Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Treating Acne

By Jayna Davis

However great a person's features are or how well their clothes fit their bodies, one small feature can really ruin the whole effect. A bad case of acne can do this pretty badly, so if you'd been working really hard to get that beach-ready body, don't forget to take care of your skin, too.

The most common culprit for the causes of acne is puberty, pure and simple. The hormonal imbalances that come with sexual development can really throw a growing kid's sebaceous glands (those are the oil glands found in the skin) out of whack, which can cause them to produce too much oil that can clog up the pores. With the build up of the oil and dirt, the bacteria starts to breed, and badda bing badda boom, you have acne.

Another one of the causes of acne is genetics. Some people will have the great luck of inheriting really good skin that's almost completely resistant to blemishes. These lucky ones won't have to suffer through acne at all; not even during puberty. On the other hand, there will be those who will unfortunately have to battle with severe acne throughout their lives. Most of us will fall somewhere in between.

Treating acne is usually a pretty simple and straightforward matter, especially if your acne isn't very severe. Sometimes, it can be as easy as washing your face on a regular basis, using a gentle facial cleanser that fits your skin type.

Whether the causes of acne are puberty-hormones, cigarettes, or even PMS, there will be an acne treatment for you, don't worry! There are treatments that deal with the effects of acne -the various skin blemishes caused by the bacteria that breed in clogged pores, for example- as well as the causes of acne.

Hormone treatments, for example, can be an effective treatment for really severe acne. For most people though, a good acne cream is often enough. Applying it regularly or as directed by your doctor can really show results, especially if coupled with a good skin care regimen.

Choosing the right brand of topical cream or ointment will depend on how you plan on treating acne and on your own body chemistry; some substances are a lot likely to work on certain kinds of people than others. Once you get the kind of treatment that works for you, you probably won't have to worry about the causes of acne anymore.

Outright curing acne might be the province of only a few specific products, but treating acne can be as simple as maintaining your skin care regimen and using a little bit of acne cream to keep the acne symptoms at bay.

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