Dysphagia is a disorder recognised by the WHO and defined as difficulty swallowing solid food and liquids. Carolina Acosta Romero, researcher in mechanochemistry and reactive extrusion, AIMPLAS, discusses easy swallowing solutions for dysphagia.
Swallowing, or deglutition, is a neuromuscular process of voluntary and involuntary movements that involves 26 different muscles of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus, together with innervation from the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system so that the pharynx can perform swallowing, breathing and phonatory functions, all within a matter of milliseconds. Swallowing disorders are caused by structural or functional impairment of one or more swallowing phases. Impairment is structural when a motor/muscular difficulty limits the patient’s ability to swallow (mechanical or obstructive dysphagia) and is functional when neuronal activation of the swallowing reflex is impaired (neurological dysphagia).