Carbonated drinks and sleeping pills may cause heartburn

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that fizzy drinks and benzodiazepine sleeping pills can cause heartburn during the night.
Heartburn is, as the name suggests, a burning pain around the breastbone area, often known as indigestion. A team at the University of Arizona has carried out a survey of over 15,000 people and learned that around a quarter suffer from heartburn during the night.

The findings uncovered a link between consumption of fizzy drinks and heartburn. This may be because the drinks are quite acidic. Ironically, benzodiazepines, which are sometimes used to induce sleep, are also linked to heartburn. However, antidepressants and calcium channel blockers, both of which cause acid reflux, do not cause night-time heartburn. So if you are woken in the night with indigestion, try substituting a herbal tea for fizzy drinks and don't try to treat the condition with benzodiazepines.

Source
Chest May 2005

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