Aerophagia in newborns. Symptoms and treatment of aerophagia Psychogenic aerophagia

Aerophagia is a pathological condition in which a person, while eating, swallows a large amount of air, which comes out in the form of belching. Normally, with each sip a person swallows a little air, which goes unnoticed. Infants suffer from aerophagia, which is normal. Pathological aerophagia is more often observed in young women.

Aerophagia is almost always accompanied by epigastric discomfort

Reasons for the development of the disease

The disease can develop against the background of organic changes in the gastrointestinal tract, heart pathologies or neurological disorders (neurotic aerophagia).

What diseases of the gastrointestinal tract lead to swallowing large amounts of air?

• Chronic gastritis;
• Stomach ulcer;
• Narrowing of the gastric outlet, which is accompanied by slow evacuation of gastric contents;
• Weakness of the muscles of the stomach or esophagogastric ring;
• Achalasia cardia is a persistent dilatation of the esophageal sphincter;
• Hiatal hernia.

With neurotic aerophagia, the patient does not have problems with the heart or stomach. Pathological swallowing of air occurs due to fast eating, talking during meals, due to increased salivation, desire to smoke, against a background of stress and emotional overstrain.

Sometimes the disease can develop due to constant nasal congestion or incorrectly selected removable dentures (for several teeth).

Manifestations of the disease

The main symptom of aerophagia is frequent belching, both after meals and outside meals (air enters the stomach even when swallowing saliva). Other symptoms of the disease that not everyone experiences include:

• heaviness in the stomach after eating, bloating;
• shortness of breath, increased heart rate after eating;
• hiccups

Other signs of aerophagia are concomitant manifestations of the disease that causes it. These may include heartburn, abdominal pain, bowel movements, nausea, heart pain, rapid heartbeat and others.

The symptoms of neurotic aerophagia are the same as with organic damage to internal organs: belching, periodic hiccups, heaviness in the abdomen, flatulence. At the same time, the presence of belching is noted, regardless of food intake, the release of which in some patients is accompanied by a cry. Symptoms are present throughout the day and only go away during sleep.

A set of necessary examinations

The direct diagnosis of aerophagia is based on identifying the patient’s characteristic complaints. Then palpation and percussion of the abdomen is performed. The diagnosis is confirmed by performing a conventional x-ray of the chest organs, including the abdomen. This image clearly shows the large gas bubble of the stomach and the high position of the diaphragm, which is characteristic of the disease.

Advice: If you have similar symptoms, consult a gastroenterologist, as there is a high probability of stomach diseases. In addition to general clinical studies, the gastroenterologist will prescribe an FGDS to evaluate the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach, to exclude inflammation and hiatal hernia.

In the case of a neurotic form of the disease, a consultation with a psychotherapist is required, who will explain to the patient what aerophagia is and prescribe appropriate treatment. If you have heart complaints or if the disease appears after 40 years, you should contact a cardiologist and undergo an examination (lipid profile, electrocardiography).

Treatment of pathology

The symptoms and treatment of aerophagia are integrally related, since therapeutic tactics depend entirely on the cause of the disease. Patients with gastrointestinal pathology are treated by a gastroenterologist, patients with heart and vascular problems are observed by a cardiologist or therapist, and persons suffering from neurotic aerophagia undergo correction of their condition by a psychotherapist.

Physiological aerophagia (in infants) cannot be treated. After feeding, the baby should be placed in an upright position until the condition improves (wait for air to escape).

This article is aimed at improving understanding of the pathogenesis of aerophagia development and the importance of timely therapy. The information provided below is not a guide to action. Treatment should only be carried out by a doctor after a thorough examination.

Important: without treatment, aerophagia (pathological form) will sooner or later lead to undesirable complications: weakening of the esophagogastric sphincter with the appearance of reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus (reflux is accompanied by heartburn) and the formation of a hernial protrusion in the esophageal diaphragm.

Eating food quickly in large portions is almost always accompanied by aerophagia

Important Rules

Regardless of the form of the disease, persons with aerophagia should follow the following rules:

• Eat in a relaxed atmosphere, in small portions. About 30 minutes should be allowed for eating.
• Chew food thoroughly, give preference to soft foods, and grate or chop hard foods.
• Do not drink carbonated drinks not only during meals, but also throughout the day.
• After eating, do not lie down for about an hour.
• Periodically spit saliva during hypersalivation.
• If pathological swallowing of air prevents you from falling asleep, lie on your left side and lower your head.
• Get rid of bad habits: smoking, drinking alcohol.

