take an antacid for longer than 3 weeks, check with your doctor before continuing. Long-term use of antacids can cause diarrhea, a change in the way the body processes calcium and a buildup of magnesium in the body, among other health risks.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist

I once saw my best friend go through a hiatal hernia attack, which put us both into a state of panic. What do you do when your friend suddenly acts like he?s dying but nobody knows what?s wrong.

He was choking up meat he had just eaten within the hour and had trouble breathing in. I could see the pain and pressure was freaking him out, the look in his eyes and the recurring spasms of violent choking had concerned me as well.

I would have called an ambulance, but he insisted it was over, then it would start again and again- it was nerve racking to say the least, for both of us.

I kept asking him questions, but he could hardly talk. I could tell my asking questions was about the most irritating thing I could be doing, because he obviously had trouble talking as well. There?s nothing like being interviewed while you feel like your choking to death, or dying from a heart attack- we didn?t know.

In between his hiatal hernia attacks all I could do is get on the Internet to see what I could learn fast.

I had never understood what a hernia was, but it didn?t take me long to match the symptoms he was having with the definition of hiatal hernia. Of course, when I told him I thought he was suffering from symptoms of a hiatal hernia, he just looked at me like I was out of my mind.

The situation was bad, he couldn?t relax, sit down or lay down at all, he just kept pacing, leaning against the wall holding his chest area or rushing to the bathroom to choke up his lunch bit by bit.

Today I could recognize the symptoms of hiatal hernia a mile away and now I understand why a hernia caused all those symptoms.

Once I ?Googled? the correct information about hiatal hernia symptoms, I had him dropping his heels, jumping on his wife?s exercise trampoline and finally stretching backwards over her giant grape purple yoga ball . . . and it worked like a charm.

The bouncing and stretching allowed gravity to do its trick, restoring his stomach, esophagus and diaphragm back to their original positions, below in his chest cavity.

Here?s some extra advice for those of you with hiatal hernia symptoms . . . make sure you chew your food better. It?s better for you because the digestive process starts in the mouth as enzymes and saliva to help break down the size and bulk of your food to make it easier on your gut to digest.

When the esophagus or stomach slides or rolls past the diaphragm and bulges upward in your chest cavity, there may be undigested food in that area that can?t go back down below the diaphragm muscle junction. So the better you chewed it, the easier it may be for you to swallow or eliminate any obstructive food stuff.

My friend was very fortunate the food trapped in his throat area didn?t go down his wind pipe . . .I?m sure under the circumstances his hiatal hernias symptoms would have been fatal.

Not a choice way to sign off in my book, especially on my shift!

Let?s review the symptoms published by the Mayo clinic:

• Heartburn
• Belching
• Chest pain
• Nausea

If you have hiatal hernia symptoms chew your food, walk and jump more and keep a giant grape purple yoga ball around just in case, of course the grape purple color is optional.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist

Heartburn and angina are quite different conditions; however they do have a few similarities and differences worth covering.

Heartburn sounds like a just mild case of acid indigestion to most people. Unfortunately, as with any health issue, if left to fester it can lead to many deeper, more underlying health problems.

It?s very unlikely that you would ever intentionally ignore your heart burn, or anything to do with your own well being. However, millions of people are unknowingly victimized by Over-The-Counter (OTC) and prescription gimmicks, which not only may trigger toxic side effects, they also trick people into putting off curing the root cause.

The only thing I can think of that?s worse than ignoring your health issues would be to mistreat a health issue. It?s not uncommon for people to think their heartburn, acid reflux or stomach acid problems as angina attacks or even misdiagnose an angina attack for a heartburn attack.

The reason being is that left unaddressed a chronic heartburn issue will become a more complex health problem. It?s not just that heartburn is out to get you and gets worse on its own, it?s the fact that diet and lifestyle factors are behind the whole problem in the first place . . . whether it?s angina or acid reflux.

Before I cover that, you need to understand clearly what an angina attack actually is.

What is Angina Exactly?

By definition Angina is an intense pain in your chest due to a ?lack of oxygen? rich blood (ischemia) getting to your heart cells. Angina pain is so excruciating that it feels like it would extinguish life itself, if it were to continue.

The pain of an Angina attack is described further as a severe crushing pain coming directly from behind your breastbone leading to a sensation of suffocation and panic. In fact the word ?angina? originates from the Latin word ?angere,? which means ?to choke.?

Curiously, like heartburn an angina attack with often occur after eating. It?s not uncommon for people to have an angina event during a strenuous walk up a staircase, or incline, immediately after a large meal.

There are two main categories is Angina attacks:

1. Angina of effort

2. Variant angina

Angina may feel like a heart attack but it isn?t. If you have Angina of effort, which means the lack of oxygen rich blood is from narrowing arteries (arthrosclerosis). On the other hand a Variant angina attack is more uncommon and happens from a spasm in the coronary muscle.

Other things that can cause the same chest pain as angina and heartburn include stomach ulcers, panic attacks, muscle problems, pneumonia, inflammation and heart attacks.

Heartburn can be caused from eating too much food, from eating the wrong food combination, lying down after eating, a lack of stomach acid or even a hiatal hernia.

Angina can feel like heart burn when the pressure makes it hard to breathe and swallow, especially after eating a large meal, there may be a feeling of regurgitation, similar to acid reflux. But heartburn shouldn?t make you feel nausea, fatigued, sweaty, light headed and weak.

It?s important to learn how to self diagnose . . . your doctor should really be your second opinion. Unfortunately if you don?t seek out the root cause of your angina or heartburn, prescribing drugs or surgery are not going to cure you.

The choice to cover up symptoms instead of eliminating the real cause can make the difference between living a long healthy life and living a miserable one plagued by recurring symptoms and the adverse effects of drug therapies.

Learn more about integrative and Complementary Alternative Medicines (CAM). Whatever you decide to do, keep in mind neither angina nor heartburn are drug deficiencies.

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist