Swallowing day campaign kit 2017

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Discussing dysphagia

What’s this thing called Dysphagia?

Food and drink to die for People who have trouble swallowing are at risk of choking, poor nutrition and dehydration, while babies and children with difficulty feeding may not take in enough nutrients to support growth and brain development. Speech pathologists are the professionals who assess and treat people across the lifespan with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).

Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing Like breathing, swallowing is essential to everyday life. Humans swallow at least 900 times a da y; around three times an hour during sleep , once per minute while awake and even more often during meals. People who have trouble swallowing are at risk of choking, poor nutrition and dehydration, while babies and children with difficulty feeding may not take in enough nutrients to support growth and brain development. Did you know that speech pathologists work with thousands of Australians each year who have difficulty swallowing?

Let’s talk about swallowing disorders

How to know if you may have a swallowing disorder? •Do you coughwhile eating or drinking? •Do you have trouble swallowing tablets? •Do you avoid social gatheringswhere food is offered? • Is it challenging to feed yourself? • Is itdifficult to swallow your own saliva?

Swallowing disorders, also known as dysphagia ( dis-fay-juh ), affect a person’s ability to safely swallow drinks, food andmedication. Left untreated, swallowingdisorders can have a devastating effect on a person’sphysical and emotionalwell-being.

Speech pathologists are the professionals who assess and treat swallowing disorders.

Speech pathologists work with families and individuals across the lifespan to ease the burden of dysphagia and help people regain their basic right to swallow.

To find a speech pathologist near you visit www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/swallowing

To find a speech pathologist near you go to www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/swallowing

awareness day Wednesday15March 2017

awareness day Wednesday 15 March 2017

awareness day Wednesday 15 March 2017

1300 368 835

1300 368 835

1300 368 835

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/swallowing

Food and drink to die for... Peoplewho have trouble swallowing are at risk of choking,poor nutrition and dehydration,whilebabies and childrenwithdifficulty feedingmay not take in enough nutrients to support growth andbraindevelopment. Likebreathing, swallowing is essential to everyday life.Humans swallow at least 900 times aday : around three timesanhourduring sleep , onceperminutewhileawake and evenmoreoftenduringmeals . Did you know that speech pathologists work with thousands of Australians each year who have difficulty swallowing?

awareness day

PEOPLE SWALLOW 9

Onceperminute whileawake,

TI MES PER DAY

The facts on swallowing disorders - dysphagia Fastfacts: • Swallowinguses26muscles • Humansswallowatleast900timesaday • Aswallowingproblemcanoccuratanystageinlife • Swallowingskillsdevelopfrominfancy • Almosthalfofeveryonewhohashadastrokewillhave aswallowingproblem.

andevenmoreduring

(ONAVERAGE)

swallow:

Humans

meals!

anhourduring

sleep,

around 3 times

muscles

26 Swallowinguses More than 1 million

One in17peoplewill develop some formofdysphagia in their lifeti me. dysphagia

Likebreathing, swallowing isessential toeveryday life.Humans swallowat least 900 timesaday:around three timesanhourduring sleep,onceperminutewhileawakeandevenmoreoftenduringmeals.We swallow food, liquids,medicineand saliva.Peoplewhohave trouble swallowingareat riskofpoornutrition anddehydration,whilebabiesandchildrenwithdifficulty feedingmaynot take inenoughnutrients to support growthandbraindevelopment.

Dysphagia

(dis-fay-juh) noun,difficultyor discomfort in swallowing.

thewrongway’. It canbe a problemwith keeping the lips closed so that food, liquid or saliva doesn’t dribble out. Sometimes, the first sign of a swallowing problem is coughing, gagging or chokingwhen eating and drinking. Swallowing problems canmean food, drinks or saliva gets into the lungs and this can cause lung infections (pneumonia). Reflux is a problemwhere the valves in the oesophagus causes the contents of the stomach (like food, drink or stomach acid) to comeback up, sometimes reaching as far up as the throat andmouth. Whocanhaveaswallowingproblem? A swallowing problem can occur at any stage in life.Babies bornprematurely, thosewith heartdefects or damage to the brain (e.g. cerebral palsy) often have swallowing problems. Childrenwith abnormalities in the structures of the head, neck and face such as cleft lip orpalatemay also have difficulty feeding. Adultsmay alsodevelop swallowingproblems as a result of damage to thebrain or structures of the head and neck. Almost half of everyonewho has had a strokewill have a swallowing problem.Peoplewho have had a head injury, thosewithParkinson’sdisease,motor neuron disease, dementia or cancer of the head and neckmay also have swallowing problems.

The swallowing system is a tube inwhich a series of pumps and valvesmove food and drink from themouth to the stomach. In the throat, the tube branches in two directions;down one, the food and drinkspass into the oesophagus on theirway to the stomach,while the other branches off to the voice box and lungs and is used for breathing. With each swallowwe hold our breath for around one second tomake sure the food or drink travels down the correct tube to the stomach rather than the lungs. Swallowing uses26muscles andmany nerves to coordinate the split second timing needed to safely swallow.Mistimed movements can lead to food or drink ‘going down thewrong way. Swallowing skills develop from infancy.Babies drinkmilk, from theirmother’sbreast or a bottle, usingmuscles in their lips, tongue, jaw and cheeks. The infant holds the nipple at the back of theirmouth and themilk triggers the swallow reflex. When children start to eat solid food, they learn tomove the food from the front of themouth to the back to trigger the same swallowing reflex.Chewing is also important – food mixeswith saliva and is broken into tiny pieces so that it forms a soft slipperyball that is easy to safely swallow. Swallowing difficulty (dysphagia) is anyproblemwith: sucking, swallowing,drinking, chewing, eating, controlling saliva, taking medication, or protecting the lungs from food and drink ‘going

Australians havedifficulty

swallowing

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Speechpathologists are theprofessionalswho assess and treatpeoplewithdysphagia (difficulty swallowing) across the lifespan.

15-30% ofpeopleaged 65+ living in thecommunity

A swallowingdisordermayaffect:

100% ofpeoplewithAlzhei mer’s, at somepoint in theirdisease progression

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/swallowing

50% 84% ofpeoplewithParkinson’s disease

20% 45% 40% of stroke survivorshavean ongoingneed for support for swallowing

25%

ofpatientswithMultiple Sclerosishave swallowing difficulties-increasing toas manyas 65% of thosewith severeMultiple Sclerosis.

disorders ofpatientswithheadand neckcancer,post chemoradiotherapy

ofadultswithmental health

ofolderadults innursing homes

awareness day Wednesday 15 March 2017

1300 368 835

Download the print ready pdfs here