Patients with neurotic aerophagia are prescribed sedatives, small doses of anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants as indicated.

Tip: Warm baths and light abdominal massage after meals give good results. One of the main therapeutic measures is breathing exercises. Diaphragmatic breathing, based on relaxing the abdominal muscles and lowering the diaphragm, reduces pressure on the esophageal sphincter and reduces air swallowing. Such gymnastics are taught by a psychologist or psychotherapist.

After consulting with your doctor, you can turn to traditional medicine. The use of herbal teas and decoctions containing choleretic agents, liver infusions, and components that improve the functioning of the stomach will help significantly alleviate the condition. Peppermint and artichoke extract are considered the most effective and safe.

Important: Artichoke has a powerful choleretic effect. It is contraindicated in persons with cholelithiasis. Therefore, before consuming artichoke and products that contain this component, you should undergo examination. This is especially true for individuals who have a predisposition to this pathology.

Prevention of aerophagia

• Proper and regular nutrition.
• Getting rid of bad habits
• Avoid carbonated drinks and dry snacks.
• Timely treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and correction of mental disorders.

The modern rhythm of life, poor nutrition and snacking on the go increase the risk of developing aerophagia. Therefore, everyone should pay attention to preventive measures. In addition, they will help not only prevent the development of the described disease, but also improve the functioning of the digestive system.

Rules for healthy eating for a long and active life:

Aerophagia - the word comes from the Greek. aerophagia - air, phagein - eat, absorb. The disease consists of swallowing air in large quantities and regurgitating it afterwards. Not every swallowing of air is pathological. First, there is the physiological swallowing that is required to create a certain level of pressure. Such swallowing is not accompanied by belching. Secondly, belching can occur due to the consumption of carbonated drinks, soda or beer.

Carbonated drinks can cause belching

The diagnosis is made based on examination and medical history. Often, directly during the examination, you can observe how preparation for belching occurs. The movements are quite characteristic. The patient pulls his head forward, then presses his chin to his chest and makes empty swallowing movements.

Percussion can determine the enlarged Traube space. X-ray images show the diaphragm at a fairly high level. It is brought into this position by a large air bubble located in the stomach. This effect can also be achieved by detecting a functional cascade in the stomach.

In this case, the patients' complaints boil down to belching, which is accompanied by loud sounds, but it has no smell. If the patient is prone to hysteria, then during belching he also screams. This type of belching is almost permanent. It disappears in most cases during sleep.

If aerophagia is neurological in nature, then the pathology has nothing to do with the process of eating.

Patients complain of discomfort in the stomach: pain, heaviness, bloating. The abdomen of such patients may be distended. If a person’s condition is complemented by ischemic disease, then gastrocardial syndrome develops: angina pectoris, extrasystole. True, this condition can also appear in patients with a healthy cardiovascular system. Sometimes a condition occurs that was previously called asthma dyspepticum. It consists of difficulty breathing.

Poor nutrition is the main cause of aerophagia

Aerophagia in childhood can occur in infants. This happens when the baby sucks a lot on the nipple or breast, where there is little milk. Moreover, the pathology can be threatening. After all, persistent regurgitation leads to weight loss.

Aerophagia in a baby can be determined by crying while sucking, a voluminous tummy, and a reluctance to suck further. When the child changes position, he burps. This calms the baby, and he can then behave calmly and continue to eat.

The diagnosis must be confirmed by x-ray examination. Swallowing air in children can be a bad habit. It needs to be weaned off. This can be done by carefully monitoring the eating process. In extreme cases, tube feeding is used. Also, aeorophagia may be due to the immaturity of the processes of nervous regulation of the digestive organs. In this case, it goes away on its own with age.

Reasons for the development of the disease

The main reason for the appearance of aerophagia is violations of the rules of food intake. This happens when a person is used to eating quickly and talking a lot while eating. In addition to this reason, there are several more:

• difficulty breathing through the nose;
• neurosis.

Gastrointestinal diseases that provoke aerophagia include pathological processes in the oral cavity, including dental diseases. Neurosis is the most common cause of this disease. It entails the development of a pathological conditioned reflex.

