11 July 2023
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Achalasia symptoms
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The main symptoms of achalasia are:
Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). Patients feel as if food is stuck in their throat and in the pit of their stomach. At first, this difficulty improves by drinking water, but when the oesophagus is dilated it causes regurgitation.
Regurgitation or exit of food retained in the oesophagus towards the mouth.
Weight loss.
Vomiting.
Gastric acidity.
Sometimes, chest pain.
Dysphagia is a symptom, not a disease
The term dysphagia means difficulty swallowing. As an oesophageal symptom, it appears in many diseases that alter oesophageal function or cause oesophageal obstruction due to inflammation of the mucosa.
Diseases that affect the mucosa and cause dysphagia can be benign or malignant. Benign conditions are gastroesophageal reflux disease that causes oesophagitis, which is very common; and eosinophilic oesophagitis, when grooves or rings form in the oesophagus due to “allergenic” inflammation and cause dysphagia. A malignant case is oesophageal cancer.
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Substantiated information by:
Elisabeth Barba
Gastroenterologist
Gastroenterology Service
Published: 20 February 2024
Updated: 20 February 2024
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