My father says he has had trouble swallowing ... perhaps cancer of the esophagus?

Q. My father says he has had trouble swallowing for the past several months. I’m concerned that he could have something serious, perhaps cancer of the esophagus. What else could it be?

A. Cancer of the esophagus—the tube that connects the mouth and stomach—can indeed cause dys-phagia, or difficulty swallowing. This type of cancer tends to progress quickly, however. By now if this cancer were present, you or your father would prob-ably have noticed other signs—such as weight loss.

Dysphagia can also be caused by a stroke that damages nerves at the back of the throat. Again, other signs, such as weakness in an arm or leg, would be present as well.

Some people are born with a ring of extra tissue inside the esophagus. For reasons that doctors don’t fully under-stand, this can lead to swallowing prob-lems late in life or on and off throughout a person’s lifetime. Of course, anything that inflames or irritates the esophagus can lead to dysphagia. An infection can do this, as can chronic reflux of stomach acid up into the esophagus. Some medi-cations also can cause inflammation and narrowing of the esophagus. Aspirin, ibuprofen, and various antibiotics may cause such difficulty, as can vitamin C tablets and pure iron tablets.

Any persistent difficulty or discomfort during swallowing should be brought to a doctor’s attention. A gastroenterologist can find out more about your father’s swallowing problem by performing an upper endoscopy. In this procedure, a narrow, flexible viewing tube is inserted through the mouth and down the esoph-agus. If an abnormality is detected, it can often be treated at the same time.

Questions are selected that reflect the wide variety of health problems of general interest. We cannot respond specifically to the personal health con-cerns of an individual.