ST. LOUIS, MO (STLMoms) – Comedian Sarah Silverman has said she’s lucky to be alive. But there’s nothing funny about her condition commonly called asthma of the food pipe, an allergic inflammatory condition of the esophagus. Dr. Amana Nasir, from Mercy Kids GI is here to explain the condition.
EE, also known as asthma of the food pipe, is an inflammatory condition in which the wall of the esophagus becomes filled with large numbers of white blood cells that can cause difficulty swallowing, pain, nausea and vomiting.
According to the doctor, there has been a rise in this condition in infants. Often parents think their child has acid reflux or gerd when they come in, but their children are diagnosed with this condition.
Common symptoms in children include difficulty feeding, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing, food impaction, no response to gerd medication, and failure to thrive (poor growth, malnutrition and weight loss).
At first researchers thought this was due to the increase in awareness among doctors and greater availability of upper endoscopy. However, studies now suggest that the disease is becoming increasingly common, parallel to the increase in asthma and allergy.
Mercy Kids GI is hosting a free workshop,, led by Dr. Nasir, for families to learn the difference between eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) and other allergic conditions, the long term effects of EE and about local support systems available.
The workshop is tonight from 6 PM to 8 PM at Mercy Hospital.
