A thought about stress and

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone--

A common topic here has been stress and the connection to achalasia. I haven't

weighed

in on this issue yet, so here's my 2 cents' worth!

As I look at it, there is no doubt that having achalasia is stressful in a dozen

different

ways. I'm recuperating from a serious lung abscess that led to bacteremia--talk

about

stress! Twenty-two days in the hospital--all thought to be a consequence of A.

But I don't think that stress CAUSES achalasia, and here's my reasoning.

Achalasia is a rare

condition. Stress, unfortunately, is truly common.

If stress causes achalasia, then we would be reports of more cases coming from

difficult

situations, like in returning war veterans or victims of trauma, and in people

who have

dealt with events like the tsunami or the aftermath of Katrina.

Many people who have lived through these sorts of things will have

stress-related

illnesses, including GI problems, but I don't see anything in the literature

that points to an

increase in cases of achalasia in these groups of folks.

The reason I bring this up is that I think we too often beat ourselves up for

not managing

stress better (and so we got this unpleasant disease as a result), kind of like

blaming the

victim.

No need for that--let's just do our best to manage this disease and be proud of

our ability

to make good lives for ourselves in spite of it, eh?

[Guest guest]

puredakota wrote:

.... If stress causes achalasia, then we would be reports of more cases coming from difficult situations, like in returning war veterans or victims of trauma, and in people who have dealt with events like the tsunami or the aftermath of Katrina. ...

A good point. It needs to be qualified though. What does it mean to

cause something? What causes rain? Is it the sun, because there would

be no rain without it. Is it clouds? Is it the surface tension of

water? Turns out you can say that rain is caused by a complex system

(call it the universe if you want to cover all bases). My opinion, is

that achalasia is also caused by a complex combination of things. I

have in the past referred to this as a perfect storm type of event. You

may recall the movie, three storms cames together and created the

perfect storm. In the case of achalasia for some, but perhaps not all,

one of the storms may be stress. It is possible that once the perfect

storm of cause factors comes together and starts the process of

achalasia, achalasia becomes self progressing and continues to progress

after the perfect storm ends.

The reason I bring this up is that I think we too often beat ourselves up for not managing stress better ...

I agree. It isn't just about stress either. People want to blame the

pills they took or the foods they ate or other things they did. We

don't need the guilt. There is no good point to blaming ourselves.

notan

[Guest guest]

I have often thought they can't find a cause for Achalasia,

because there is no "one" cause. We know that the vagus

nerve is damaged or is deteriorating but maybe what caused

mine to be damaged is not the same thing that causes someone else's?

Does the vagus nerve also cause the LES not to open? I

don't recall ever reading that. Notan?

Maggie

Alabama

[Guest guest]

Very well said.

>

> Hi Everyone--

>

> A common topic here has been stress and the connection to achalasia. I

haven't

weighed

> in on this issue yet, so here's my 2 cents' worth!

>

> As I look at it, there is no doubt that having achalasia is stressful in a

dozen different

> ways. I'm recuperating from a serious lung abscess that led to

bacteremia--talk about

> stress! Twenty-two days in the hospital--all thought to be a consequence of

A.

>

> But I don't think that stress CAUSES achalasia, and here's my reasoning.

Achalasia is a

rare

> condition. Stress, unfortunately, is truly common.

>

> If stress causes achalasia, then we would be reports of more cases coming from

difficult

> situations, like in returning war veterans or victims of trauma, and in people

who have

> dealt with events like the tsunami or the aftermath of Katrina.

>

> Many people who have lived through these sorts of things will have

stress-related

> illnesses, including GI problems, but I don't see anything in the literature

that points to

an

> increase in cases of achalasia in these groups of folks.

>

> The reason I bring this up is that I think we too often beat ourselves up for

not

managing

> stress better (and so we got this unpleasant disease as a result), kind of

like blaming the

> victim.

>

> No need for that--let's just do our best to manage this disease and be proud

of our

ability

> to make good lives for ourselves in spite of it, eh?

>