A Medical Review On Swallowing Disorders

By Beryl Dalton


The fact that doctors consider this as more of a condition then a symptom makes it more serious. Dysphagia is a medical condition whereby the patient has difficulty in the ingestion of food straight from his mouth to the stomach. This occurs in some who do not even know they have this disorder. This is because it is painless contrary to odynophagia and the globus. The latter denotes the formation of a lump in the throat.swallowing disorders has therefore been taken serious and remedies coming out.

The physiology of swallowing predetermines a number of algorithmic steps that the body follows. First of all, the oral preparation stage, here food is in the mouth and contains water. It is manipulated before being ingested. Then secondly, the oral stage where the tongue propels the food in the mouth to start the gulping down.

The third process is the pharyngeal stage. This stage occurs right in pharynx. It is the body part which is in between the throat and the esophagus preventing food from going into the trachea. The last stage is the esophageal stage. This is the stage where food passes the esophagus and goes right into the stomach. The first two stages can be controlled voluntarily. However the last two stages are incontrollable and involve a lot of body reflex. Failure in this causes this condition.

There a number of symptoms to this symptom or rather condition. They include drooling, a sharp change in voice of the patients, weight loss or malnutrition on the part of the patients, a discomfort in the throat and the chest probably due to lumps that some have in throat as well. There could also be coughing involved. This is because of the inability for food to pass through the esophagus causing a choke.

In cases like the above, patients can be susceptible to aspiration pneumonia as a result of food going into the wind pipe. This can be dangerous altogether since normal patients are supposed to cough when food goes that way. A visible way to note is through the voice of the sufferers. Most patients have a wet voice whenever this happens. This is the distinctive indicator and calls for urgent medication.

There is an array of causes of dysphagia. These include the Esophagial diverticula, esophageal atresia, dyspaghia lusoria, head injury, throat cancer, chest cancer, zenker diverticulum and the rings and webs in esophagus. Most of these cases cause the lumen to narrow limiting the passage of food and in advanced cases even fluids.

The laryngoscopy and the esophagoscopy are just but a few of the most used equipment in diagnosis of this disorder. They do carry tests and even aid in noting the cause of it. The other one is the CT scan. This can tell the magnitude of the problem but not the true cause of it. Dysphagia is accustomed with the elderly especially those who have had strokes and acute chronic diseases.

The treatment for this disorder majorly lies on the level of seriousness and the effect it has on the patient. For the swallowing part, therapies on how to swallow and other exercises do help. Another option in such a case can be the dieting option. For esophageal related cases, then surgery to release the taut muscles and other prescribed medicine can help out




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