In infants, sucking on a breast with a small amount of milk or sucking on an empty bottle leads to swallowing air. Swallowed air leads to frequent regurgitation. Loss of nutrients negatively affects the baby's weight and general condition.

Aerophagia in young children can be determined by screaming during sucking. The baby becomes restless and refuses the breast or bottle.

If he changes his body position, a belch will form. After this, he calms down and continues to suck without any problems.

To avoid weight loss in your baby, you need to hold him upright after feeding, then the burp will come out in the form of air, and the food eaten will remain in the tummy. If aerophagia is neurotic in nature, it will go away with age.

Treatment of aerophagia

To get rid of aerophagia, you need to cure the underlying disease. If the illness is neurotic in nature, you should seek advice from a psychotherapist, maybe even a psychiatrist. The patient should not swallow saliva, but should spit it out. You have to eat very slowly. Talking while eating is prohibited. Drinks with carbon dioxide are completely excluded from the diet. Gymnastics are carried out regularly, time for sports and other active activities increases.

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Aerophagy is the ingestion of air and its release, physiological components in the process of physiological digestion. Belching is the process by which swallowed air from the stomach is expelled through the oropharynx. Aerophagy is a term borrowed from Greek: aer meaning "air" and phaegen meaning "swallowing". From a clinical point of view, aerophagia and excessive belching are considered pathological if they significantly affect a person’s well-being. There is some disagreement in the literature regarding the clinical “working” definition of aerophagia. Thus, some authors consider this term in connection with symptoms caused by the presence of excess gas in the stomach and intestines, as a secondary phenomenon, the result of swallowing air. According to the Rome III recommendations, both aerophagia and too frequent belching of any nature are determined by excessively abundant retrograde movement of air with a clear difference that with aerophagia it is possible to objectively record the swallowing of air, which is not the case simply with belching. These types of disorders are usually diagnosed clinically and treated with education and behavioral psychotherapy.

Regurgitation is the regurgitation of undigested food into the oropharynx, which occurs without any effort. Regurgitation is a normal part of the digestive process in animals with a multi-compartment stomach. They call it chewing gum, but chewing gum is unusual for humans. Regurgitation is a normal phenomenon observed in children, as well as in adults with developmental delays. Additionally, it has now been shown that regurgitation can also occur in healthy adults. Both aerophagia and regurgitation are diagnosed clinically and treated conservatively.

Epidemiology of aerophagia

The incidence and prevalence of aerophagia, disorders associated with belching and regurgitation, are not clearly defined. It is believed that such manifestations are observed relatively rarely, but this is explained by the fact that many patients do not go to doctors, and when they do, in most cases their symptoms are interpreted incorrectly and other diagnoses are made, other gastrointestinal diseases are called.

Causes of aerophagia

Belching or air regurgitation is the audible retrograde movement of air from the esophagus into the oropharynx. Normally, physiological belching prevents the accumulation of excess air in the proximal gastrointestinal tract, which can be accompanied by bloating and excess gas. Physiological belchings are usually repeated 25-30 times a day. The use of multichannel impedance monitoring made it possible to distinguish two different types of belching: gastric and supragastric.

Gastric belching is what we usually consider to be a normal physiological expulsion of air, emptying the stomach of excess gas. Air inside the stomach is collected due to peristalsis of the esophagus during eating and drinking, especially when drinking carbonated drinks. The resulting distension in the proximal stomach triggers the vagal reflex, which leads to TRIP and the passage of gas by a mechanism similar to that seen in GERD. This reflex leads to rapid distension of the lower esophagus, causing a reflex relaxation of the PS, thereby allowing air to move into the oropharynx.

In contrast, supragastric belching occurs when air enters the oropharynx and esophagus but does not enter the stomach, but is instead quickly expelled in a retrograde direction. It is believed that this formation of belching cannot be attributed to physiological reflexes; rather, this mechanism relates to learned behavior when the intake of air occurs through contraction of the diaphragm, which can reduce intraesophageal pressure. The involvement of diaphragmatic contractions is not well understood, but it may be associated with visceral irritation, as in GERD. It should be noted that belching is more common in patients with psychiatric comorbidities, and it has been shown that diverting the person's attention can reduce the frequency of belching; both of these facts support the hypothesis that regurgitation is primarily a behavioral disorder.

