Heartburn, heart attack - Do you know the difference

By Raymond Harper

Heartburn, Heart attack symptoms, its important to know which one you have?

Do you know the difference between heartburn, Heart attack  symptoms? Acid reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic illness which many suffer from on a daily basis. Although medication is a great way of stopping the bouts of heartburn by removing or stopping stomach acid production, GERD is something which you will probably have for the rest of your life. It never goes away and taking medication will only alleviate the symptoms but they will not take away the cause.

Acid reflux medication is not only excellent at stopping the production of stomach acid it also allows inflammation of the esophagus to heal, but stop taking the tablets and the acid reflux symptoms will return.

The main symptom of acid reflux is heartburn. This is a burning sensation in the chest caused by the refluxed stomach acid burning the lining of the esophagus. Some attacks of heartburn can be mild but also some can be very severe. One problem is that the pain can be right in the middle of the chest and radiate towards the back. Sometimes the feeling is like a pressure in the chest similar to having a heart attack and it can also affect your breathing. To anyone who does not know these symptoms they could possibly think that they are actually having a heart attack.

For someone who has not been diagnosed as having acid reflux disease (GERD) having such symptoms could quite easily be taken for a heart attack because of their similarities.

It is extremely dangerous to think you have acid reflux when you can actually be having a heart attack so knowing heart attack symptoms can be crucial. It is a must you know the difference between heartburn and heart attack

 So what are heart attack symptoms?

• Chest pain that increases when you move around.
  
• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes.
  
• Sometimes pain can radiate through the neck or have a feeling of numbness and tingling in the shoulders or arms. This pain can vary from mild to very severe and can often feels like tightness, burning or pressure. Sometimes it feels like a heavy weight has been placed upon you. The pain can also be from the jaw.
  
• The heartbeat becomes irregular or rapid.
  
• The skin is pale or has a pallid look.
  
• The sufferer may have a feeling of impending doom.
  
• The sufferer may feel anxiety, nervousness and the skin can be cold and/or sweaty

Not all of these symptoms may happen at the same time and some may come and go. But if someone has these symptoms you should not wait and medical help should be called for immediately.

Heartburn, although not to be taken lightly is not life threatening, but heart attacks are and should be treated as an emergency. Knowing the difference between heartburn vs heart attack could be a matter of life and death.

So you could have major symptoms like chest pain, breathing problems, pressure radiating from the chest area or nausea and they are all associated with heart attacks or heartburn. To know if you have had a heart attack you must be diagnosed by a doctor and it is essential to get help and it’s never wise to guess.

Natural home remedies are fine to take for heartburn symptoms but do not work for heart attacks. So call for help even if you are not sure.

If you suffer from either acid reflux or have already had a heart attack lifestyle changes are a must to overcome these problems. There are plenty of things you can do to avoid either happening again. For acid reflux you can administer some yourself, but for heart attack victims your should seek the best medical advice you can get. Do not leave heartburn, heart attack symptoms t chance before it's too late.