{"id":2392,"date":"2014-02-14T18:32:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T18:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=2392"},"modified":"2014-02-14T18:32:51","modified_gmt":"2014-02-14T18:32:51","slug":"take-steps-to-better-manage-your-heartburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=2392","title":{"rendered":"Take Steps to Better Manage Your Heartburn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Don't

Don’t suffer. Take steps to manage your heartburn. Photo: Nebari – Fotolia.com<\/p><\/div>\n

(StatePoint) Heartburn is one of the most common reasons people visit their doctors. If you suffer from a burning feeling in your chest or throat, experts recommend preparing for your next doctor\u2019s appointment by learning more about heartburn and what you can do to manage the condition.
\n\u201cPhysicians often use upper endoscopy to diagnose and manage gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD,\u201d says Dr. Molly Cooke, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP). \u201cBut this is not an appropriate first step for patients with typical heartburn.\u201d
\nThe ACP advises against upper endoscopy for heartburn, unless other serious symptoms are present. According to the ACP\u2019s recommendations, it can be an expensive test that doesn\u2019t necessarily improve the health of patients, exposes patients to preventable harms, and can lead to unnecessary interventions down the line.
\n\u201cFor those whose heartburn is accompanied by difficult or painful swallowing, bleeding, anemia, weight loss, solid food sticking in the esophagus, or recurrent vomiting, an upper endoscopy is appropriate,\u201d advises Dr. Cooke.
\nSensible diagnosis is just part of the equation. Prevention and management of the condition is important too. The ACP recommends the following steps to help relieve occasional heartburn as well as GERD:
\n\u2022 Make lifestyle changes. Lose excess weight, stop smoking, eat smaller meals, don\u2019t lie down for several hours after eating, wear loose-fitting clothes, and limit how much alcohol you consume. Resist foods and beverages that can trigger your heartburn, such as chocolate, peppermint, coffee (with or without caffeine), garlic, onions, and fried, spicy, fatty or tomato-rich food.
\n\u2022 Raise head of your bed. Place wood blocks under your bedposts to raise the head of your bed six to eight inches.
\n\u2022 Control acid. Over-the-counter antacids such as Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, or Tums may ease heartburn. For a stronger acid-reducer, try an H2 blocker such as famotidine (Pepcid and generic) or ranitidine (Zantac and generic).
\n\u2022 Consider proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Medicine to reduce gastric acid production is warranted in most patients with typical GERD symptoms such as heartburn or regurgitation.
\nPPIs are a group of drugs that relieve symptoms and heal the lining of the esophagus in almost all sufferers. For best results, take them 30 to 60 minutes before a meal. Omeprazole and lansopra\u00adzole are sold over-the-counter as low-cost generics. If symptoms don\u2019t improve after two to four weeks, ask your doctor about taking two doses daily.
\nFree online resources can help you discover the best treatment for you. For example, you can visit www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org and click on \u201cheartburn\u201d for a free drug report on PPIs.
\nLeft untreated, GERD can inflame the lining of the esophagus, causing a condition known as esophagitis. A few GERD patients develop Barrett\u2019s esophagus, a disorder that can, in rare cases, lead to cancer of the esophagus.
\nVisit http:\/\/hvc.acponline.org for more tips on managing your health care, including resources developed in collaboration with Consumer Reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(StatePoint) Heartburn is one of the most common reasons people visit their doctors. If you suffer from a burning feeling in your chest or throat, experts recommend preparing for your next doctor\u2019s appointment by learning more about heartburn and what you can do to manage the condition. \u201cPhysicians often use upper endoscopy to diagnose and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392\/revisions\/2394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}