The pathophysiology of aerophagia appears to involve excessive voluntary swallowing of air. Abdominal bloating and distension are symptoms common to other gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but patients with true aerophagia do have excess air ingestion, and this can be demonstrated using impedance testing.

The physiological mechanisms underlying regurgitation are not entirely clear. However, new technologies such as high-resolution manometry and intraluminal impedance measurements have shed light on this problem. During regurgitation, intragastric pressure increases and at the same time the pressure in the segment 2-3 cm above the gastroesophageal junction increases. This promotes retrograde movement of food into the lower esophagus. This phenomenon was designated by a new term - “common cavity phenomenon”. Liquid or solid contents move up the esophagus in a retrograde direction, which is accompanied by relaxation of the esophagus, and as a result, the food bolus reaches the oral cavity. This is followed by normal antegrade peristalsis, in which the food is swallowed again. It is believed that the initial increase in intragastric pressure is achieved by voluntary contraction of the abdominal wall muscles. The treatment approaches described below are partly based on this.

Symptoms and signs of aerophagia

Patients report repeated unpleasant episodes of retrograde air passage, usually without nausea or vomiting. Belching is also common in other conditions, such as GERD and functional dyspepsia (FD), so the combination of belching with symptoms of other diseases should lead to consideration of alternative diagnoses. In a typical case, from the very beginning and the first contact with the patient, the doctor notes incessant belchings, sometimes more than twenty per minute.

In addition to belching, patients with aerophagia usually complain of bloating and abdominal discomfort. Along with this, they are more susceptible to excess gas and constipation. Of course, these manifestations can dominate, and then belching becomes the second most important complaint.

Diagnosis of aerophagia

For the clinic, only supragastric belching is almost always relevant. Diagnosis is determined by a carefully collected history and observation of the patient. Physical examination usually does not reveal any abnormalities, with the exception of frequent contractions of the diaphragm. With characteristic symptoms, no additional examination methods are required. When the symptom complex is atypical, they resort to esophageal manometry and impedance pH measurement, that is, methods that will help identify other pathologies. In patients with an excessive number of supragastric eructations, impedance measurements reveal a rapid increase in impedance from the proximal to the distal part of the esophagus (a reflection of air intake), followed by a retrograde decrease in impedance.

X-rays of the abdomen in patients with aerophagia reveal gas in the intestines without fluid levels.

Just as with pathological belching, anamnestic data is usually sufficient to diagnose regurgitation, and there is no need for additional diagnostic studies. Regurgitation can be difficult to distinguish from other functional disorders (GERD, gastric paresis, etc.). Regurgitation, which causes regurgitation, typically occurs during or immediately after eating. Such retrograde movement of the food mass is not accompanied by any effort. It is not preceded by increased convulsive belching, as happens with vomiting, and nausea is not characteristic. These signs distinguish regurgitation from manifestations of gastric paresis. Regurgitated food is usually recognizable by appearance and does not have an unpleasant taste. Regurgitation stops as soon as the substrate becomes acidic. This is what distinguishes regurgitation from GERD. However, regurgitation may be accompanied by heartburn. The origin of heartburn is secondary; it turns out to be a consequence of the corrosive effect of gastric contents on the esophagus. Patients, especially adolescents, often experience weight loss. It can be very difficult to distinguish regurgitation from bulimia and anorexic behavior, so it is necessary to take very seriously those with risk factors for developing certain eating disorders, this is more true for young women. During a physical examination, voluntary contractions of the abdominal muscles are sometimes noticed. When the diagnosis remains unclear, esophageal manometry with intraluminal impedance measurement is performed to help differentiate regurgitation from other conditions. Regurgitation is characterized by an increase in intragastric pressure, followed by retrograde esophageal flow, which is determined by impedance measurements. Intraluminal manometry is much less commonly performed and much less accessible. The technique is quite applicable for diagnosing regurgitation syndrome. During the procedure, the classic R-wave is recorded, which indicates regurgitation. The R wave actually reflects the Valsalva maneuver: intra-abdominal pressure increases, as does intrathoracic pressure, and esophageal pH decreases.

