A rare medical condition has left a man — whose name was not disclosed — with food rotting a hole in his throat.
Three years ago, a 40-year-old engineer began suffering from repeated throat inflammation, experiencing difficulty swallowing and often choking or gagging on his food.
The man later started emitting a rotting odor through his breath, with the odor so putrid that it began to seriously affect his personal life. At first, he thought it was because of his habit of staying up late, which can cause a type of gastroesophageal reflux, but what doctors uncovered was a rare condition called esophageal diverticulum.
“The human esophagus is like a 25cm straight pipe through which food is transported to be digested in the stomach. Having an esophageal diverticulum is like having your esophagus grow a new room in the middle of your esophagus, which intercepts food from being delivered into the stomach,” Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital otolaryngologist Li Jia-rong (李佳融) said, adding that the intercepted food then slowly rots within the esophagus.
“The cause of esophageal diverticula is mostly genetics. Some people have a thinner mucus lining covering the opening of their esophagus, in which food is more likely to get caught, thus slowly forming a diverticulum, or pouch,” Li said.
This causes difficulty in swallowing and small deformities within the respiratory track, he said.
Esophageal diverticula are a rare condition that usually occur in people aged 40 to 60. For every 100,000 people, there are only two to three cases.
“Symptoms of esophageal diverticula can include tightness in the chest area, bad breath and throat inflammation. Even drinking water, eating a bowl of rice or noodles can cause choking,” Li said.
In the past, neck surgery was the only known treatment, but it is considered quite dangerous because of the likelihood of nerve damage.
Even after a successful operation, the patient might continue to experience some eating difficulty, as well as be left with a visible scar from the surgery.
Recently, doctors in Taiwan performed the first endoscopic esophageal diverticula laser ostomy as a new form of treatment for the condition, Li said, adding the new treatment leaves the patient scar-free and can help reduce the risk of infection.
After just one week of recovery, patients would not only be able to eat normally, but could also return to their normal lives, he said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we