City doctor prescribes POEM

CHENNAI: Imagine getting up in the middle of the night with your nose filled with water, and mouth with the the food you had for dinner. This unease is a symptom of acute swallowing disorder. A city hospital has introduced a new machine to treat patients suffering from it.

Instances like regurgitation, food and water rising up to the nose when you are sleeping and difficulty in pushing the food bolus in are some of the symptoms of a condition called Achalasia Cardia. Every month we get around four patients with this disorder,” says Dr T S Chandrasekar, chairman of MedIndia.

Achalasia Cardia is caused when the valve that leads from the food pipe to the stomach fails to open up. Due to this, the passage of food into the stomach is blocked, leading to accumulation in the food pipe. The food particles later come back through the nose. This may even lead to chest infection.