Photodynamic therapy may effectively treat superficial esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus. The treatment begins with an injection of a light sensitive medication. Your normal body cells can get rid of this medication, but precancerous and cancerous cells in your esophagus cannot, so it accumulates in these tissues and makes them sensitive to light. Two days after the injection, your doctor inserts an endoscope — a long, flexible instrument — into the diseased area of your esophagus. The light from a laser on the endoscope activates the medication, killing the light sensitive cancerous cells.
This medication will make all the cells in your body light sensitive, so talk to your doctor about how you can avoid sunlight for up to 6 weeks after the treatment.
What is acid reflux relief?
In medically oriented terms, antonyms of the word relief include pain, distress or damage. That links its meaning to both subjective and objective aspects. Subjective, denoting sensations experienced by the sufferer such as pain and objective, meaning physical findings detected by specialists which are either functional distress or organic damage. Actually relief is related to control measures and it quantitatively signifies removal of an unpleasant existence or reduction of its magnitude. The definition of relief, therefore encompasses alleviation of pain, relaxation of distress and healing of damage. Acid reflux on the other hand has two sides; the subjective side (symptoms) which reflects the symptom of heartburn and the objective side (signs) that reflects the functional and/or organic signs of esophageal changes. Acid reflux relief is therefore a broad term that covers all the measures used to control symptoms and signs of acid reflux disease. Normally, the lower esophageal sphincter remains closed except during swallowing. This prevents the passage of food and acid from the stomach into the esophagus. If the lower esophageal sphincter becomes weakened or relaxed, stomach acid may back up into the esophagus. Frequent acid reflux can irritate and inflame the lining of the esophagus, causing symptoms and signs of acid reflux. A better understanding of relief would thus entail knowledge of some aspects of normal structure and function, so that changes in the disease and its control could be easily considered. Actually acid reflux relief involves both preventive and curative measures, and in addition to treatment; orientation with the causes, symptoms and complications of acid reflux are essential for proper management. Acid reflux relief includes: dietary changes,lifestyle modifications, specific medications and surgical operations.Basic knowledge of the underlying causes and progression of acid reflux and answering frequently asked questions about its relief; add to the depth of understanding.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Barrett's esophagus Treatment: Photodynamic therapy
Posted by SSS at 9:56 AM