Aerophagia

AEROPHAGIA (from Greek aer - air and phagein - to eat), swallowing of air. Normally air enters the stomach during food intake in very small amounts, thanks to a special physiological adaptation of the diaphragm. Its presence is easily detected by X-ray examination in the form of an air bubble in the upper part of the stomach. This air, when the cardiac opening opens, exits outside either as belching or imperceptibly, in negligible portions. In some small children, due to underdevelopment and insufficient regulation by the nervous system or depending on the nature of food intake (sucking on an empty pacifier or a breast with little milk), the amount of air swallowed sometimes reaches large proportions and becomes the cause of severe nutritional disorders, accompanied by persistent vomiting, progressive weight loss, etc. A sign of A. in infants is crying during feeding, rapid abdominal bloating and refusal of food, until the child belches air spontaneously or when position is changed (to sit or lie on the stomach), after which the child calms down and starts sucking again. The diagnosis is confirmed by X-ray; In some children, such air swallowing becomes a habit, from which one can be weaned only by regular food intake or even feeding through a tube. The disease is mostly associated with the child's general neuropathy; A. is rarely encountered in adults, representing in them a special kind of neurosis.