DIFFICULTY SWALLOWING


July 28, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

DIFFICULTY SWALLOWING

Dysphagia means it takes more time and effort to move food or liquid from your mouth to your stomach. In some cases, swallowing may be impossible. Each year, more than 60,000 Americans die from complications associated with swallowing dysfunction.

One in 17 people will develop some form of dysphasia in their lifetime, including 50 percent to 75 percent of stroke patients.

Estimates of the prevalence of dysphagia in some neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), run as high as 90 percent.

Pneumonia, frequently noted as a result of dysphasia, is the fifth-leading cause of death of Americans over 65 and third-leading cause of death for those over 85.

Source: Mayo Clinic/Kimberly Marchetto