Dysphagia Overview
Dysphagia is the medical term for swallowing difficulties. Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) means it takes more time and effort to move food or liquid from your mouth to your stomach. Dysphagia may also be associated with pain. In some cases, swallowing may be impossible. Persistent dysphagia may indicate a serious medical condition requiring treatment.
Types of Dysphagia
Following are three main common types of dysphagia:
- Oral Dysphagia: Oral dysphagia usually starts with a problem in the mouth. I can be caused after having a stroke, where the tongue muscle weakens and a person starts to have difficulty chewing food and transporting food from the mouth.
- Pharyngeal Dysphagia: Pharyngeal dysphagia starts with a problem in the throat. Usually the issues in the throat are caused by neurological diseases that effects the nerves such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid (MMP), Parkison’s Disease and stroke.
- Esophageal Dysphagia: Esophageal dysphagia starts with a problem in the esophagus. This is caused because of blockage or irritation in the esophagus. A person may feel pain when swallowing foods and liquids and it feels like something is stuck in the throat (globus). Usually a surgical procedure is required to fix such a problem.
Causes of Dysphagia
Swallowing is complex problem and a number of conditions can interfere with this process. Sometimes the cause of dysphagia cannot be identified. Dysphagia is usually caused by a health condition or disease.. Dysphagia can be caused because of the following diseases:
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): ALS is an incurable form of progressive neurodegeneration; over time, the nerves in the spine and brain progressively lose function.
Achalasia: In this condition, the lower esophageal muscle does not relax enough to allow food into the stomach.
Diffuse Spasm: In this conditions the muscles in the esophagus contract in an uncoordinated way.
Stroke: In this condition, brain cells die due to lack of oxygen because blood flow is reduced. If the brain cells that control swallowing are affected, which can cause dysphagia.
Esophageal Ring: In this condition, a small portion of the esophagus narrows, preventing solid foods from passing through sometimes.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) has severely elevated levels of in the esophagus. These eosinophils grow in an uncontrolled way and attack the gastrointestinal system, causing vomiting and difficulty with swallowing food.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS): In MS disease, the central nervous system (CNS) is attacked by the immune system, destroying myelin, which normally protects the nerves.
Myasthenia Gravis (MG): In myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disorder, the muscles under voluntary control become easily tired and weak because there is a problem with how the nerves stimulate the contraction of muscles.
Parkison’s Disease: Parkinson’s disease is a gradually progressive, degenerative neurological disorder that impairs the patient’s motor skills.
Radiation: Some patients who receive radiation therapy (radiotherapy) to the neck and head area may develop swallowing difficulties.
Cleft Lip and Palate: Types of abnormal developments of the face due to incomplete fusing of bones in the head, which results in gaps (clefts) in the palate and around the nose and lip area.
Scleroderma: Scleroderma is a group of rare autoimmune diseases where the skin and connective tissues become tighter and hardened.
Esophageal cancer: Esophageal cancer is a type of cancer in the esophagus, usually related to either alcohol and smoking, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Esophageal stricture: In this condition the esophagus becomes narrow, a narrowing of the esophagus is usually related to GERD.
Xerostomia (dry mouth): In this condition, there is not enough saliva to keep the mouth wet.
Signs and Symptoms of Dysphagia
Following are the signs and symptoms of dysphagia:
- Coughing or gagging when swallowing
- Feeling of food getting stuck in the throat
- Drooling
- Being hoarse
- Bringing food back up (regurgitation)
- Heartburn
- Having food or stomach acid back up into your throat
- Unable to swallow
- Unexplained Weight Loss
- Having to cut food into smaller pieces or avoiding certain foods because of trouble swallowing
- Pain while swallowing (odynophagia)
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