Swallowing day campaign kit 2017

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awareness day
Wednesday15March2017
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).
To find a speech pathologist near you go
to
1300 368 835 awareness day
Wednesday 15 March 2017
Discussing
dysphagia
Let’s talk about swallowing disorders
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.
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?
To find a speech pathologist near you visit
1300 368 835
awareness day
Wednesday 15 March 2017
What’s this
thing called
Dysphagia?
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.
Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing
Like breathing, swallowing is essential to everyday life. Humans swallow at least 900
times a day; aroundthree times an hour during sleep, once per minute while
awakeandeven 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?
1300 368 835
awareness day
Wednesday 15 March 2017
Food and drink
to die for...
Speechpathologists are theprofessionalswho assess and treatpeoplewithdysphagia
(difficulty swallowing) across the lifespan.
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 least900
times aday: aroundthree timesanhourduring sleep, onceperminutewhileawake
andevenmoreoftenduringmeals.
Did you know that speech pathologists work with thousands
of Australians each year who have difficulty swallowing?
1300 368 835
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
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.
Likebreathing, swallowing isessential toeveryday life.Humans swallowat least 900 timesaday:around
three timesanhourduring sleep
swallow food, liquids,medicine ition
anddehydration,whilebabiesandchildrenwithdifficulty feedingmaynot take inenoughnutrients to support
growthandbraindevelopment.
The facts on swallowing
disorders - dysphagia
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.
Fastfacts:
• Swallowinguses26muscles
• Humansswallowatleast900timesaday
• Aswallowingproblemcanoccuratanystageinlife
• Swallowingskillsdevelopfrominfancy
• Almosthalfofeveryonewhohashadastrokewillhave
aswallowingproblem.
awareness day
PEOPLE SWALLOW9
TI
MES PER DAY
(ONAVERAGE)
Wednesday 15 March 2017
One in17peoplewill
develop some
formofdysphagia in their lifeti
me.
dysphagia
A swallowingdisordermayaffect:
around 3 times
anhourduring
sleep,
Onceperminute
whileawake,
Humans swallow:
andevenmoreduring
meals!
Dysphagia
(dis-fay-juh)
noun,difficultyor
discomfort in swallowing.
ofolderadults innursing homes
50% 84%
ofpeoplewithParkinson’s disease
100%
ofpeoplewithAlzhei
mer’s,
at somepoint in theirdisease progression ofadultswithmental
health
disorders
20%
15-30%
ofpeopleaged 65+ living in thecommunity ofpatientswithheadand neckcancer,post chemoradiotherapy
45%
40%
of stroke survivorshavean ongoingneed for support for swallowing
26
musclesSwallowinguses
More than 1 million
Australians havedifficulty
swallowing
25%
ofpatientswithMultiple Sclerosishave swallowing difficulties-increasing toas manyas
65%
of thosewith
severeMultiple Sclerosis.