Many people experience heartburn, mainly because they eat the wrong foods at the wrong time which causes this problem! “When we lie down to rest, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest. For persons of sedentary habits, late suppers are particularly harmful.” (CCh 224) Following this simple counsel along with eliminating between meal snacks, chocolate, caffeine and others irritants may be all that is needed to overcome this condition. But in the past 20-30 years the bacteria, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), has been identified as being a cause of both heartburn and ulcers! A study in the August American Journal of Gastroenterology, 1000 patients in Spain with bleeding ulcers were treated for this bacteria and after 3 years the recurrence of bleeding ulcers were rare. Therefore if you have heartburn and ulcers which do not respond to simple therapies you should speak to your health care provider about being tested for H. pylori. As a side note, the PDR for Herbal Medicine, 4th. edition, page 19, states that Aloe vera, “exerts dose-dependent growth inhibition of Helicobacter pylori…”