Chronic heartburn: Do you need an endoscopy?

Before your doctor takes a "just in case" look down your throat for trouble, make sure you really need this procedure.

One in five men has felt the burning discomfort of heartburn in the past month, and for many men it is a chronic malady requiring daily medication. For a variety of reasons, those with chronic heartburn end up having one or more endoscopies, in which a doctor uses a flexible lighted instrument to check for trouble down below in the esophagus.