GERD can be cured by reducing risk factors and completing treatment

Jakarta — Professor of Internal Medicine and Consultant Gastroenterology–Hepatology at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (UI) and at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam SpPD-KGEH said that GERD can be cured if the underlying risk factors are reduced and treatment is carried out to completion. “The treatment should relieve symptoms and complications, lifestyle changes: if you smoke, stop smoking; if you drink alcohol, stop; weight loss is important; then a low-fat diet. So this really needs to be reduced,” he said at a health discussion on GERD with Primaya Hospital in Jakarta on Thursday. Ari said that changing lifestyle with a healthy diet can reduce the severity of GERD, as can regular exercise, losing weight to avoid obesity, getting enough sleep, and managing stress. Based on his research, the average GERD patient is male with smoking habits, obesity, and over 40 years of age. “Excessive chocolate-and-cheese consumption since childhood, and the habit of eating right before bed. And now children are tending to move less because of gadgets; reduce gadget use so they should be in the playground more often,” he said. To view indicators of GERD, usually an internist will perform endoscopy to see how severe the mucosal damage is and to look at the gap in the lower esophageal sphincter that prevents gastric acid from rising into the oesophagus. He said that if patients repeatedly experience chest pain and heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest, vomiting, then it is advisable to perform endoscopy to look for possible GERD. In addition, treatment with gastric acid-suppressing drugs is given but must be taken until the GERD disease is resolved, including the newer P-CAB drugs Vonoprazan, Tegoprazan and Fexuprazan which offer hope for GERD sufferers because of Helicobacter pylori bacteria. “Now it is the era of P-CABs. So given that about 20 percent of patients treated with previous drugs fail, this is a hope for GERD sufferers—there are new medicines,” he said. Ari said GERD can be reduced with intermittent fasting and by maintaining protein intake.