Gastroesophageal reflux: More than just heartburn.

Harvard Women's Health Watch,  November, 2004  

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Heartburn is the first sign of a gastric disorder that shouldn't be ignored.

We've all seen television ads pushing remedies to relieve heartburn, or acid indigestion, the searing pain up the middle of the chest that sometimes follows a meal or crops up when we're under stress. Heartburn symptoms run the gamut from annoying to debilitating. At their worst, they can even be mistaken for a heart attack.

The cause of heartburn is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition in which acidified stomach contents flow back from the stomach into the food pipe (esophagus). Heartburn is usually ...