Peer-reviewed medical journals are an excellent source of information for people who suffer from GERD. Articles are generally written in technical language specific to medicine, so we’ve digested the articles to provide a snapshot of recent news.

• Management of GERD: Current Primary Care Approaches

• Long-term Clinical and Pathologic Response of Barrett’s Esophagus After Antireflux Surgery

• Risk of Community-Acquired Pneumonia and Use of Gastric Acid-Suppressive Drugs

This article is about primary care physicians’ general approaches to the management of GERD.¹ The author discusses the disease’s severity and chronicity, and even the cost of GERD. The author cites recent studies to show how primary care physicians treat GERD and then takes a look at the updated guidelines of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Here’s an interesting finding from a study cited in the article: Most physicians agreed that patients with GERD symptoms of five or more years’ duration should undergo an endoscopy to screen for Barrett’s esophagus.

The guidelines of the American College of Gastroenterology suggest endoscopy for two categories of patients: those with alarm symptoms (for example, difficulty swallowing, bleeding, weight loss, or anemia) and those who are at a higher risk for Barrett’s esophagus.

Instead of living with GERD symptoms for five or more years, you may want to be more proactive with regard to your health and seek out a gastroenterologist for a specialist’s opinion.

The authors discuss Barrett’s esophagus and its outcomes with regard to antireflux surgery.⁸

Here’s an interesting fact: The authors found that antireflux surgery provides excellent long-lasting relief of symptoms in patients with Barrett’s esophagus and may induce complete or partial regression of the abnormal cells that indicate Barrett’s esophagus.

The authors write about pneumonia and its association with stomach acid-suppressing medications.¹⁰ The authors found that using the medications increases the risk of community-acquired pneumonia.

Here’s an interesting fact: Users of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are at a higher risk than users of H2 antagonists.