Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is clinically common and affects the quality of life of patients. Drug treatment is often needed, so how long is the course of drug treatment appropriate? As the efficacy of different drugs for GERD varies. Therefore, the course of treatment is also different. The course of treatment for GERD with proton pump inhibitors is usually 4-8 weeks, and can be extended to more than 4 weeks if the esophagitis is not cured after 4 weeks of taking the medication or if the symptoms still persist. The main proton pump inhibitors are esomeprazole magnesium, omeprazole, lansoprazole, rabeprazole, and pantoprazole. The literature reports that the cure rate can reach 70% at 4 weeks and about 85% at 8 weeks, and there is no significant difference in efficacy for GERD between the above mentioned proton pump inhibitors. In general, a standard dose of proton pump inhibitor once daily is effective, and a few patients may need to double the dose or add an H2 receptor antagonist, such as famotidine, at night before going to bed, with 20 mg every night before bedtime. Recent studies have reported that the efficacy of esomeprazole compares favorably with other proton pump inhibitors in terms of symptomatic relief and esophagitis healing rate. If economic conditions permit, for patients with GERD, proton pump inhibitors may be preferred, with esomeprazole being more effective.