Heartburn, acid reflux is a common symptom, may be many people have had this experience, in fact, this is a disease called gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms, according to the Chinese Medical Association Eleventh National Digestive Diseases Academic Conference on a set of data show that China’s gastroesophageal reflux disease patients have reached one hundred million people, the disease has become one of China’s highest incidence of chronic diseases. In addition to heartburn and acid reflux, the disease can also appear chest pain, swallowing pain, dysphagia and other symptoms, and in severe cases, reflux esophagitis, esophageal ulcers or esophageal stenosis or even esophageal cancer can be formed. When reflux enters the throat and respiratory tract, it can also lead to chronic pharyngitis, aspiration pneumonia, asthma and other diseases. The disease is so common and harmful, how should we prevent and treat it? First, the emergence of symptoms in time to seek medical treatment If the frequent occurrence of heartburn, acid reflux and other symptoms, more than 2 to 3 times a week, you should go to the hospital gastroenterology department in a timely manner. Doctors can examine the esophageal mucosa through gastroscopy to determine the degree of damage, such as the presence of esophageal erosion, and also find the complications of GERD, such as esophageal ulcers, strictures, and esophageal cancer, etc.; through 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring, observe the changes in esophageal pH concentration, the frequency of regurgitation, the duration of the regurgitation, and the relationship between the symptoms, etc., and also determine the efficacy of the medication through 24-hour pH monitoring; some patients have to go to the gastroenterology department of the hospital in time. Some patients can be diagnosed by diagnostic test, which is to give patients acid-suppressing drugs (mainly proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole, etc.) for a certain period of time, and if the patient’s symptoms are relieved, and it is considered that the symptoms are related to acid reflux, then the diagnosis will be made as gastroesophageal reflux disease. Some patients in addition to heartburn, acid reflux symptoms, but also can be manifested as chest pain, chronic pharyngolaryngitis, chronic cough, as well as asthma attacks, often go to the emergency department, cardiovascular, otorhinolaryngology, if chest pain to rule out heart and lung disease, when asthma, chronic cough, chronic pharyngolaryngitis, etc., when the conventional treatment is ineffective, but also to consider gastro-esophageal reflux disease may be. Once diagnosed, medication control Currently, medication is still the main measure in the treatment of GERD, aiming at controlling the symptoms. Once diagnosed with GERD, the treatment should be standardized, generally 8 weeks for a course of treatment, and then according to the situation for maintenance treatment. Commonly used drugs are mainly in the following three categories: 1, drugs to reduce the acidity of gastric contents: mainly H2 receptor blockers and proton pump inhibitors, such as famotidine, ranitidine, omeprazole, lansoprazole, rabeprazole, etc.; 2, mucosal protection drugs: such as teprenone, sofalcones, bismuth pectin, rehabilitation of the new liquid, etc.; 3, to promote the movement of the gastrointestinal drug: such as moxapril, itopride, tegaserod, etc.. Because there is no special drug to enhance the tension of esophageal sphincter and inhibit gastroesophageal reflux, GERD cannot be completely cured, and it is especially easy to recur after stopping the drug. In order to control the symptoms, it is usually necessary to take the maintenance treatment, which can be maintained by the original dosage or reduced dosage. Long-term use of drugs to inhibit gastric acid will produce certain side effects, so you can take intermittent treatment and on-demand treatment method for maintenance therapy, that is, the interval between a period of time to take a period of time to take medicine, or heartburn, acid reflux and other symptoms before taking medication. Self-conditioning is very important The recurrence of GERD is closely related to the lifestyle, so the usual self-conditioning is very important. 1. Pay attention to the adjustment of diet. Try to eat less greasy food and spicy stimulating food, such as fatty meat, cream, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, chili pepper, cold drinks and carbonated drinks; avoid overeating, eat less and more often, and eat eight minutes of fullness; don’t lie down after meals, do bending movements, and do appropriate activities such as housework or walking; don’t eat too late in the evening, and don’t eat or drink anything within three hours before going to bed. 2, to appropriate exercise, weight control. Regular exercise can promote gastrointestinal peristalsis, improve appetite, promote digestion, but also exercise the abdominal muscles, enhance the stomach muscle tension, to prevent the occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux. Overweight and obesity is an important cause of gastroesophageal reflux, obese people through diet and exercise to reduce body weight, it can significantly improve the reflux symptoms. 3. Pay attention to the change of body position. Changes in body position have a great impact on gastroesophageal reflux, if frequent nighttime reflux, you can raise the head of the bed at least 15cm, the left side of the bed is better. In order to prevent the increase of intra-abdominal pressure, should avoid wearing tight clothes or tight belt, clothes as loose as possible, keep the bowel movement. 4, to maintain a relaxed mood. Emotions and gastroesophageal reflux disease have a close relationship. Those who are in a state of high mental tension, depression and anxiety for a long time are prone to cause gastroesophageal reflux, while a positive and optimistic state of mind can promote gastric dynamics and alleviate reflux symptoms. Surgery can be used when the condition is serious Surgery can be considered for stubborn gastroesophageal reflux, especially when the reflux is secondary to other diseases such as hiatus hernia, and patients who are ineffective in medication and life conditioning can be considered for surgical treatment. Commonly used surgical methods are as follows: 1, endoscopic cardia narrowing: it is to ligate the mucosa at the lower end of the esophagus near the dentate line with a loop ligature, and to achieve the purpose of cardia narrowing and intraluminal prevention and treatment of reflux through the scar repair after the mucosa ligature, and it can effectively control the symptoms of acid reflux, heartburn, and so on. 2.Anti-reflux mucosal resection: endoscopic submucosal stripping or mucosal resection is performed on the mucosa of stomach and cardia to form artificial ulcers, and the anti-reflux barrier is remodeled by utilizing postoperative scar narrowing. 3.Radiofrequency ablation: It is a therapeutic method to ablate or cut the target tissues by using the thermal effect generated by specific frequency electromagnetic waves. Through the electrode piercing into the wall of the esophagus to output energy to the intrinsic muscle layer to burn, to be burned after the healing of the site, due to tissue collagen hyperplasia, the lower esophageal sphincter thickening, enhance the anti-reflux effect. 4.Gastric fundoplication: it can be performed through open surgery or laparoscopic surgery, and currently laparoscopic surgery is the mainstay. The principle of fundoplication is equivalent to valvuloplasty, which is to wrap the fundus of the stomach along the esophagus to tighten the cardia opening, and at the same time to establish a folding flap in the stomach, the folding flap can block gastric acid, and play the role of preventing gastric reflux into the esophagus. Conclusion: GERD is not a scary disease, most people can effectively alleviate the condition through medication and self-conditioning, but for stubborn GERD, surgery can be considered in order to achieve a complete cure.