Heartburn Help

It's estimated that some 17 million Americans have gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. The most common symptom is heartburn.

Despite its prevalence, many people don't know much about this potentially serious condition. So The Saturday Early Show asked Dr. Mark Pochapin, director of the Jay Monahan Center At New York Presbyterian - Weill Cornell Medical Center, to tell us more about the disorder.

"GERD is basically when the juices of the stomach, which are made up of acids and digestive enzymes flow backwards into the esophagus," Pochapin explains. "The esophagus is the tube that brings food from your mouth to your stomach. The lining of the esophagus is very sensitive to these acids and enzymes, which causes it to become inflamed."

If it is not treated, this digestive disorder can lead to several serious conditions.

"Some people may develop an ulcer of the esophagus or a condition known as Barrett's esophagus," Pochapin says. "The most serious long-term damage is cancer of the esophagus, which has a low survival rate."

The most common GERD symptoms are persistent heartburn, a sour or bitter taste in your mouth, sore throat and a hoarse voice. But Pochapin says a person does not typically experience all these symptoms at once.

In fact, he says, "Some people may only experience one of the symptoms, which they may pass off as something else. So it's very important to get a proper diagnosis for GERD because it can be very serious."

There are several GERD risk factors. They include being overweight, being pregnant, smoking and using alcohol.

"Alcohol and tobacco use are the most serious," Pochapin says, "They increase your risk of cancer of the esophagus. And what people may not realize is that losing weight can go a long way towards helping with GERD. And pregnancy is also a risk factor but GERD usually clears up once a woman has delivered."

For those who are experiencing reflux more than a few times a week, he recommends mentioning it to a doctor.

If it's determined that you do have GERD, Pochapin says, "The first thing your doctor will probably do is put you on an over-the-counter acid blocker like Zantec or Pepcid. If those don't do the trick, there are several prescription medications that will be tried."

Medications such as Nexium tend to be very effective at clearing up the excess acids. He notes we don't really need these acids to break down our food.

"Digestion is very repetitive," he explains. "You need these acids to sterilize the food you are eating. But since much of the food we eat is clean, you don't need these acids as much."

Asked at what point does surgery have to be performed, he says, "Surgery is performed when patients don't want to take medications for long time or if they have a stomach hernia or can't afford these medicines. But what people need to know is that if you don't respond well to the medications, surgery probably won't be very effective."