The return of bitter-tasting, partly digested food from the stomach to the oesophagus.
A disorder in which the contents of the stomach back up into the oesophagus because the usual neuromuscular mechanisms for preventing this are intermittently or permanently failing to work properly. If persistent, the failure may cause oesophagitis inflammation of the oesophagus. If a person develops heartburn, regurgitation, discomfort and oesophagitis, the condition is called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD); sometimes symptoms are so serious as to warrant surgery. Gastro-oesophageal reflux is sometimes associated with hiatus hernia.