Difficulty swallowing, beware of serious illness
Difficulty swallowing is an alarming condition in all ages, especially the elderly, so it should be paid close attention, because this is a symptom of many diseases.
Causes of difficulty swallowing
Normally, the diameter of the human esophagus can expand up to 4cm to allow food and liquid to pass through. Whenever the diameter is less than 1.5cm, it often causes difficulty in eating and drinking, accompanied by pain, burning, and even difficulty breathing. Swallowing is a chain reaction of many participating organs such as the mouth, tongue, pharynx, esophagus, muscles around the esophagus, and the role of the nerves.
Therefore, dysphagia is a phenomenon that prevents food and liquid from passing through the mouth, throat, and esophagus, causing symptoms of pain, burning, discomfort, and even difficulty breathing. It is estimated that people over the age of 50 have dysphagia at least once a week, accounting for about 35%.
The authors show that the older you are, the
dysphagiaincreasingly. In daily life, some people have difficulty swallowing due to the habit of eating and drinking too quickly, not chewing thoroughly, or some infants have the phenomenon of regurgitation and vomiting due to difficulty swallowing because the physiological characteristics of the child are not yet complete, especially the nervous system, including the nerves that regulate the contraction of the esophagus. However, over time, these phenomena will gradually disappear.In children, when they have difficulty swallowing, pain, screaming, or even turning purple, it is thought that there is a serious problem with the child's throat or esophagus. The most common problem is when the child chokes on a bone or swallows a foreign object in the throat or esophagus.
For adults, especially the elderly, we must be very vigilant with the phenomenon of difficulty swallowing, because there are many causes, the most frightening of which is malignant diseases of the pharynx, esophagus, and larynx. The most common disease is in the esophagus such asesophageal dysmotility, scleroderma. Scleroderma is a systemic disease that damages many organs, including sclerosis of the mucosa and esophageal sphincter muscles.
Some diseases such as esophageal burns (which can become pus-filled and infected) which can result in esophageal scarring, gastroesophageal reflux (which can leave esophageal scarring), esophageal polyps, esophageal tumors, esophageal prolapse (due to the stomach, intestines or other organs in the abdomen herniating through the diaphragm into the chest cavity). But the most dangerous isesophageal cancercausing persistent, frequent difficulty swallowing.
Esophageal cancer is a common disease in our country, especially in men over 40 years old. This is a disease that in the early stages can easily be confused with other diseases (gastroesophageal reflux disease, stomach - duodenal disease, cardiovascular disease, intercostal neuralgia) because the patient has pain behind the sternum, difficulty swallowing or choking, then continuous and frequent difficulty swallowing and painful swallowing or vomiting.
Around the esophagus, there are also many cases of esophageal compression causing difficulty swallowing such as hypopharyngeal cancer, heart failure, mediastinal tumors, cervical spine disease (bone proliferation at the front edge of the cervical spine compresses the esophagus)... Some diseases of other organs of the upper respiratory tract such as the throat, pharynx, nasopharynx, tonsillitis or diseases of the digestive tract such as non-dilated cardia, cardia tumors or some other organs in the abdomen herniating through the diaphragm also cause difficulty swallowing.
In addition, in the elderly, difficulty swallowing can also be caused by some diseases that damage the nervous system such as Parkinson's disease, stroke (cerebral vascular accident causing paralysis). Difficulty swallowing sometimes does not have physical damage but only the feeling of swallowing something stuck in the throat, sometimes there, sometimes not (not often), it can also be caused by chronic tonsillitis or by the impact of stress or mental illness.
To determine the cause of dysphagia, a thorough medical examination and some necessary clinical tests are required. At qualified medical facilities, a contrast-enhanced esophagography or esophagoscopy will be performed. Esophageal endoscopy has many benefits. In addition to diagnosing the cause of dysphagia, some experienced medical facilities can perform endoscopic surgery to remove tumors or polyps. Or in cases of dysphagia due to esophageal stricture (esophageal scarring as a result of burns, gastroesophageal reflux), the esophagus can be dilated through endoscopy.
Complications of dysphagia
Difficulty swallowing, especially prolonged difficulty swallowing, makes the patient unable to eat or drink or not eat enough, which will lead to some complications such as malnutrition, water and electrolyte disorders. In some cases, the cause of difficulty swallowing is not determined, causing the patient to worry and have a mental breakdown. In some cases, difficulty swallowing is caused by esophageal cancer. If not detected early for treatment, the disease will progress rapidly and can cause death.
To prevent dysphagia, appropriate preventive measures should be taken based on the cause. With children, extreme caution should be taken to prevent them from choking on bones or swallowing hard objects (toys).
If this happens, the child should be examined immediately, preferably by an ENT specialist to provide timely emergency treatment to prevent damage to the esophagus, infection, or pus, causing difficulty swallowing for the child. For adults, especially the elderly, when they have difficulty swallowing, they should see a doctor immediately, especially if the difficulty swallowing lasts for many days, weeks, or months, they should be examined to determine the cause.
These cases need to be examined by an ENT specialist or a gastroenterologist or an oncologist. If the cause is not found in these specialists, they will be referred to other specialists related to dysphagia such as: bones and joints, nerves, and psychiatry. When the cause is determined, most are treated medically (using drugs) such as esophagitis, gastroesophageal reflux, stroke, cervical spondylosis, psychiatry, and stress.
Some people who have difficulty swallowing due to tumor compression will need surgery (surgical treatment). It is important that patients, especially the elderly, do not be subjective or ignore the disease until it becomes serious before going to the doctor.
According to Health & Life - NT
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