I can't believe that this is the 8th week! I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like I have so much to do and so little time to do it. I keep thinking only eight more weeks! I can do it!

This week's assignments looked like very little. I thought that it was a little decieving. :) I had to keep myself on task. Even though I will probably have to add some things to my genre (I did a brochure this week) or do a revision, I began to at least think more about how I wanted to lay it out and what kind of information I wanted to put in it. I've been using my resources that I found and now I'm wondering how we are going to cite them in our work.

I am still going to have to add more information to my Journal entry and write another journal entry. I worked on my Webliography a little more. I noticed that my links still weren't working so I worked on getting that done. Before I just had trouble getting them to highlight, I never really thought about whether they linked or not. After all, that is the *most important* part of the Webliography! :)

Dysphagia

What is dysphagia?
Dysphagia is a swallowing disorder that can occur in any stage of swallowing.

What causes dysphagia?
The are a range of causes including,but not limited to, muscle weakness or paralysis. These are typically due to neurological or neuromuscular disorders.

What type of neurological or neuromuscular disorders cause dysphagia?
Stroke, head injury, brain tumor, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, myasthenia gravis, muscular dystrophy, dementia and cerebral palsy (Ferrand and Bloom 236)

What is are some symptoms of dysphagia?
perceived difficulty eating, coughing during meals, slow eating, physical difficulty manipulating foods, "wet" sounding voice, food residue in the mouth, multiple swallows, and aspiration. Aspiration is when food falls below the point of the vocal folds and may or may not result in a cough. Unfortunately, however, dysphagia sometimes doesn't have visible symptoms. (Ferrand and Bloom 236)

What can be done to help alleviate the symptoms of dysphagia?
There are different diet modifications and positioning techniques that can help the swallowing process.

What are the different diet modifications?
Modifications are made with food, liquids, and medication.

Food -
*Regular
*Mechanical Soft
*Soft/Crushed
*Pureed

Liquid -
*thin liquids
*thick liquids
*no liquids

NPO - nothing by mouth

Medications may need to be crushed and put into a liquid or food.

The following are some postitions that can aid in swallowing:

-Sit upright with hips flexed to 90 degrees
-Tilt chin down
-Turn head to the left or right
-Turn head to the left or right with a chin tuck
-Side lying position
-Tilt head to the left or right
-Tilt head back
(Ferrand and Bloom 242)

What are some risks of dysphagia?
Dysphagia can cause aspiration which may be dangerous. If aspiration occurs then the patient could be at risk for pneumonia. Watch for a temperature rise 30 minutes after completion of a meal. (Kavanaugh 3)

It is very important that those around the patient be aware of his or her diet modifications and/or positioning changes. These people include the nursing staff, caregivers, doctors, etc. Many times it is overlooked and can be dangerous due to aspiration.

Do you know someone who may suffer from dysphagia? Please contact the following about intervention:

Home Care Plus
147 Dawkins Drive
Greyrock Professional Park
Lewisburg, WV 24956