
When your child's stomach hurts, it hurts you, too. When stomachaches and other symptoms happen again and again,
you worry about what might be causing them. And you may wonder how often is
too often for your child to have
symptoms. Could your child's stomachache and other symptoms (wheezing, chronic cough, vomiting) be a sign of
gastro
esophageal
reflux
disease (GERD)?
Each child is different.
Learn more about the symptoms of GERD based on your child's age.
What is GERD?
GERD is short for
gastro
esophageal
reflux
disease. That's a long name! Often, GERD is called
acid reflux disease. Here is what happens: in GERD, acid from the stomach (that's the "gastro" part) goes
(or "refluxes") into the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. Everyone
has some acid reflux once in a while. But when reflux happens too often, it can cause irritation, and that can
lead to painful symptoms and damage to the esophagus.
GERD has been associated with other medical problems, such as:
- Asthma
- Pneumonia
- Bronchitis
- Ear infections (with fluid drainage)
If your child has GERD, there is a treatment that can help relieve the painful symptoms
and heal the damage (sores, also called
erosions) to
your child's esophagus.
Treating GERD with Prevacid
Prevacid is the first medicine in its class approved for use in children with GERD (acid reflux disease) as young as 12 months of age. The same
Prevacid has been used to treat millions of adults with GERD.
Learn more about treatment with
Prevacid.