BELCHING WITH HEARTBURN, AN ACID TASTE IN THE MOUTH, AND A SORE THROAT: DESCRIPTION AND POSSIBLE MEDICAL PROBLEMS
Heartburn is probably the most common digestive complaint among people in their 40s and 50s—witness the sizable industry that offers pills and liquids in all shapes, sizes, and colors that profess to treat the condition. Most often, heartburn is a sign of stress and/or culinary overindulgence. To help determine the cause of your heartburn, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I have heartburn after every meal?
2. Do I sometimes find it difficult to sleep?
3. Does the pain occur in the middle of my abdomen between the upper left and right quadrants?
4. Do I frequently take over-the-counter heartburn remedies?
5. Is the heartburn painful?
Fortunately, heartburn is rarely a sign of a serious underlying illness. If you have persistent heartburn with a bad taste in your mouth and bad breath, then you may have a hiatal hernia, a physiological condition in which the valve between the esophagus and the stomach is not working
right. With a faulty valve, the stomach breaches the area directly below the diaphragm and actually rises up into the chest area. This allows stomach acids to enter the esophagus and the mouth. The high acid content of the stomach juices can irritate the esophagus, and this is known as heartburn.
If you have a hiatal hernia, it’s probably a by-product of too many years of eating rich food and leading a sedentary lifestyle. The obesity that usually results can also cause the stomach to push up into the esophagus. In addition, eating heavy meals just before you lie down to go to sleep can cause the valve to malfunction. And alcohol, cigarettes, spicy foods, and antibiotics can aggravate heartburn even more. When belching occurs in combination with sweating and a general malaise, it can be a sign of heart disease.
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