My Patient With Parkinson’s Disease Can’t Swallow: Gulp…

James Fisher is an St6 in Geriatric Medicine at Health Education North East, and tweets at @drjimbofish

If you look after people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) you’ll know that sometimes medication administration in hospital is sub-optimal. Things can get particularly challenging when patients are unable to take their usual tablets due to swallowing difficulties…

Missing PD medications is risky – not only will patients’ symptoms get worse, but abrupt withdrawal is associated with the rare, but potentially fatal, neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

Treating dysphagia: understanding the need for training

Helen Willis is a Dietitian at Wiltshire Farm Foods: in this blog she looks at caring for older people with dysphagia, and the importance of proper training

It is often the case that with such a media and governmental focus on health issues such as obesity, other nutritional issues get pushed aside and given little focus. One example is the very common swallowing condition, dysphagia.