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Written by Thomas Gibson
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The main problems of GERD are the fact that it is chronic and its acid reflux or heartburn. Acid reflux is when the acidic content of the stomach back flows into the esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth and stomach). Unlike the stomach, the esophagus was not built to hold the acidic content normally found in the stomach, the esophagus is simply a connector between the mouth and the stomach. When GERD is left untreated, frequent dousing of the esophagus with acid reflux will damage the sensitive esophageal lining over time. Like any and all medical conditions, if you leave it alone long enough, more and more problems will come of it.
A few medical conditions may occur as long-term complications when GERD is left untreated and are as follows: - Erosive Esophagitis: In medicine, all words ending in –it is pertain to the inflammation of the root word. In the case of esophagitis, it is the inflammation of the esophagus due to chronic acid reflux. The sensitive esophageal lining is irritated and eroded. As a normal compensatory mechanism to injury, the esophagus inflames to try and promote the healing process. Symptoms of esophagitis include pain/difficulty when swallowing, burning sensation in the throat, bleeding and even more acid reflux. Treatment for esophagitis depends on the cause of the esophagitis, and since in this case esophagitis is a complication of GERD, the same treatment for GERD is needed.
- Esophageal Stricture: A stricture is an abnormal narrowing of a duct or passage of the body. Esophageal strictures occur when previous damage to the esophagus (like from acid reflux) heals, making scar tissue. As the patient with GERD suffers from more and acid reflux, the injury heals, gets damaged again and due to this process slowly builds up a layer of scar tissue. The scarring causes the esophageal lumen to get smaller and smaller making swallowing difficult. Treatment for esophageal stricture is dilatation via balloon inflation in the esophagus. Of course treatment is useless if the underlying cause of esophageal stricture is not treated. If the cause of the esophageal stricture is untreated, the stricture will just reappear.
- Barrett’s Esophagus: Barrett’s esophagus is a premalignant illness. As the esophagus suffers more and more abuse from acid reflux, the cells lining the esophagus may get replaced by intestinal lining like cells. Barrett’s esophagus in itself is asymptomatic (it does not show symptoms). People suffering from acid reflux for a long time (in some cases even those who do not suffer acid reflux) should have an endoscopy to check for abnormal cells. If abnormal cells are found, tissue sample are taken and examined. When a cell undergoes metaplasia (transformation of one cell type to another) the risk of cancer increases for the person.
- Laryngeal Cancer: The larynx or the voice box may develop cancer due to chronic acid reflux brought about by GERD but GERD cannot be solely blamed for this particular cancer. Like call cancers, laryngeal cancer has many risk factors but doctors cannot fully explain as to why some people develop this cancer while others do not. Symptoms include pain in the neck, lump in the neck, hoarseness of voice, prolonged sore throat (1-2 weeks) that cannot be treated by antibiotics, weight loss, bleeding, chronic cough, bad breath, and ear ache.
- Esophageal Cancer: Unlike laryngeal cancer which is a bit more mysterious, the link between GERD and esophageal cancer is clear. GERD and Barrett’s esophagus are listed as major risk factors for esophageal cancer because the former usually causes the latter. However, it should also be noted that GERD and Barrett’s esophagus may increase the risk but not all people with those conditions will develop esophageal cancer. Symptoms for esophageal cancer include excessive salivation, (more) heartburn, pain when swallowing, vomiting, black tarry stool (from bleeding), and hoarseness.
For both aforementioned cancers (laryngeal and esophageal), treatment is dependent on the stage of the cancer. Diagnosis can be via biopsy or other cancer screening tests. To make matters simple, cancer is a freak of nature. Doctors today are still baffled as to why differentiating types of cancer develop in certain people even when they do not meet the risk factors. The aforementioned cancers are just more commonly found on people with GERD than those without. The medical conditions listed above are the most common complications from GERD; however those are not the only ones. There are lesser complications that can be brought by GERD. For example: When acid reflux reaches the mouth, this can cause nausea which would then lead to vomiting. When acid lingers in the mouth, due to improper oral hygiene after regurgitation, the enamel of the teeth will get damaged. |
