All About Swallowing Disorders

Swallowing is the main process of digestion. If one swallows properly, the entire process is accelerated. Dysphagia is a condition, which is mainly a swallowing disorder. It is usually seen alongwith innumerable neurological disorders. The problem usually occurs at any point of time from normal swallowing processes as liquid and food moves from the mouth, through the throat and into the stomach. The difficulty to swallow could arise from any factor beginning from mere choking or coughing to food unable to enter the windpipe. This process is called aspiration, which is very commonly found in a person who is at a risk of developing pneumonia. Food usually gets stuck in and the victim is unable to swallow and drools as a reaction. People find it very difficult to swallow the saliva due to many neurological problems like an injury to the brain, a stroke, and conditions like Parkinson’s disease, the Lou Gehrigs disease etc. You have other disease and disorders like Huntington disease, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy all of which cause problems of swallowing.

Changing the diet of a person gives a lot of comfort to the victim and this is usually done by adding thickeners as it considerably reduces the risk of aspiration. There are drugs, which help to control the neurological problem. Botulimum injections are ways in which the food or liquid usually finds its passage into the stomach. There are times when the victim needs a surgery to take out the particles stuck.

The treatment for swallowing disorders depends mainly on the kind of problem the individual is having and the pattern of the disorder that actually causes it. Dysphagia as it is called can usually be corrected by manipulating the diet or by non invasive methods. Dysphagia or swallowing disorder also causes weight loss. This needs to be taken care of and has to be handled delicately.

Swallowing disorders are an indication that your body is subject to diseases & disorders.