More and more people have difficulties swallowing medicine when it’s presented to them as tablets or capsules. Dysphagia or swallowing difficulties can affect people spanning various ages including young children although it is most common in older people as they tend to be more prone to the causative illnesses as well as age related changes in the functions of the saliva glands. Up to 1/3 of occupants in care homes are afflicted by Dysphagia which makes caring for their health and well being a much more difficult job.
Dysphagia consequences can be quite serious as it can obviously interfere with treatments proscribed by medical professionals when the patient is unwilling or unable to take medicine in tablet form. Furthermore there is a risk that pills ingested orally might cause choking or a blockage of the airway and there’s also a risk that tablets can become stuck in the throat which might result in the incorrect dispersal of the medication to the body as well as possible harm to the oesophagus.
The most widespread and common method of coping with Dysphagia is tablet crushing to make them more palatable and less difficult to swallow. However there are a number of issues related to crushing tablets that could have serious implications and can have an effect on the efficacy of the medicine. Quite a few tablets have a sugar coating on them to make them taste more enjoyable and even though crushing them will not have any effect on the efficiacy of the tablet it could make them taste really unpleasant. Tablets with an enteric coating must never be crushed before they are used as the coating is designed to keep the pill together in the stomach to either; protect the stomach from the medicine, protect the medicine from the stomach or to release the medicine after it’s left the stomach.
Fortunately help is on hand for individuals with Dysphagia and the people that care for them. There is now a larger range than ever before of liquid medicines which can be taken orally and have precisely the same effect as pills or capsules. Oral liquid medicine is created to treat an array of illnesses and diseases like those affecting the cardio-vascular system and endocrine system and more liquid medicines are being produced all the time. Liquid medicines are effortless to swallow for those with Dysphagia and come in a number of pleasant flavours.