10 Esophagitis Symptoms
Symptom #2: Dysphagia
Dysphagia is a medical term that refers to difficulty swallowing or disruption in the swallowing process. This can include difficulty of passage of solids or liquids from the mouth to the stomach. It is different from odynophagia, which describes pain during swallowing. Among the different types of esophagitis, infectious fungal esophagitis (Candida species) is a common cause of both dysphagia and odynophagia. Patients with dysphagia have a higher risk of pulmonary aspiration and aspiration pneumonia. It can also result in malnutrition, renal failure, and dehydration.
Since some patients with dysphagia can be unaware of this symptom, clues include choking, coughing, difficulty initiating the swallowing process, inability to control food or saliva in the mouth, weight loss, and frequent pneumonia. Besides esophagitis, other causes of dysphagia include esophageal motility disorders, structural disorders (i.e. esophageal webs, Zenker diverticulum) esophageal cancer, various neurological disorders (i.e. strokes, Alzheimer disease), and more.
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