Dysphagia is the inability to swallow, either partially or at all. It is an extremely unpleasant disorder because it makes ordinary eating and drinking challenging. It may also involve pain. The swallow study for dysphagia that doctors use to assess someone with these symptoms may have several steps.
The process of swallowing starts when the food enters the mouth. The tongue manipulates it around as it is chewed, and then shoves it backwards down the throat. Once that has happened, the gullet rhythmically pushes the ingested matter down its entire length to the opening of the stomach. This opening is called the gastric sphincter, and the rhythmic pushing is called peristalsis. The food then passes into the stomach.
There are some reasons why this process might be difficult or impossible. The esophageal muscles may be impaired in some way, such as by being too weak to move anything or because they are otherwise injured.
Another possibility is that the peristalsis can become spasmodic. This condition is technically known as diffuse spasms and is based in the gullet's involuntary muscles. The spasms are intense and rapid, as opposed to their usual motion.
Sometimes, the gullet is blocked by excessively large chunks of food. Cancer patients with tumors in the gullet may have a similar experience. The ingestion of foreign bodies is always dangerous because it can have this effect.
The nervous system regulates the muscles involved in swallowing, so any neurological trouble can impair it too. Disorders like multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy are one possibility, but nervous damage through stroke or injury is another.
In assessing the situation, doctors are able to use X-rays. X-rays do not usually show muscle tissue so the patient is asked to drink a barium solution. Barium, which is metal, shows up on the X-ray and exposes the affected areas of muscle in the esophagus, if there are any. Barium tablets or food are used if the doctor suspects that something is blocking the gullet. The barium is called the contrast material.
A more preliminary refinement of this process is for the person to swallow the same food and then undergo X-rays after it has coated their gullet with the contrast metal. The muscles of the food passage can then be inspected to see if they are working normally or if the passage is obstructed.
Manometry is a test of the strength of the muscles in the esophagus. A tube is inserted into the patient's mouth and it then applies pressure to the muscular walls of the food passage. The reaction of the muscles can be measured to determine if they are too weak or not functioning properly.
In an endoscopy, the doctor uses a cable with a camera on its end to perform the internal examination. The camera transmits photographic images to a screen. Endoscopy is a very common procedure in modern medicine and is used to diagnose other problems too. The word is composed of two Greek terms, endo and scopy, meaning inside and view.
None of these techniques is extremely traumatic. Older adults are the more usual sufferers of dysphagia, but anyone who has been experiencing discomfort or impairment in swallowing should consult with their doctor as a matter of urgency.
The process of swallowing starts when the food enters the mouth. The tongue manipulates it around as it is chewed, and then shoves it backwards down the throat. Once that has happened, the gullet rhythmically pushes the ingested matter down its entire length to the opening of the stomach. This opening is called the gastric sphincter, and the rhythmic pushing is called peristalsis. The food then passes into the stomach.
There are some reasons why this process might be difficult or impossible. The esophageal muscles may be impaired in some way, such as by being too weak to move anything or because they are otherwise injured.
Another possibility is that the peristalsis can become spasmodic. This condition is technically known as diffuse spasms and is based in the gullet's involuntary muscles. The spasms are intense and rapid, as opposed to their usual motion.
Sometimes, the gullet is blocked by excessively large chunks of food. Cancer patients with tumors in the gullet may have a similar experience. The ingestion of foreign bodies is always dangerous because it can have this effect.
The nervous system regulates the muscles involved in swallowing, so any neurological trouble can impair it too. Disorders like multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy are one possibility, but nervous damage through stroke or injury is another.
In assessing the situation, doctors are able to use X-rays. X-rays do not usually show muscle tissue so the patient is asked to drink a barium solution. Barium, which is metal, shows up on the X-ray and exposes the affected areas of muscle in the esophagus, if there are any. Barium tablets or food are used if the doctor suspects that something is blocking the gullet. The barium is called the contrast material.
A more preliminary refinement of this process is for the person to swallow the same food and then undergo X-rays after it has coated their gullet with the contrast metal. The muscles of the food passage can then be inspected to see if they are working normally or if the passage is obstructed.
Manometry is a test of the strength of the muscles in the esophagus. A tube is inserted into the patient's mouth and it then applies pressure to the muscular walls of the food passage. The reaction of the muscles can be measured to determine if they are too weak or not functioning properly.
In an endoscopy, the doctor uses a cable with a camera on its end to perform the internal examination. The camera transmits photographic images to a screen. Endoscopy is a very common procedure in modern medicine and is used to diagnose other problems too. The word is composed of two Greek terms, endo and scopy, meaning inside and view.
None of these techniques is extremely traumatic. Older adults are the more usual sufferers of dysphagia, but anyone who has been experiencing discomfort or impairment in swallowing should consult with their doctor as a matter of urgency.
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