10 Causes of Dysphagia
Dysphagia is a medical term that refers to difficulty swallowing or disruption in the swallowing process. This can include difficulty of passage of solids or liquids from the mouth to the stomach.
The process of swallowing has three phases: oral phase, pharyngeal phase, and esophageal phase. Dysphagia can be a symptom of several conditions, that may affect any of the three swallowing phases.
It is important to distinguish dysphagia from odynophagia, which refers to painful swallowing. When dysphagia is undiagnosed, those affected have a higher risk of pulmonary aspiration and aspiration pneumonia as solids or liquids can travel down the wrong passage (respiratory tract). Patients with dysphagia can also experience malnutrition, dehydration, and renal failure. Patients with dysphagia often experience other associated symptoms such as coughing, choking, inability to control food in the mouth, nasal regurgitation, and more.
