What many people don’t know about the aging process is that it can increase the risk of developing swallowing problems. Dysphagia, which is the clinical term for difficulty swallowing, is a condition that can impact your quality of life and pose health risks.
Dysphagia is an impairment in one or all phases of swallowing. The three main phases of swallowing are at the levels of the mouth, the throat, and the esophagus, which is the tube that brings food and drink down into the stomach. With dysphagia, any of those stages can be impaired. When we talk about a swallowing impairment, we must consider how effective someone is at protecting their airway while swallowing, and how quickly and efficiently they can get through a meal.
A healthy swallow requires coordination between your brain and your muscles in your throat to allow food, liquid, and saliva to go through your throat and enter the esophagus. But if there are any impairments, any of these can wind up in your airway. The term for this is “aspiration”, and it increases your risk for a lung infection called aspiration pneumonia.
Dysphagia doesn’t always look the same for everyone. However, you may notice some or all of these symptoms when swallowing if you have dysphagia. Coughing while eating or drinking, difficulty chewing unrelated to dental problems, feeling as though food is caught in your throat, a wet or gurgly voice during meals, or unexplained weight loss can all be signs of an inability to properly swallow.
Swallowing and nutrition go hand in hand. With dysphagia, someone’s options can be limited regarding what they can comfortably chew and swallow. That can make it more difficult to consume adequate food and get the nutrients necessary. In fact, one study of dysphagia found that 40% of those who suffer from it are at risk of malnutrition. Food also has a deep cultural meaning in many of our lives. When suffering challenges eating, it can add a layer of loss beyond the simple inability to properly eat food.
Dysphagia is one of the significant risk factors for aspiration pneumonia as well, especially when compounded by other risk factors such as lung disease. Aspiration pneumonia is a lung infection that occurs when someone breathes food or liquid into their airway instead of swallowing it. It is an uncomfortable condition that can lead to hospitalization.
While aging is a risk factor for dysphagia, it is not a typical or accepted part of the aging process. When it occurs, it’s usually caused by an underlying health problem. Some of the conditions that can lead to dysphagia include stroke, some types of cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, pulmonary problems, uncontrolled acid reflux, neurological conditions, and muscle weakness or frailty.
Among people with Alzheimer’s, dysphagia is extremely common, especially in the later stages of the disease. One review found that between 84 and 93 percent of people with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s have dysphagia. If your loved one has dementia, you should be on the lookout for signs such as difficulty chewing or longer mealtimes.