Differential diagnosis of aerophagia, excessive belching and regurgitation

Treatment of aerophagia

The main key to success in the treatment of patients with pathological belching and aerophagia is an accurate diagnosis and a clear understanding of what disease underlies the observed symptoms. For people who burp excessively, treatment is aimed at reducing the voluntary, but usually unintentional, diaphragmatic contractions that initiate air entry into the esophagus. Psychotherapeutic influence on behavioral reactions may be useful. Patients are taught to recognize and reduce the frequency of diaphragmatic contractions through training based on the principle of biofeedback. Sometimes the patient should be consulted by a speech therapist, especially if the specialist has experience teaching esophageal vocalization, a therapeutic technique used by patients who have undergone laryngectomy. It is also advisable to consider a trial of therapy aimed at suppressing acid-forming function. This technique is simultaneously aimed at eliminating hidden GERD. Unfortunately, it was not specifically tested.

In patients with aerophagia, the effect can only be expected from an integrated approach, although none of the measures that make it up have been studied in depth. Diet changes such as drinking less carbonated drinks and recommending eating slowly and avoiding talking while eating will reduce the amount of air entering the stomach. The use of medications that reduce the surface tension of gas bubbles may be helpful. These include simethicone. If the listed measures are not effective enough or the clinical picture is too pronounced, it is recommended to consult the patient with a speech therapist or refer him to a course of behavioral psychotherapy.

Recommendations for the treatment of regurgitation syndrome are based primarily on case reports and expert opinion. A key aspect in therapy is understanding the mechanisms underlying the process. Regurgitation begins with voluntary, although unintentional, contractions of the abdominal wall muscles, so behavioral responses aimed at suppressing such contractions may be effective. An example and the best way to achieve a given goal is diaphragmatic breathing, in which attention is focused on relaxing the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. A psychologist who corrects behavior is called upon to teach the patient this type of breathing.

Opinions about PPIs that suppress acid secretion in this context are controversial. Typically, regurgitation stops as soon as the ingested food tastes sour, so exposure to PPIs may actually prolong the period during which regurgitation is possible.

It has been suggested that increasing the tone of the LES by surgical or pharmacological methods is the key to success in eliminating regurgitation. There is currently limited literature supporting surgical fundoplication, but given the risks inherent in any surgical procedure, it is not recommended. Baclofen, which can reduce the incidence of TRNS, was tested in small groups of patients who experienced regurgitation. It has been shown to reduce the frequency of impedance-determined regurgitation episodes.

Key aspects of patient management

• Belching, aerophagia and regurgitation are included in the list of relatively rare conditions. The key to an accurate diagnosis for these symptoms is a thorough history and physical examination. The need for specialized research rarely arises.
• After excluding other gastrointestinal diseases, in the treatment of aerophagia, belching and regurgitation, emphasis should be placed on explaining to the patient the essence of the mechanisms underlying this pathology and giving recommendations in accordance with the principles of behavioral psychotherapy.
• Pathological belching is usually supragastric, not gastric. This is important from the point of view that therapy is aimed at changing behavioral reactions, mainly at countering the “sucking in” of air, and not at reducing the amount of air inside the stomach.

It is often a consequence of disruption of the nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract. From a clinical point of view, airbrushing, like any frequent belching, are pathological conditions.

Concept

Normally, when eating food, an adult swallows 2-3 cubic meters. cm of air with every sip. Therefore, there is always a gas bubble in the stomach, the capacity of which is 200 ml. From the stomach it passes into the small intestine. There, most of it is absorbed, and the rest comes out.

If some air remains in the stomach, it may come out as a belch.

When a person swallows too much air, it fails to pass into the small intestine. Therefore, it begins to put pressure on the walls of the stomach, causing some unpleasant feelings. This is the mechanism for the formation of aerophagia.

Sometimes its appearance is associated with the fact that a person learns to swim or drowns.

Causes

The disease can appear against the background of three main groups of reasons:

• Neurological.
• Psychogenic.
• Associated with diseases of internal organs.

Neurological types of the disease appear as a result of the formation of a pathological conditioned reflex. A person, out of habit, swallows air while eating or talking.

Most often, airbrushing appears due to violations of the rules of eating or increased secretion of saliva.

The psychogenic nature of the disease is associated with serious stress and phobias. It seems that under the influence of stress a person begins to swallow air as if he does not have enough.

Various pathologies of internal organs can also lead to the development of the disease. These include respiratory tract pathologies that make nasal breathing difficult.

Gastrointestinal diseases are often the cause. These may include chronic gastritis, low acidity, or.

Often aerophagia appears in people who have dental problems or improperly installed dentures.

In infancy, pathology occurs due to improper sucking of the pacifier or attachment to the breast. Possibly due to too slow or fast milk flow.

Symptoms

The symptoms of the disease are closely related to the causes. Often appears:

• Loud when nervous or overexcited.
• Feeling of pressure fullness in the epigastric area after eating.
• Feeling of lack of air and burning in the heart area.

In infants

The disease appears in the form of regurgitation. The amount and volume of food during regurgitation depends on the individual characteristics of each baby. Milk enters the stomach. But when air is swallowed excessively, food is pushed into the esophagus and oral cavity.

Symptoms include bloating and severe crying during feeding. Aerophagia is usually observed for up to 4 months, but with some features of the development of the gastrointestinal tract it can last for a longer time.

As the baby grows, the number of such situations begins to occur less frequently, and over time disappears completely. If the baby is gaining weight well, then burping in the first months should not cause concern to parents.

Neurotic aerophagia

Signs of this form include pain in the heart, rapid heartbeat, which is accompanied by belching. The disease may develop slowly or increase gradually.

The basis of this disease is depression and increased anxiety. Manifestations of neurotic aerophagia are not associated with food intake. They are more often found when upset or nervous overexcitement.

Diagnostics

Experts may confuse the disease with a peptic ulcer, diaphragmatic hernia, or cancer of the large intestine. To make an accurate diagnosis, the following is carried out:

Using the latter method, it is possible to determine the presence of diseases of the stomach or esophagus. This method is not indicative in all cases.

Therefore, contrast X-ray examination is more accurate. It is carried out on an empty stomach. First, the patient is given a special suspension to drink. After this, a series of x-rays are taken.

Gastroscopy is a very informative method that allows you to exclude the presence of other diseases. During the diagnosis, a flexible camera is inserted into the stomach through the oral cavity.

Thanks to this, it becomes possible to give a complete description of the mucous membrane of the esophagus and duodenum. If necessary, a small part of the mucosa is taken for histological examination.

How to treat the disease?

Particular attention is paid to the correct daily diet. To cope with belching, food must be consumed in small quantities and often. It is advisable to chew everything very well. This will allow less air to enter the stomach.

Persons whose disease prevents them from living a normal life are advised to give up soda and products that reduce tension in the lower esophageal sphincter. Getting rid of unhealthy eating habits reduces the severity of the disease.

In patients with aerophagia, the best results can be achieved with an integrated approach. Therefore, it is important to monitor your breathing. It should be diaphragmatic, with attention focused on relaxing the abdominal muscles and diaphragm. This method especially helps with neurotic forms.

Some doctors prescribe medications that suppress acid secretion. In one case, regurgitation stops immediately, in other situations it acts in the opposite order. Therefore, medication can only be prescribed by doctors after a comprehensive study.

At home, good results can be obtained from warm baths and light abdominal massage.

If necessary, it is possible to use herbal teas and decoctions that contain choleretic agents, liver herbs and components. Mint and artichoke have a positive effect.

Consequences

Complications from the disease appear only in rare cases. These include relaxing the muscles that separate the stomach and esophagus. In advanced stages, development is possible.

Prognosis and prevention

Timely treatment of diseases and correction of the psycho-emotional state will help prevent the development of pathology. In general, aerophagia has a favorable prognosis.

Aerophagia is a specific disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, that is, spontaneous swallowing of air when eating and not only, followed by regurgitation. Swallowing excess air puts pressure on the surface of the stomach and causes pain.

According to established data, when a person eats, he normally swallows about half a teaspoon of air in volume with each sip. Because of this, there is always an air bubble in the stomach with a volume of 2/3 of a standard glass. It gradually moves into the small intestine, where the main amount is absorbed, the remaining air leaves through the anus. A small amount of air in the stomach may be expelled by belching.

Aerophagia is divided into two types:

1. Organic. It appears due to the pathological development of the gastrointestinal tract, dysfunction of the central nervous system, due to genetic disorders;
2. Functional or physiological- considered normal. It occurs in premature babies.

