title: Insult of gastroesophageal reflux on airway: clinical significance of pharyngeal nozzle.
abstract: At the very time of global paying the highest attention to the worst insults of smoking as well as haze on the airway, everybody knows both are exogenous and noticeable. However, people mostly, including many medical personnel, do not know how badly the gastroesophageal reflux (GER) insults on our own airway. Symptoms of GER are commonly seen as heartburn and regurgitation, which can be mostly tolerated. However, when the up going gastric content reversely passes the esophagus and then the distal pharynx, where it appears a beak like stricture, serving as a nozzle, so as to produce numerous micro-particles and reach the oro-nasal cavity and also the airway causing allergic rhinitis and asthmatic attacks, even pulmonary parenchyma lesions. It will reduce life quality or even jeopardize life. The point that the endogenous insult appears in the respiratory system, but originates from the digestive tract is not well known and often undiagnosed and not correctly treated. The GER induced airway challenge is a treatable and preventive entity, as soon as a diagnosis is made, a good relief could be expected by means of life style adjustment, medicine, or fixation of the patulous cardia through radiofrequency or fundoplication. The author Dr. Zhonggao Wang had suffered it for long and symptoms disappeared for 8 years after anti-reflux surgery. Here is a presentation of Dr. Zhonggao Wang and his team's work and would call attention to the public so as to recognize this relatively unknown entity - a treatable condition occurring from human itself, but not from outside surroundings as smoking or haze does.
authors.affiliation: Center for GER, the Second Artillery General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, 100088, China, zhonggaowang@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Zhonggao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhiwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jimin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Hongtao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yungang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yachan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: Chengchao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhitong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Weitao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019468:Disease Management; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018662:Fundoplication / Q000379:methods*; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D053120:Respiratory Aspiration / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome