{"id":827,"date":"2022-08-29T09:45:55","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T09:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fitnesshavens.com\/?p=827"},"modified":"2022-08-29T09:45:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T09:45:55","slug":"why-cant-we-swallow-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitnesshavens.com\/why-cant-we-swallow-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"Why can’t we swallow properly?"},"content":{"rendered":"
How does dysphagia cause swallowing problems?<\/b><\/p>\n
What is swallowing?<\/b><\/p>\n
Swallowing is a very complex process in which the food we eat moves from the mouth to the stomach. In it, different muscular structures are synchronised with the participation of the nervous system.<\/span><\/p>\n
It is divided into three phases:<\/b><\/p>\n
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Oral or buccal: a voluntary phase that begins with chewing food that, mixed with saliva, forms the food bolus. Later, this is propelled by the tongue into the pharynx.<\/span><\/li>\n
Pharyngeal is an involuntary phase that activates the bolus as it goes. It consists of highly complex and coordinated mechanisms that propel food along the pharynx into the oesophagus while preventing the bolus from entering the airway through the larynx.<\/span><\/li>\n
Esophageal: this is also an involuntary phase, which begins when the food bolus reaches the oesophagus. Through a mechanism of rhythmic and automatic contraction (called peristaltic contraction) of the oesophagal muscle and the coordinated relaxation of the sphincter that separates the oesophagus from the stomach, the bolus passes into the latter, where the process ends.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What is dysphagia?<\/b><\/p>\n
Dysphagia is the difficulty swallowing food \u2013 in general, both solid and liquid, in such a way that there is an alteration in the movement of the food bolus from the mouth to the stomach in any of the previously explained phases. This alteration may be due to both organic and functional causes.<\/span><\/p>\n
People who suffer from it often describe the feeling that food does not go down well or that it gets stuck or stuck.<\/span><\/p>\n
Although quite unknown and, in many cases, undiagnosed, it is crucial to detect dysphagia early because, otherwise, the quality of life can deteriorate greatly and become fatal. Fortunately, it is treatable and, in some cases, can even be cured.<\/span><\/p>\n
Who is affected?<\/b><\/p>\n
In general, the incidence of this disease is higher as people age. However, although age leads to swallowing changes, these alone do not have to cause dysphagia. Therefore, even in elderly people, underlying diseases must be ruled out whenever dysphagia appears, such as neurological or neurodegenerative, otorhinolaryngological, oesophagal or others that we will see later.<\/span><\/p>\n
The World Gastroenterology Organization speaks of a prevalence rate of this disease of 11% in the general population.<\/span><\/p>\n
According to the Gastroenterology Research Foundation (Furega), the incidence of this disorder is growing and affects 25% of the population over 70 years of age and between 30 and 40 million Europeans.<\/span><\/p>\n
What types of dysphagia are there?<\/b><\/p>\n
Depending on the phase of swallowing that is affected, there are two possible types of dysphagia:<\/span><\/p>\n
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Oropharyngeal: Swallowing suffers alterations in the oral and\/or pharyngeal phase. This is the one that predominates in the elderly population, associated with neurological disorders, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, among others.<\/span><\/li>\n
Esophageal: the affected phase is oesophagal. The diseases that cause it can affect the mobility of the oesophagus or cause some obstruction that prevents or hinders the passage of the food bolus from the oesophagus to the stomach. The diseases that cause it are more varied and may have a more specific treatment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What are the causes of dysphagia?<\/b><\/p>\n
The Spanish Digestive System Foundation (FEAD) divides them, in general, into:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/li>\n
Diseases that affect the mucosa: decrease the passage space of the food bolus. For example, intraesophageal tumours or infections such as oesophagal candidiasis.<\/span><\/li>\n
Diseases that affect the muscle involved in each phase include the upper oesophagal sphincter or the oesophagal musculature.<\/span><\/li>\n
Diseases of the central or peripheral nervous system prevent the generation of the appropriate nervous stimulus or do so uncoordinatedly. Consequently, the muscles of the different areas do not contract properly.<\/span><\/li>\n
Diseases that affect structures adjacent to the swallowing system: such as the larynx or the thyroid, which come to compress or invade it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In addition, depending on the types of dysphagia that we have explained before, we can detail, in general terms, the following causes:<\/span><\/p>\n