There are powerful muscles in our body that we rarely think about. These involuntary muscles are working all the time to maintain life, as we know it. One of these connects the esophagus with the stomach. This round "sphincter" muscle opens to allow food to get into the stomach then closes to prevent food from backing up into the esophagus. When the muscle is weak or relaxes inappropriately you may experience heartburn. If, for some reason, your stomach excretes a lot of excess stomach acid, the backup can be painful and dangerous to the tender esophageal tissue. The sensation people who have gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD ranges from heartburn and gas to a burning sensation behind the breastbone that moves up the neck and throat and can feel like a heart attack.

I love spicy food, chocolate, peppermint, tomato products, an occasional glass of champagne and diet coke. I eat a high in complex carbohydrate diet that includes high fiber vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds on my salad and spicy ethnic foods. I exercise regularly. Throughout my life I have had episodes of dull gastric pain. Sometimes they occurred at a particularly stressful period of my life and sometimes they occurred for no apparent reason at all.

Recently, when under the stress of deadlines for a new book that made sleeping hours short and eating patterns irregular I awakened at 3 a.m. with a pain that made me wonder if I was having a heart attack. I got some relief when I stood up but the pain increased, moved down my right arm and was worse when I moved around. Knowing how fit I am I felt foolish but finally called my doctor who sent me to the hospital. My blood pressure was sky high but I wasn't having a heart attack. I was diagnosed with GERD.

The good news is that GERD is treatable. Altering lifestyle by (sadly for me) avoiding the foods I listed above, eating small portions of food, losing weight if you're too heavy, avoiding eating less than 3 hrs before bedtime, sleeping with your head elevated and on your left side and, if you smoke, ending that habit, are the classic forms of treatment suggested before one of the many drugs available to decrease stomach acid are added to the mix.

When GERD is untreated, serious complications can occur. If you think you have it, read more about it at WEBMD.com or call the American College of Gastroenterology's consumer information hotline at 800-HRT-BURN. Don't self treat these symptoms for more than two weeks. Your healthy life depends on it.