Just in time for Valentine's Day. A new heartburn.

Heartburn is a condition few people live their lives without not experiencing.  The dreaded acid reflux can keep us up all night unless we take the magic purple pill (nexium) or another acid reducer.  You'd think years of medical school to become a plastic surgeon would exempt me. Nope.

Now there is a new heartburn that puzzles GI specialists because it is NOT related to acid reflux. 

Almost half of patients with GERD (Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease) have no signs of acid erosion on their esophagus and DO NOT respond to acid reducing medicines.  

This new heartburn on the block is aptly called, "NERD", yes "NERD", and it stands for Non-erosive Reflux Disease.  Now why couldn’t I have thought of that?  

GI experts now think that 50-70% of GERD patients are really NERDS!  (Somehow that comes out wrong, doesn't it?  Usually they are female, younger, and thinner.  Certain things may help such as don’t lie down within 3 hours of eating, take antacids, quit smoking, avoid tight clothes, sleep well and lose weight.