Wednesday, 1 May 2019

Useful And Essential Facts About Dysphagia Evaluation

By William Barnes


A medical condition that makes it hard for a person to swallow both liquid and solid food is referred to using the term dysphagia. This term is derived from two Greek words, that is, dys and phagein. Dys translates to bad or difficult while phagein translates to eat in English. The condition can be caused by various medical conditions that cause weakness and structural problems in the coordination between throat and mouth muscles. Here are facts regarding Dysphagia evaluation.

Foods and liquids usually travel down the esophagus after being directed by the mouth and throat muscles. Dysphagia condition causes the food to end up in the windpipe instead of travelling down the esophagus. Entry of liquids and foods into the windpipe instead of the esophagus is a dangerous situation, and if untreated it may cause pneumonia or aspiration.

The prevalence of this condition is at 13.5 percent. This is according to research conducted in the United States . The prevalence is on the basis of a few factors including, population studied, equipment used, and infectious health disorders. For example, the prevalence is placed between 29 to 64 percent among patients with stroke. Variation of prevalence occurs in people with neurologic disorders.

On a world wide scale, it is difficult to provide the statistics of the prevalence of this condition. This is due to the difference in geographical location which causes the base rate of many diseases that may lead to dysphagia to vary. This condition can affect all ages, but researchers say that prevalence is likely to rise up with increase with age.

Several different medical conditions may lead to the development of dysphagia. Some common causes include trauma to the spine, neck or head, brain injury, radiation treatment for cancer, and stroke among others. All conditions that usually have effect on how muscles function may cause this condition. Examples of such diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, narrowing of the esophagus, diverticula, and Parkinson disease among many others.

There exist a large number of signs and feature that go hand in hand with this disorder. The disorder is habitually deemed to get more serious during specific times compared to others. It might advance with time too. Some frequent and typical signs entail changes in respiration, wet bubbling voice after eating, too much secretions, throat clearing and agony while swallowing. Food may also retract and come out through the nose after being consumed.

Dysphagia can be treated and managed at the same time. Management routines involve making certain changes to the lifestyle that one leads. For instance, one may be required to change the kind of foods they eat. Another management strategy is to engage in exercises that target swallowing muscles. Compensatory strategies such as turning the head to one side when swallowing may also help.

Injection of the Botox, which aids muscle relaxation and allows ease swallowing of foods, is a method of treating the condition. Also, surgical procedure may be conducted to correct the condition. A doctor may also find it necessary to prescribe reflux medications which are readily available.




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