Dysphagia In The Elderly Population

A dysphagia diet is provided to those patients who are having difficulty eating and drinking foods safely. These patients who are on a dysphagia diet while admitted in the hospital may be discharged on the same diet. Therefore, it is important to educate these patients on how to safely eat at home. This handout explains the dysphagia diet, common causes for dysphagia, signs and symptoms, and tips on how to swallow safely. The handout also list different diet level and food consistency within a dysphagia diet so, the patient is aware of which level he or she is under. This handout can be provided to any individual of any culture or ethnicity because it focuses on the diet alone (Veterans Affairs, 2017).

The speech-language pathologists (SLPs) at Martin Health System (MHS) evaluate, diagnose, and treat a diverse patient population who present with a myriad of medical issues, the most common of which is a condition known as dysphagia. More than 80% of patients referred to an SLP at our facility present with this diagnosis. Broadly characterized by trouble swallowing, dysphagia includes everything from painful swallows, to coughing or choking while eating and drinking, or even a sensation of a lump in throat, . Complications of dysphagia can lead to dehydration, malnutrition, and respiratory problems such as aspiration pneumonia, fatigue, cognitive confusion, decreased quality of life, or even death.

For as long as time can be accounted for, people, as well as animals have been known to interact with each other through various methods of communication. Communication is simply the exchange of receiving and sending information from one subject to another. The word information though covers so much. People are able to display ideas, feelings, needs and desires through communication as information to another subject.

If you are on the dysphagia diet, you may need to thicken liquids, including drinks, soups, and foods that melt at room temperature. Thickening liquids makes them easier to swallow. It also reduces the risk of liquid traveling to your lungs.

The common problem in recovering patients in acute care settings is malnutrition and dehydration. “Malnutrition affects 45% of patients admitted to hospital, leading to longer stays and increased risk of re-admission” since patients are not properly recovered when they leave the hospital and are not aware of the effects of malnutrition (Dietitians of Canada, 2015). In addition to readmission, patients who are malnourished throughout hospitalization often leads to morbidity and mortality, thus increasing the cost for the patients’ healthcare for their own recovery from having unhealthy nutrition (Keller et al., 2014). Improper fluid intake can lead to illnesses and diseases, including stroke, uncontrolled blood glucose levels for patients with

Many people are living longer because of radiation therapy to treat cancer, but what happens after treatment is over? Most people go back to their normal life. However, some people will have their quality of life affected by late effects of radiation therapy. Late effects of radiation therapy can happen months or years after treatment and may be temporary or permanent. Some can be minor such as skin changes to the treated area, and some can be as serious as cardiovascular problems. As radiation therapy has become more advanced and more common in treating cancer, professionals in medicine have studied the treatments and late effects to decide what can be done to prevent late-effects from occurring.

The fluoroscopy and the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy are different, but remarkable diagnostic methods used for the people suffering from dysphagia. Dysphagia is a medical term that means difficulty swallowing due to abnormal contractions of the esophageal muscles. It is important to find a quick evaluation that will lead to a better diagnosis and recovery with lesser complications. This research paper will discuss the appropriate diagnostic method by comparing between the fluoroscopic unit, and the UGI endoscopy. Data will be collected from King Abdul Aziz University hospital, the sample will be a large diverse patients with dysphagia as the main complaint.

When working with hospice patients diagnosed with Dementia, the focus in medicine shifts from curative to that of providing comfort care and symptom control. The end stage Dementia patient typically presents unable to communicate meaningfully, incontinent, unable to ambulate or sit without assistance and exhibits swallowing concerns. The feeding and swallowing issues that arise with the progression of this disease can be challenging for family members, as many loved ones exhibit a need to feed. Providing the caregiver and family education related to not only the death and dying process but also the side effects related to interventions such as artificial nutrition is a vital part of the end of life process.

Kimberly is a 16 years old female descendant of Puerto Rican parents divorced but living within the same household. She also has two younger siblings. They live in a nice furnished two-room basement apartment in an urban area. Mother and father with a low educational level, smokers, which are currently employed full time in a factory.

This report will discuss how esophageal cancer affects the esophagus. I will discuss how the cancer affects the normal operation of the esophagus, what causes esophageal cancer, how the cancer can be detected and how this cancer can be treated, I will conclude with a discussion of how common esophageal cancer is.

Pneumatic Dilation was found successful in relieving dysphagia and is considered to be an effective treatment of achalasia nonsurgically (Vaezi, et al, 2013). A less invasive endoscopy-guided procedure utilising a micro-invasive dilator causing the LES to dilate. A graded dilatation is used in a 2-4 weeks interval depending on the Eckardt symptom score (Torresan, et al,

You may be surprised how many times you swallow throughout the day -- every time you eat or drink something, you have to swallow multiple times. You also swallow salvia throughout the day. The condition where one has difficulty swallowing is referred to as dysphagia or the swallowing disorder. Use this guide to better understand what your loved one is going through, and how a qualified speech pathologist can assist them.

As Dementia patients are clinically faced with multiple risk factors they can also encounter the possibility of losing the ability to intake food. With such symptoms taking a toll on one’s body it is at times when family members can often become responsible for decision making situations. In James Jewells, case he was in charge of doing so as he had his mother Joan Jewell, who was 89 years old in a nursing home as she suffered from Dementia. While most of her time was spent in bed, she would sometimes recognize family members, could not speak that many words and had trouble swallowing. As her doctor noticed that she was rapidly losing weight he suggested on inserting a feeding tube that could

Aspiration pneumonia is one of the serious risk complications of stroke patients, about 40% of these patients have dysphagia (Cohen et al,2016). This affects the quality of life and prolongs hospital stay. A variety of options are recommended to minimize the risk of aspiration pneumonia, such as pharmacological therapies, compensatory strategy/positioning changes, tube feeding, oral hygiene and dietary interventions (Kaneoka et al, 2015).There are many issues faced by nursing in caring for dysphagia patient includes maintenance of oral care(Horne et al,2014). In this assignment, oral hygiene would take into consideration as one of the effective elements that utilized in hospitals. However, there was limited data published regarding oral care

Videofluoroscopic evaluation is the most common method diagnosis of dysphagia. It is used to record an X-ray video of individual swallowing liquid boluses with various concentrations and volumes of barium sulfate particles (Logenmann, 1997). The patient is given a radiopaque barium sulphate suspension and his or her ability to swallow is monitored using videofluorscopy. The radiographic video could determine bolus transit time and direction, bolus clearance, various structural movement of the hyoid, upper esophageal sphincter, tongue, mandible and larynx. These measurements would provide an indication of a patient swallowing ability at mealtime (Logenmann, 1997; Schulze-Delrieu et al., 1997). If the patient exhibits aspiration or excessive residue, intervention strategies like altering the volume or apparent viscosity of liquids are introduced to improve swallowing (Logenmann,