The woman in her late sixties had seen a number of doctors over the past ten years. Nobody could help her. She sat in front of me skeptically: would I, of all people, as a gastrointestinal specialist, be able to alleviate her suffering? She began to tell. She has to clear her throat every few minutes and often feels a lump in her throat. If she speaks for a while, her voice freezes or she becomes hoarse. “I often have a dry cough and I have mucus in my throat all the time,” she said.

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