Heartburn

Heartburn is a burning discomfort felt behind the breastbone, often rising toward the throat, sometimes with an acid or bitter taste in the mouth. It happens when acid from the stomach flows back up into the oesophagus (food pipe), whose lining is not built to withstand it. Occasional heartburn — after a large or fatty meal, spicy food, alcohol, coffee, or lying down soon after eating — is very common and not a cause for concern. When it happens frequently (typically two or more times a week) or persistently, it is called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Triggers and risk factors include being overweight, pregnancy, smoking, certain foods and some medications. Two things matter clinically. First, persistent heartburn can, over years, inflame or change the lining of the oesophagus, so ongoing symptoms are worth treating and sometimes investigating. Second — and importantly — burning chest discomfort is not always the stomach: a heart problem can feel similar, so chest pain with breathlessness, sweating, or pain spreading to the arm or jaw must be treated as a possible heart attack.

• Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) — frequent acid reflux; the commonest cause of recurrent heartburn.
• Dietary and lifestyle triggers — large or fatty meals, spicy food, alcohol, coffee, chocolate, smoking, eating late.
• Being overweight and pregnancy — increase pressure on the stomach.
• Hiatus hernia — part of the stomach slides up, promoting reflux.
• Certain medications — some can relax the valve or irritate the oesophagus.
• Important mimic — heart pain (angina or a heart attack) can feel like heartburn.

Heartburn is usually diagnosed from the symptoms and needs no tests, often responding to lifestyle changes and acid-reducing medication. Blood tests have a limited role: a full blood count and ferritin if there is concern about bleeding or iron-deficiency anaemia (which can occur with inflammation or ulcers). The key investigation for persistent or alarm-feature reflux is not a blood test but an endoscopy (a camera test) to look at the oesophagus and stomach directly. Mediora.AI can flag an iron-deficiency pattern that would prompt looking more closely, but heartburn itself is assessed clinically, and persistent or alarm symptoms are evaluated with endoscopy by your doctor.