Is it Heartburn or GERD?

It’s a word that could stop the best spelling bee contestant in their tracks: gastroesophageal. It’s the “G” of GERD, which stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease. What many people think is acid reflux could in fact be this more serious condition.

About 40 million American suffer from heartburn, according to Albert Wetter, M.D., a Mills-Peninsula surgeon. “Unfortunately, about 40 percent of people who take medications for heartburn still experience symptoms,” he says.

Heartburn or acid reflux, are other names for gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD – a condition in which liquids from the stomach wash up into the esophagus causing pain, says Mills-Peninsula surgeon Pamela Foster, M.D.

These doctors explain acid reflux and the latest techniques to detect and treat GERD in this new five-minute video from Healthpoint TV.

If you suffer from acid reflux – and think it might be GERD - you can read more and see the video on the Mills-Peninsula health blog.