Brain Disease: How It Affects Swallowing Safety

” You wouldn’t believe that chewing on a piece of bread is cause for concern,” states Jeff
Cleveland, president of Clear Choice Health Care.

” But it can be,” confesses Cleveland. He states there is a great balance in between chewing and breathing. When a medical or neurologic condition hinders the equilibrium between the two, breathing and swallowing can become precariously out of sync.

Parkinson illness, for instance, decreases our motion. Not only are arms and legs included, however the tongue is. Trouble chewing, moving food along, and lastly swallowing can cause coughing and gaging.

Strokes can also trigger difficulty while consuming liquids swallowing solid foods and develop high threats for establishing goal pneumonia with readmittance to a hospital that can postpone neurological healing.

The condition of several sclerosis makes it tough to swallow. Sometimes, a few of the food gets left behind in the throat and can be sucked into the airway. Food material makes its method to the lungs to cause pneumonia because cough muscles become weak.

Another swallowing offender originates from Alzheimer’s illness. For those patients, a single swallow could take 3 minutes or longer. As the disease advances, many times it leaves clients on the verge of dehydration, and clients can forget what to do with food as soon as it’s in the mouth.

Swallowing rehabilitation specialists report that neurological illness can offset a normal swallow. An irregular swallow can lead to can lead to severe problems such as dehydration, malnutrition, and a greater rate of infection and aspiration pneumonia.

According to swallowing specialists, aspiration can arise from issues at any phase of the swallowing process:

Consulting with a physician is best if you have a few kept in mind problems, as follows:

– The food doesn’t appear to decrease
– With one spoonful, I must swallow more than once.
– When I eat, tears come to my eyes
– At mealtimes, my nose runs
– Pills appear to get stuck in my throat
When I consume water, – I normally cough
– Food frequently falls out of my mouth
– I have a tough time eating a steak
– Juice goes up my nose when I swallow
– It injures when I swallow
– After I consume, my voice sounds amusing

Because of a physiological defect that we share with many other air-breathing vertebrates, it’s normal to choke if things go down the wrong way. Our breathing tube, (the windpipe or trachea), isn’t different from the one we utilize for swallowing, the esophagus. Anything we ingest all share the exact same commute, however right around the Adam’s apple, the trachea branches off.

” Choking regularly might be cause for concern,” says Cleveland. “If you believe you’re in harm’s method, seek a medical professional’s recommendations. Ask if a speech language pathologist can promote a safer swallow.”

Jeff Cleveland is the President of Clear Choice Health Care in Melbourne FL