Your stomach lining is a remarkably resilient membrane pitted with openings much like that of a sponge. It allows gastric juices as toxic as car battery acid to begin the digestion process.
Peptic ulcer disease occurs when stomach acid penetrates the stomach and/or duodenal lining and causes sores or erosions that may bleed, lead to anemia and/or cause abdominal pain.
An estimated four million Americans have peptic ulcer disease.
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The frequency of bowel movements among healthy people varies from three movements a day to three a week. Individuals must determine what is normal. As a rule, constipation should be suspected if more than three days pass between bowel movements or if there is difficulty or pain when passing a hardened stool. Most people experience occasional short bouts of constipation, but if a laxative is necessary for longer than three weeks, check with a doctor.
Doctors agree that prevention is the best approach to constipation. While there is no way to ensure never experiencing constipation, the following guidelines should help:
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Heartburn is the most common symptom of a condition called gastroesophageal reflux or acid reflux. A sphincter (specialized muscle), known as the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), is located at the end of the esophagus and opens during swallowing to allow food to pass into the stomach. The LES muscle then closes quickly to prevent the return (reflux) of food and stomach juices back into the esophagus.
However, the LES muscle does not always work perfectly. Gastroesophageal reflux occurs when the LES muscle either relaxes inappropriately or is weak. This allows stomach juices to back up, or reflux, into the esophagus, creating heartburn. When the acid contents from the stomach regularly back up into the esophagus, a chronic condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, occurs. Heartburn is sometimes called acid indigestion and usually occurs after meals. In addition to heartburn, symptoms of acid reflux may include persistent sore throat, hoarseness, chronic cough, asthma, heart-like chest pain and a feeling of a lump in the throat.
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