GREENVILLE

You don't have to live with chronic heartburn.

In fact, when left untreated, heartburn can lead to more serious complications.

Since May, the UPMC Horizon Heartburn Treatment Center has been offering advice and relief to people who often experience that burning sensation in their chests. The center is in the ambulatory services department of UPMC Horizon's Greenville hospital.

"A lot of people don't follow up with their doctors (about heartburn)," said nurse Mary Cunningham, clinical coordinator of the Heartburn Treatment Center. "They feel they can just live with it."

The center is for anyone who wants to call and ask for advice about heartburn.

"They can call here directly, but we would like their doctor to be in the loop," Mrs. Cunningham said.

Heartburn occurs when the sphincter valve at the top of the stomach does not relax and close and stomach acid travels up into the esophagus.

Certain foods, such as chocolate, peppermint, fried or fatty foods, coffee, spicy foods or alcoholic beverages, can contribute to heartburn, as can smoking, certain medications or lying down after eating.

Everyone has heartburn once in a while, but chronic heartburn can be a sign of reflux disease.

"When you normally eat, your stomach produces an acid to digest food," Mrs. Cunningham said. "When you have reflux, the sphincter doesn't relax and the acid comes up. After it keeps burning (the esophagus) it causes changes."

Mrs. Cunningham said 15 million Americans get heartburn daily. When left untreated, chronic heartburn can develop into Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the normal cells that line the esophagus change and can eventually lead to cancer. Anyone who has had daily heartburn for five years may be at risk, she said.

At the Heartburn Treatment Center, Mrs. Cunningham first works on a patient's diet and lifestyle as the patient continues with over-the-counter heartburn medication.

"When they call in, we try to get them to start a diary of food and if they take antacids," she said. "At the end of 10 days, we talk about what foods bother them."

Mrs. Cunningham also works with the hospital's diet center and smoking- cessation programs, if necessary, when helping a heartburn patient make lifestyle changes.

If lifestyle changes and over-the-counter drugs don't work, diagnostic testing comes next.

"If they need testing, we can call their doctor," she said. "We can set it up for them."

One test involves inserting a probe into a patient's stomach through the nose to evaluate swallowing. In another, a lighted camera at the end of a scope examines the lining of the esophagus and takes tissue biopsies. A patient can also wear a 24-hour pH monitor, which records each episode of heartburn or reflux.

If all else fails, Mrs. Cunningham said, surgery can cure reflux.

So far, the center has seen 18 patients, two of them candidates for surgery.

Anyone can call the center to make an appointment. Mrs. Cunningham sends information to anyone who is interested in heartburn treatment.

The center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To make an appointment or to request information, call (724) 589-6848 or (724) 983-7518.

There is no charge to call the center.