Why should you treat heartburn?
The goal of treatment is not only to relieve the symptom of heartburn. Of course symptomatic treatment would be all that is needed when heartburn is not associated with acid reflux disease. That means in the functional stage or when there is acid reflux alone.
When the disease develops (the organic stage) with changes of esophagitis diagnosed by the physician, the aim is to heal or cure these changes simply because all the complications of acid reflux disease are a sequel of untreated esophagitis. To avoid such complications as ulcers, strictures, Barrett's esophagus or even cancer you should start treatment. The use of proton pump inhibitors for example reduces acid production and promote healing of esophagitis since acid is its main causative factor.