Dysphagia (Preparing Food for People with Swallowing Difficulties)
Dysphagia is a medical term derived from Greek and is made up of two components: "Dys" meaning abnormal and "Phagia" meaning to eat or swallow. So someone who has problems swallowing is described as Dysphagic or suffereing from Dysphagia.
MND can cause the muscles in the throats of some people to function abnormally; in particular the flap of tissue known as the epiglottis can fail to do its job. The epiglottis is intended to cover the gullet when you are breathing and cover the wind-pipe when you are swallowing to ensure that air goes to the lungs and food or drink to the stomach. Some people with MND find that the muscles controlling the epiglottis are affected and that its movements become slower as a result, sometimes resulting in food going down the wrong way, long before the epiglottis can react. People who have this problem can often benefit from a specialist diet of pureed foods that are thick enough to hold together as a mass while being swallowed, buit are thin enough to be swallowed easily without needing much in the way of chewing.
Demonstrations.
Why not book a place at one of our demonstration sessions, free to carers of people with MND,
Overview of the Sessions.
Only your dietician can recommend what thickness, or consistency, of food is appropriate to meet your particular needs. These sessions are not intended to substitute for this advice. The sessions are intended to demonstrate ways of preparing your normal family food to the appropriate consistency prescribed by your dietician and to give ideas on ways of presenting the prepared meals in an attractive and appetising way.
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