Every so often, a completely random advert stops me in my tracks and makes me wonder what on earth went on in the room where it was created. For me, that moment came this past weekend, courtesy of a bubblegum-pink, cheerfully surreal advert for Pepto-Bismol.

Pepto-Bismol has been around since 1901, when it was first designed to ease the symptoms of cholera. Over the decades, it’s evolved into the familiar pink liquid we know today, promising to treat nausea, heartburn, indigestion and – as their jingle suggests – diarrhoea-ah!

Absurd advert? Definitely. But effective nonetheless, since it actually got me thinking about Pepto-Bismol for the first time in years. And, to its credit, the advertisers slipped in a piece of genuinely useful advice: that if your symptoms persist, see a doctor. That matters, because ongoing indigestion can be a sign of something more serious.

In medicine, the gut is divided into two regions: upper and lower. The upper tract includes the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus (or gullet), stomach and the first section of the small intestine: the duodenum. Symptoms from these areas can point to a range of conditions.

One common cluster is dyspepsia: discomfort or pain often accompanied by bloating, burping, nausea and a feeling of fullness. Most of us will have experienced it at some point.

It can also involve reflux – the sensation of stomach contents coming back up – or waterbrash, a bitter taste from stomach acid hitting the back of the throat. Patients describe these in many ways: heartburn, acid reflux or “food that repeats on you”.

Pharmacies offer a wide range of remedies to treat indigestion. The........

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