What is Dysphagia?

Dysphagia means having a swallowing disorder, which may occur at different stages. The oral phase is when a person has difficulty chewing and moving food or liquid from the mouth through the throat. The pharyngeal phase is difficulty starting to swallow, squeezing food or liquid down the throat or closing the airway to prevent food or liquid from going down the wrong way. The esophageal phase is difficulty relaxing and tightening the openings at the throat and stomach and squeezing food through the esophagus.

There are many reasons people suffer from dysphagia. It can be caused by damage to the nervous system, such as having a stroke; brain/head/neck or spinal injury; Parkinson's disease or Multiple Sclerosis; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease; muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or Alzheimer's disease; mouth, throat or esophagial cancer; teeth/mouth problems along with other causes.

Dysphagia can cause poor nutrition and dehydration; choking, or aspiration; inhalation of oropharyngeal or gastric contents into the larynx and lower respiratory tract, which may cause pneumonia or lung disease (the leading cause of death and hospitalization in people 60 years of age and older); embarrassment, isolation and less enjoyment of eating and drinking.

Signs of dysphagia include excessive coughing during and after eating and drinking; gurgling during speaking; extra effort in swallowing; food/liquid leaking from the mouth or getting stuck in mouth or throat; chronic pneumonia and congestion; or weight loss or dehydration from lack of food and liquids.

Help from dysphagia can be obtained by seeking an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist. Consult your doctor if you have symptoms of dysphagia; prevention and appropriate treatment are key to recovery.

Information about dysphagia, its symptoms and problems were obtained from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Rockville, MD. See the link below to visit their Web site.

Last Updated May 02, 2006 by J.W.Marcum, page designer.