They are divided into three categories:

1. Neurological;
2. Psychogenic (neurotic);
3. Due to pathologies of internal organs.

Neurological- progresses due to the developed incorrect conditioned reflex. With hasty eating, insufficient chewing, talking while eating, increased salivation, smoking, chewing gum.

Psychogenic aerophagia occurs if: nervous work or frequent shocks; disturbed psyche; hysterics, stressful situations. In this case, a person may swallow air outside of meals. Aerophagia refers to gastric neurosis and gastrocardial syndrome. More than 2/3 of the population experienced neurosis. Most people had never heard of this disease, but mistook it for gastritis, a stomach ulcer or poisoning. Neurosis develops due to many psychological and physiological reasons. Psychological ones include:

• Hard work with constant stress;
• Recent nervous breakdown;
• Frequent lack of sleep;
• Shattered psyche;
• Intensive course of life.

In stressful situations, a large dose of adrenaline enters the human blood, which inhibits the natural functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and provokes gastric neurosis.

Physiological are:

• Frequent consumption of unhealthy foods;
• Abnormal diet;
• Use of low quality products;
• Viral pathologies;
• Gastritis;
• Diseases of other internal organs.

Airbrushing is a form of gastric neurosis in which air enters the stomach not during food intake. Whether a patient has airbrushing can be determined using an x-ray of the stomach and intestines. At the same time, you can see how much excess gases there are and the high position of the diaphragm.

Gastrocardiac syndrome appears when the stomach is full and is expressed by the following symptoms:

• Breathing heavily with a feeling of heaviness in the chest area;
• In the area of ​​the heart, a growing pain is felt, similar to an attack of angina pectoris;
• Sudden onset of anxiety;
• Significant delay in heart rate;
• Right after the delay, increased heart rate.

There is also a sudden drop in blood pressure, profuse sweating, dizziness, fear, and unexpected weakness.

Those who have experienced such symptoms should know that gastrocardiac syndrome disappears immediately after belching or vomiting (vomiting must be induced).

Diseases leading to aerophagia:

Aerophagia in infants

In children, it is formed when they swallow air while eating or crying. This is facilitated by:

• Inaccurate attachment to the breast, insufficient nipple girth on the bottle;
• Very difficult or accelerated milk flow;
• Small volume of milk in a nursing mother.

Signs of aerophagia

The manifestation of symptoms is the same in all cases:

• , sometimes constant (disappears in a dream);
• Severe bloating of the upper abdomen;
• Episodic hiccups (not found in everyone);
• Indigestion;
• Pain behind the sternum;
• Increased heart rate;
• Difficulty breathing.

With neurotic aerophagia, in some patients the belching ends in a cry.

Symptoms in newborns

They are defined very simply:

• In the form of regurgitation;
• Colic, abdominal swelling, constant crying during and after meals;

In babies, the disease lasts up to 4 months, if after that he gains weight, then there is no pathology.

Diagnostics

The fact of the disease is verified based on:

1. Data from the patient, where the doctor clarifies: under what circumstances the first symptoms appeared (when they swallow saliva, when rushing while eating, etc.);
2. A kind of belching, when the sick person pulls his head forward, squeezes his chin to his chest and makes swallowing movements;
3. Radiographs. In the image you can see a large concentration of accumulated gas in the stomach, in some cases, a transformation of the configuration of the stomach.

To find out the causes of the pathology, the following is carried out:

Sometimes a consultation with a psychiatrist is necessary.

How to get rid of aerophagia?

Treatment is selected individually depending on the source of the disease and first of all it is necessary to treat the underlying disease. All patients with aerophagia, regardless of the cause of the disease, need to:

• Adhere to hygienic standards for eating - eat food without haste, silently, if the food is dry, wash it down with the required amount of water;
• Eat frequently throughout the day (250 g up to 5 times a day);
• Do not drink carbonated drinks, do not eat foods that increase gas formation;
• Perform a light abdominal massage after meals, take warm sitz baths;
• Do not swallow saliva while eating, but spit it out;
• Do breathing exercises;
• Quit smoking and alcohol;

Patients with neurotic disorders are prescribed courses of psychotherapy and small doses of antidepressants.

Physiological aerophagia in infants disappears after a certain time without treatment. After feeding him, you need to hold him in an upright position until excess air comes out.