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To: ifinnegan

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that occurs when vital brain cells that control movement and coordination die or become impaired. Symptoms vary, but the disease is often characterized by uncontrollable shaking, limb stiffness, slow movement and difficulty walking. Studies show that Parkinson’s can also cause a host of other life-altering cognitive and physical changes including difficulty swallowing, chewing, speaking and pushing food through the digestive system, as these functions depend on muscles that may be weakened due to changes in the brain.

Many Parkinson’s patients, especially those in the later stages of the disease, experience difficulty swallowing, a condition known as dysphagia, which can affect their quality of life and cause life-threatening complications like aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition and dehydration, said Leslie Mahler, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Rhode Island who specializes in adults with neurological disorders. “The complication to be most concerned about is whether food is going down the right way,” she said.

According to the National Institute of Health, the leading cause of death for people with Parkinson’s disease is aspiration pneumonia, which occurs when the lungs and the airways to the lungs get inflamed or infected due to food or liquids going into the lungs when consumed rather than into the stomach. Parkinson’s patients are also at risk for asphyxiation or choking to death due to food blocking the airway and stopping breathing.

It is important to know the warning signs of a swallowing disorder, because some people may appear to be eating and drinking normally, but they are not, said Dr. Mahler, a speech-language pathologist. Early intervention and proper management of swallowing abnormalities are the keys to preventing major complications, she said.


15 posted on 06/11/2014 5:13:13 PM PDT by kcvl
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To: kcvl

Yes.

Aspiration pneumonia gets a lot of people with age-related neurological degeneration such as Alzheimer’s.

A nutrient tube in to the stomach completely solves the problem.

But, no one puts one in prophylactically, so there is almost always a life threatening pneumonia induced situation that the patient has to get passed and that doesn’t always happen.

Or worse, that acts as a reason to go hospice and palliative care - ie starvation induced euthanasia.


21 posted on 06/11/2014 5:21:32 PM PDT by ifinnegan
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