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May
23
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Large numbers of people have difficulties swallowing medication when it is offered to them in the form of tablets or capsules. Dysphagia or swallowing difficulties can affect individuals of all ages including young children although it is most common in older people since they tend to be more vulnerable to the causative diseases as well as age connected changes in the functions of the saliva glands. Dysphagia is a particularly serious problem in care homes for the elderly where approximately 1/3 of residents may suffer from it which makes caring for them a more challenging and time intensive process.
Dysphagia consequences can be very serious as it can obviously interfere with treatments proscribed by doctors if the affected person is reluctant or unable to take medication in pill form. Furthermore there’s a risk that tablets ingested orally might cause choking or a blockage of the airway and there is also a risk that pills may become lodged in the throat which might result in the incorrect dispersal of the drug to the body as well as possible injury to the oesophagus.
Up till now the most widespread method of managing the problems that Dysphagia presents has been tablet crushing in order to make medicine less difficult to swallow. However there are a lot of problems associated with crushing tablets that may have serious implications and may affect the efficacy of the medicine. Some capsules are sugar coated to make them taste better and while crushing them won’t change the way the tablet works it will make them taste very unpleasant. Tablets that have an enteric coating must never be crushed before they’re used as the coating is made to keep the tablet together in the stomach to either; guard the stomach from the medication, protect the medicine from the stomach or to release the medicine soon after it’s left the stomach.
Luckily there is an alternative for those who are afflicted by Dysphagia and also the people that care for them. There is today a wider range than ever before of liquid medicines that may be used orally and have exactly the same effect as pills or tablets. Oral liquid medicine is made to treat a wide range of illnesses and diseases such as those affecting the cardio-vascular system and endocrine system and more liquid medicines are being developed all the time. Liquid medicines are easy to swallow for those with Dysphagia and come in a number of enjoyable flavours.