This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor of Otolaryngology - Department of Medical Examination and Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International Hospital. The doctor has more than 10 years of experience in examining and treating ENT diseases of adults and children.
Throat thrush is a disease caused by damage to the lining of the throat. This is a rare disease, easy to recognize, but the patient is very easy to ignore and subjective. Symptoms of a sore throat are often not obvious and also difficult to recognize. The two most common symptoms are a cough and an itchy neck.
1. What is Throat Fungus?
Throat thrush is a fungal pharyngitis, an inflammation of the lining of the oropharynx.
Throat thrush is a common opportunistic disease in people with reduced resistance, chronic anemia, and diabetes. Most illnesses are caused by a rare type of yeast, which is mold. The long-term use of antibiotics, corticosteroids, cytotoxic drugs, diabetes, pulmonary tuberculosis, vitamin deficiency all contribute to the development of pharyngitis.
People who work in a polluted environment, breathe in fungal spores in the air or eat food contaminated with fungi can get thrush.
According to some studies, Candida is the culprit that causes oral thrush. This fungus is parasitic in the mouth, throat, digestive tract, when the resistance of the pharyngeal mucosa is reduced, the pH of the throat changes from an alkaline environment to an acidic environment due to the reflux of gastric juice. disease and cause symptoms of pharyngitis.
2. Symptoms of Throat Fungus
Symptoms of thrush are often unclear and difficult to recognize. The two most common symptoms are a cough and an itchy neck.
The early sign to recognize the disease is that the patient feels a sharp pain in the throat at the site of the fungal infection, although it is not much pain, it is uncomfortable for the patient.
Because there are no obvious symptoms, so patients with sore throat often come to the doctor because of a persistent cough despite taking antibiotics to reduce cough. Due to an allergic reaction to the body due to the invasion of spores, it causes a cough reaction, which is later caused by an infection. Cough affects the patient's daily activities. Some patients have an itchy throat, sore throat, difficulty swallowing because people are often easily distracted, subjective to throat fungus, do not think it is due to this cause. After a cold, cough, sneeze, or runny nose, these symptoms may appear and are usually not relieved by antibiotics.
Some patients with thrush may experience a foul-smelling, sour breath and saliva.
The patient's throat mucosa is red, the tongue is dirty, has a bad smell, the back of the throat has many small lymphoid organizations, a lot of mucus in the throat, easy to cause bleeding when dissected, there may be pseudomembranous; Pseudomembranous gray as necrotic. Patients can see increased saliva in the lower throat, the feeling of itchy throat is very uncomfortable, making the patient feel that the itchy throat is worse.
Throat fungus usually only causes discomfort to the patient, but rarely a major health problem. If the sore throat is infected with more bacteria or the patient has a severely compromised immune system, the thrush will become more severe, the patient will feel more painful, and it will be difficult to swallow food.
When a sore throat spreads to the intestines, it interferes with the absorption of nutrients. Throat thrush can spread to the lungs and liver and cause damage to these organs.
3. Causes of Throat Fungus
The main cause of thrush is the fungus Candida albicans. This is the type of fungus that causes vaginal thrush, so a woman with a vaginal yeast infection can infect her baby during childbirth, and can also cause oral thrush in her partner.
In addition, throat fungus is also caused by a number of other causes including:
Poor oral hygiene, wearing dentures often Poor immune system Chronic anemia Chronic anemia Body malnutrition Use of antibiotics for a long time long-term, anti-inflammatory corticosteroids Due to smoking People infected with HIV/AIDS Cancer patients Diabetes Women with vaginal yeast infections
4. Consequences of throat fungus
Throat fungus makes patients feel uncomfortable, affecting daily life. If the disease is not treated in time, it will be the cause of more bacterial infections or the patient has a severely compromised immune system. spread down the esophagus.
Nutrient absorption is affected if thrush spreads to the intestines. Throat fungus can also damage the liver and lungs.
5. Treatment of Throat Fungus
When treating pharyngitis, it is possible to affect the liver because the drug used to treat pharyngitis is a relatively toxic drug to the liver. Therefore, it is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis of pharyngitis before taking medicine.
Throat fungus is difficult to treat because the fungus has a chitin coating that is difficult to absorb. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss with your doctor for long-term treatment to achieve the best effect.
The doctor will apply different treatment methods and drugs based on the disease level and resistance of the patient. Using antifungal drugs has serious side effects for patients, so when using the drug, it is necessary to monitor and absolutely follow the doctor's instructions.
Throat fungus is very easy to recur, so the patient needs to be treated thoroughly, with enough dosage and enough time.
Subjects at high risk of candida infection need to combine diet and exercise to improve health and strengthen the body's resistance.
To prevent Candida, you should limit spicy foods, don't smoke and keep your teeth clean.
Throat fungus is a rare disease in ENT diseases. The disease is difficult to recognize and usually does not cause serious harm to the patient. However, in order to limit the effects of pharyngitis on daily life, patients should not be negligent and subjective.
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