Faes Farma, in collaboration with the Spanish Society of Clinical, Family and Community Pharmacy (Sefac), has developed a Guide with practical recommendations for the treatment of heartburn and reflux. The paper considers 4 clinical cases of patients of various profiles who usually go to the pharmacy because of some gastric symptom: a man who smokes coffee, a woman receiving NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), a woman with reflux and an overweight man.
The guide was prepared by Ana Rodríguez Sampedro, Community Pharmacist in A Pobra (A Coruña) and Coordinator of the Sefac Nutrition and Digestion Group, and Pilar Morago Corella, Community Pharmacist in Santander and current member of the Sefac Nutrition and Digestion Group.
The document is practical in nature and is intended to be a quick and useful reference guide in the daily work of a pharmaceutical specialist.
Rodríguez Sampedro notes that acid “in constant contact with the gastric mucosa can cause significant damage to it, so it is very important to protect and regenerate this mucosa. For this, there are products that form a protective film on the mucosa and, in addition, have the ability to regenerate the damaged area.
This consultation tool collects from identified cases: a description of each case, pharmaceutical action, referral criteria, pharmaceutical indications (pharmacological measures and hygiene-dietary measures) and, finally, the evolution of the patient.
According to Morago, “it cannot be guaranteed that even if the patient observes good hygiene-dietary measures in his daily life (avoid overweight and obesity, heavy meals, stress, wearing very tight clothing, irritating foods or foods with a lot of spices, fried food, etc.) can also show acidity, since in some cases it is the result of not only bad habits, but also various physiological conditions, such as pregnancy, hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, eating certain drugs, among other things.