Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing, can be caused by various diseases, including GERD, scleroderma, and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. There are two main types of dysphagia: esophageal and oropharyngeal. Treatment options include Botox, medications, and surgery.
Several diseases, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and scleroderma, cause dysphagia, a condition that causes a person to have difficulty swallowing. Neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis also sometimes cause dysphagia. While some people with dysphagia find swallowing painful, others may not be able to swallow at all.
There are two main types of dysphagia. When someone has esophageal dysphagia, it can feel like food or liquid gets stuck in the esophagus. Tumors of the esophagus can cause dysphagia, as can age-related weakening of the esophageal muscle.
Other causes of esophageal dysphagia include widespread spasm and achalasia. When someone has widespread spasms, their esophagus muscles contract as they try to swallow, preventing the object from sliding down their throat and into their stomach. Symptoms include a feeling similar to heartburn. Diffuse spasm is a rare disease that sometimes develops into a condition known as achalasia.
Achalasia prevents the esophageal sphincter from opening so that food can enter the stomach. It usually feels like food is stuck in the area around the heart. Sometimes, food can travel up the esophagus. The pain of achalasia can cause a person to think they are having a heart attack. Both achalasia and widespread spasm can be treated with Botox® or medications that help muscles relax. In severe cases, surgery may be done to cut the muscles to keep them from contracting erratically.
GERD can also cause dysphagia. Stomach acid travels up the esophagus when someone suffers from GERD; this can scar the throat, narrow the area inside the esophagus, and cause the muscles to contract erratically. Scleroderma is a disease that has symptoms similar to GERD. The sphincter may be weakened, which causes stomach acid to wash out the throat as well. Systemic scleroderma causes the tissue in the esophagus to become stringy and stiff, so food and liquids don’t travel as freely as they should along their way to the stomach.
Neurological conditions are usually responsible for the other type of dysphagia, oropharyngeal. When someone has oropharyngeal dysphagia, he or she is unable to move food from the back of the mouth into the esophagus. Instead, he may vomit or choke on food. Food can also be routed incorrectly in his nasal passages or windpipe, which can lead to a respiratory infection. Stroke, multiple sclerosis, post-polio syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease are examples of neurological conditions that can cause dysphagia.
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