Gastric reflux disease is a less commonly used name for the condition knows as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Another common name is acid reflux, hence the origins of the term, gastric reflux disease.

Whilst it is known as a disease, this can be confusing because it has connotations of being contagious between people. However, this is not the case.

Gastric reflux disease is the condition whereby stomach acid escapes from the stomach and into the esophagus. It does this because the valve known as the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, that lies between the stomach and the esophagus fails and allows acid to travel through it.

Relatively little is actually known about how and why the LES fails. Most treatments concentrate on either neutralising the acid or stopping production of it.

The standard treatment for infrequent heartburn is antacids which neutralise the stomach contents so that if reflux occurs, no pain is felt. In these cases, failure of the LES is only temporary and usually due to some event such as heavy alcohol intake.

More advanced cases where the LES is permanently malfunctioning can be said to be the onset of gastric reflux disease. When this occurs, better treatment is required.

Cutting production of acid is a common treatment for gastric reflux disease and typically done by giving doses of PPIs or proton pump inhibitors. These are a recent class of medicines that have over 99% efficiency at cutting acid production. Therefore, there is no acid left to reflux and no painful symptoms.

Curiously, stomach acid is not required for the human body to function although it is thought that various vitamin deficiencies can result.

Typically, prescription of PPIs is enough to arrest gastric reflux disease. Some sufferers may, through choice, elect to have a surgical procedure which should remove the need to take daily medication.