Q: Hi Dr. I have terrible heart burn. I am 6 weeks pregnant and I just don’t know what I should do

A: Heart burn really has nothing to do with the heart…I bet all of you knew that, aye? It is usually felt as a burning sensation in the chest which feels worse on bending down or lying down. Okay, why and how does this happen? You know that the stomach produces acid to help with food digestion, right? Have you ever wondered, how come this acid isn’t all up in your mouth all the time? Well, that’s because there’s a ‘lock’ or control at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach which prevents the acid in the stomach from coming back up into the esophagus. This ‘lock’ is called the Lower Esophageal Sphincter. This lock can get strained if the esophagus opens too often or if there…