Parkinson's Disease Support Group
Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement, and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. The primary symptoms of Parkinsons are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the...
In my other blog I told you that my husband has had a cough for about 4 months and the doctor sent him for a swallowing assessment today.
I'll try to explain about the swallowing assessment. She checked different things when he swallowed solids and liquids and did different things to see if he had control of his tongue and volume of his voice.and several other things. It's hard to explain everything.
He didn't seem to have much problem eating but she explained later in her evaluation.
The reason he may have more salvia built up and coughing is because he doesn't swallow as much as he should.
We do that automatically about once per minute, but with Parkinson's it doesn't always happen that way.
She encouraged him to try to consciously remember to swallow more and that way he would get rid of more salvia.
Also when eating food or drinking, the food goes down the throat and a valve closes so it won't go down the air tubes.
In Parkinson's it sometimes aspires or material falls below the vocal folds as opposed to penetration when the material enters the airway but stays above the vocal folds.
People with Parkinson's don't have as much control over this so that is why they are choking.
When we eat solid food we usually has no problem going down and liquid goes down okay, but when we eat soup or fruit with solids and liquid together, the liquid could goes down first while you are still chewing the food, and then goes below the vocal folds or airway and cause the choking.
If the food isn't getting away and staying in a area in the throat then it could build up bacteria and eventually cause infection and get in the lungs causing pneumonia. We don't want this to happen.
She can't say that this is happening with him for sure as it's only a speculation in her assessment through the visual signs, but she said it could happen. We don't know in his case so further tests/x-rays would be advantageous.
She is sending a report to our family doctor and the Motion Disorder Specialist to recommend a Fiber endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES)
and a modified barium swallow study (MBS), X-ray Study.
We also talked about his speech and realizes he is having problems and she said she could see him about that. She could give him some exercises to improve the volume and breathing. She can't really do anything about communicating the words as he has problems finding words, but hopefully this will help him in some way and I think it is better than doing nothing.
That appointment is next week.
I'll try to explain about the swallowing assessment. She checked different things when he swallowed solids and liquids and did different things to see if he had control of his tongue and volume of his voice.and several other things. It's hard to explain everything.
He didn't seem to have much problem eating but she explained later in her evaluation.
The reason he may have more salvia built up and coughing is because he doesn't swallow as much as he should.
We do that automatically about once per minute, but with Parkinson's it doesn't always happen that way.
She encouraged him to try to consciously remember to swallow more and that way he would get rid of more salvia.
Also when eating food or drinking, the food goes down the throat and a valve closes so it won't go down the air tubes.
In Parkinson's it sometimes aspires or material falls below the vocal folds as opposed to penetration when the material enters the airway but stays above the vocal folds.
People with Parkinson's don't have as much control over this so that is why they are choking.
When we eat solid food we usually has no problem going down and liquid goes down okay, but when we eat soup or fruit with solids and liquid together, the liquid could goes down first while you are still chewing the food, and then goes below the vocal folds or airway and cause the choking.
If the food isn't getting away and staying in a area in the throat then it could build up bacteria and eventually cause infection and get in the lungs causing pneumonia. We don't want this to happen.
She can't say that this is happening with him for sure as it's only a speculation in her assessment through the visual signs, but she said it could happen. We don't know in his case so further tests/x-rays would be advantageous.
She is sending a report to our family doctor and the Motion Disorder Specialist to recommend a Fiber endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES)
and a modified barium swallow study (MBS), X-ray Study.
We also talked about his speech and realizes he is having problems and she said she could see him about that. She could give him some exercises to improve the volume and breathing. She can't really do anything about communicating the words as he has problems finding words, but hopefully this will help him in some way and I think it is better than doing nothing.
That appointment is next week.
If they think it is advantageous to have further tests then maybe they should be done. The province covers medical costs for these tests so we don't have to worry about the cost, as far as that goes.
I hope to talk to his MDS before any tests are taken as he has an appointment in early January. I also have an appointment with my own doctor tomorrow so maybe I can inquire about the tests, if he knows anything about them.
He has never had problems before with coughing so it is probably the salvia building up as the pathologist said.
We are going to the speech pathologist about his speech this week, so she'll probably give him some exercises to do, which I hope he does when we get home.