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Heartburn Q&A

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1)     What causes heartburn? “Heartburn” or acid reflux, occurs when pressure from your stomach triggers the opening of the lower part of your esophagus (called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES)) and lets acidic stomach contents back up and cause burning of the esophagus. The pressure on the stomach can be caused by overeating, being overweight, having a hiatal hernia, or being pregnant. Many foods also trigger the opening of the LES, such as chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, gluten and wheat, fatty processed foods, and other inflammatory foods. 2)     Why are acid blockers used to treat heartburn? The majority of the time, heartburn is not caused by too much acid in the stomach. However, acid blocking medications are used to reduce the symptoms of acid reflux. If your stomach contents are not acidic, it will not burn the lining of your esophagus when you have reflux episodes. Therefore, the burning pain is resolved. This, however, causes other