DYSPHAGIA IN CEREBRAL PALSY
.......................................................................................
Dysphagia is a condition that makes swallowing difficult or painful. The extent dysphagia in cerebral palsy children affects the individual can greatly vary from a mild feeling of discomfort to a total inability to swallow. The problem can be very serious, especially because dysphagia in cerebral palsy children can lead to malnutrition if there are difficulties swallowing the right foods or infection if the food becomes lodged in the windpipe or in the lungs.
Treatment
Every year an estimated 60,000 people will die from dysphagia, mainly affecting cerebral palsy or stroke sufferers. New treatment methods are being researched to help dysphagia in cerebral palsy children all the time. Most recently, a new electric procedure has been shown to help dysphagia. A device similar to one used for electrical stimulation has been developed over time, which required extra care because the throat has so many arteries leading to the brain.
Dysphagia in Children
In cases where the dysphagia in cerebral palsy children is so severe that the patient is completely unable to swallow, the child can suffer from throat atrophy. Swallowing involves 50 pairs of muscles in the process and the new device is able to attach electrodes to the throat so that electricity can be administered. Depending on the present severity of dysphagia in cerebral palsy children will determine the voltage. This treatment method has successfully strengthened the muscles in some patients and has allowed an ability to swallow.
As more and more effective treatment methods are discovered, dysphagia in cerebral palsy children will hopefully become more manageable. Cerebral palsy can create many struggles for a child and minimizing any symptoms can make a great impact.For more information about dysphagia in cerebral palsy children, contact us to confer with a birth injury lawyer.
