Latest Achalasia Stories

West Penn Allegheny Health System physicians are the first in Pennsylvania to offer a new surgical technique for treating the swallowing disorder achalasia which requires no external incisions and yields a quicker recovery. Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) May 09, 2013 A multidisciplinary team of physicians and nurses from West Penn Allegheny Health System’s(WPAHS) Institute for the Treatment of Esophageal and Thoracic Disease is the first in Pennsylvania to offer per-oral endoscopic myotomy...

CLEVELAND, Sept. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center is one of five institutions nationwide performing a novel scarless procedure that restores swallowing function in some patients with achalasia, a rare condition where the esophagus is unable to move food into the stomach. Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a state-of-the-art technique to treat patients without any external incisions or outside scars. With POEM, surgeons enter through...

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New plain-language publications from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) compare the benefits and risks of treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a digestive condition that affects millions of Americans and can be treated with medications or surgery. The publications are based on an updated evidence report also released today. The report concluded...

POEM is one of a growing number of surgeries to use the body's natural orifices for entry CHICAGO, Aug. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jorge Sobenes is a husband and father who loves to cook for his family. In a nine month period, however, he went from enjoying his favorite foods to not being able to eat or drink due to a tightening in his throat and difficulty swallowing. He lost 40 pounds and was desperate for answers. Sobenes was diagnosed with achalasia, a condition where the...

New guidelines support use of Radiofrequency Ablation to remove precancerous cellsNew guidelines issued by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) support the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to remove precancerous cells in patients with Barrett's esophagus, a condition most commonly caused by chronic acid reflux, or GERD. Barrett's esophagus is the leading cause of esophageal cancer and affects an estimated two million Americans. While traditionally managed through watchful...

Stomach wrap operations may be more effective than acid suppression tablets in the treatment of severe acid reflux, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The study shows a more pronounced improvement in symptoms shortly after surgery than with drug treatment. Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common chronic disease in which acid reflux causes heartburn, acid regurgitation, vomiting and difficulty swallowing. GORD can be treated by changes to diet and acid suppression...

Nonsurgical therapy for underdiagnosed, rare and deadly diseaseGastroenterologists at Rush University Medical Center are studying the safety and efficacy of a new system for delivering chemotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer, a rare, but deadly disease that attacks the throat. The unique drug therapy delivers a highly concentrated dose of chemotherapy injected directly on to the hard-to-reach tumors in the esophagus non-surgically. Researchers at Rush are trying to determine if the...

Two non-surgical, non-pharmacological treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease both appear effective in reducing medication use, U.S. researchers say. GERD -- a condition in which acid from the stomach backs up into the esophagus -- is typically treated first with medications such as proton pump inhibitors. However, it may be difficult for patients to comply with or afford long-term drug therapy, and GERD returns more than 80 percent of the time when medication is discontinued. One...

Two non-surgical, non-pharmacological treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) both appear effective in reducing medication use and improving voice and swallowing symptoms, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. One type of therapy also appears effective for reducing heartburn and cough, whereas the other may be associated with a reduction in regurgitation.GERD"”a condition in which acid from the stomach backs up...

DEAR DR. GOTT: I have a 13-year-old son with autism. He is very pleasant, tries real hard at everything, does well in school and never complains. Although he is verbal, he has great difficulty expressing his thoughts. He's 5 feet 4 inches, maybe 100 pounds and is a big eater. He's going through puberty. About eight months ago, he began having difficult and painful swallowing, indicating pain from his neck, along the esophagus, to his stomach. It was torture for him to eat and torture for us...