Swallowing difficulties in the elderly

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Swallowing difficulties in the elderly

“Difficulty swallowing” is a swallowing disorder, including difficulty swallowing, painful swallowing, and choking on both solids and liquids.

Dysphagia can occur from newborns to the elderly. Even the elderly who do not have underlying diseases can experience it because the muscles in the mouth are weak, resulting in the inability to chew food as well as usual. In addition, the elderly who have multiple underlying diseases will have an increased chance of having dysphagia.

Symptoms of dysphagia divide into 3 stages base on swallowing as follows:

1. Stage 1: Food is in the mouth. Food or เล่น UFABET ผ่านมือถือ สะดวกทุกที่ ทุกเวลา liquid will flow out from the corners of the mouth. Or when chewing food, it is not possible to chew it thoroughly and food remains in the mouth.

2. Stage 2: Throat stage. Patients will choke on food, cough, sore throat, or food stuck in the throat.

3. Stage 3 Esophageal stage The patient will have symptoms of swallowing problems or food reflux.

Diagnosis

Doctors can diagnose dysphagia by asking about the patient’s history to see if the patient has the above symptoms, followed by a neurological physical examination to assess the strength of the oral muscles. The doctor will have the patient drink water or eat rice to see if there is a problem swallowing. In addition, the doctor will perform an additional examination by taking an X-ray to look at the swallowing function called “Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study (VFSS)” by having the patient stand in front of the X-ray machine, drink water and eat food, and see if there is any choking or food or water flowing back into the trachea while drinking water or eating.

In some cases, the doctor will assess the difficulty in swallowing by using a camera called “FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing)” by inserting a small camera into the nostril and having the patient drink water or eat food. The doctor will see if each type of water or food is stuck in the throat or if there is choking. If there is food stuck in the throat or choking, the treatment plan will be developed.