Confused between heartburn and heart attack?

We often get confused between two main conditions: heart burn and heart attack. Their symptoms are quite common and sometimes cannot be  identified easily. The fright that we experience is same for both and often people are put into a panicky condition when it becomes very difficult to identify whether it is an acidity attack or a heart attack. Sometimes hyperacidity becomes so severe that it starts showing symptoms of heart attack. This happens due to accumulation of acids in the stomach that travel up above the esophagus. I remember one of my friends, who had experienced hyperacidity, during school days, and the symptoms were very painful. Hyperacidity can also cause back pain and uneasiness in breathing. It is very painful when not diagnosed properly. So is the situation with heart attack. However heart attack is much more severe and can cause death. Therefore it becomes very important for us to know the difference between heart burn or hyper acidity and heart attack. People have observed that knowing the symptoms and getting prior treatment has helped many to save their lives.   Is heart burn related to your heart in anyway? Certainly not. Though its name is heartburn it is in no way connected to your heart. Heartburn literally means high acid content related to your oesophagus or hyperacidity and indigestion. But since your oesophagus and heart are located close to each other, you may get confused whether it is an acidity or chest discomfort arising due to heart problems. This is the main reason why people get scared because of the chest pain. So actually heart burn is nothing to worry about.

So what is heartburn?

As discussed earlier heart burn is a common condition wherein your stomach acids rise upto oesophagus creating a reflux. Our stomach has acids that help the foods to get digested properly. However when the stomach acid levels rise, they start getting refluxed into the oesophagus. Since our oesophagus is not accustomed to such high acidic environment, we tend to suffer. This can cause chest and back pain that may also radiate into your jaw. It is probably noticed that if you belch for sometimes and the symptoms go away, then you can anticipate that it is hyper acidity. However if you experience shortness of breath, pain in the left hand, shoulder and chest, sweating, problem in breathing, then it could be a sign of heart related issue. However symptoms vary from person to person. Let us check this out using the following information about the symptoms of heartburn and heart attack. 
Symptoms of heartburn include burning sensation in food pipe accompanied with one or more of the following symptoms such as acidic or strong burps, burning sensation in chest, nausea and bloating, breathlessness or large breaths that usually get reduced with antacid. Heartburn tends to be worse after eating.  
Symptoms of heart attack are more or less on similar line, sometimes very difficult to identify. Symptoms of heart attack include chest pain accompanied with pressure, squeezing, heaviness, tightness and ache. It seems that some hard or heavy substance is burdening your chest, creating great pressure on the chest. This symptom is followed by pain in the left hand, shoulder and back. You may also feel very tired and lazy to move. Burping, belching and bloating are not observed when you get a heart attack. Still sometimes it becomes difficult to anticipate what exactly the symptoms are talking about. So when you are in doubt you must check it out. If you are still not sure what to do, make sure you immediately go to the hospital and seek medical advice.