MU researcher developing test for swallowing disorder treatments
Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 05:40
in Health & Medicine
Muscle degeneration and confinement to a wheelchair are the hallmarks of Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy and other neurodegenerative diseases. One of the silent, and most serious, symptoms of these diseases is losing the ability to swallow. Swallowing impairment, or dysphagia, affects about 500,000 people annually in the U.S., but little is known about the disorder and only a few temporary, behavioural treatments are available. Now, a University of Missouri researcher is developing a test that might help pinpoint the neurological or physiological origins of swallowing disorders, leading to possible life-saving treatments...