Making patients with swallowing problems, and their families, increasingly aware of the importance of nutrition to avoid even serious complications. This is the goal of the project “When swallowing is difficult: eat to prevent”, supported by the University of Milan. To actively involve patients and caregivers, on June 18, in the Aula magna of the University, the meeting entitled: “Gourmet dysphagia” will be held: a moment of discussion during which various professionals will discuss the diagnosis, management and prevention of dysphagia. But that’s not all: there will be workshops, presentation of recipes suitable for dysphagia patients made by the Landra Sisters, well-known chefs on the small screen, and moments of tasting.
Dysphagia: an often underestimated disorder
“Dysphagia is an alteration of the transit of food from the mouth to the stomach – he explains Francesco Mozzanica, professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Milan and project manager -. The causes can be many, but let’s think of the various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Huntington’s disease, which compromise the function of muscles, including those involved in the swallowing process. This process is characterized by several phases and is based on very complicated mechanisms, both muscular and nervous. It doesn’t take much for one of these phases to no longer work as it should and for the food to have difficulty in passing from the mouth to the stomach “.
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The complications: malnutrition and pneumonia
“Very often the disorder is underestimated and the patient is taken in charge when a complication has already occurred – continues Mozzanica -. Basically two situations can arise: not being able to eat enough, the person with swallowing problems can encounter malnutrition or, if he does not drink enough, dehydration. Or he can incur in the so-called pneumonia ab ingestis, that is pneumonia from ingested things, an important and serious complication. This happens when food, instead of passing from the mouth to the esophagus, takes the wrong path and it ends up, in part, at the level of the upper airways and then, through the trachea, reaches the bronchi and then reaches the lungs “.
Cooking show and practical workshops
For this, it is important to recognize the disorder early. “Surely we must pay great attention to nutrition – underlines the expert -. The dysphagic patient may have to change their eating habits and the consistency of food, but this does not mean not being able to eat tasty dishes and necessarily give up the pleasures of the palate. And this is what the sorelle Landra, chef known for the broadcast La prova del cuoco, with the preparation of different recipes of solid, soft, semi-solid and liquid consistency that each participant can then taste. In addition, there will be stands dedicated to practical workshops, where everyone will be able to learn the techniques of preserving food, the different ways of thickening drinks or, for example, the clearing maneuvers of the upper airways “.
A multidisciplinary approach
“Precisely because of the complexity of dysphagia, a multidisciplinary approach is fundamental – specifies Mozzanica -. The otolaryngologist, who thanks to the help of various tools can detect the presence of dysphagia and assess the severity of the disorder, is just one of the many figures involved in problem management. A central role is also played by the speech therapist, the pulmonologist, but also by the speech therapist and psychologist “. “On the project website and on our social channels – concludes Mozzanica – it is possible to see various video-pills in which each professional tells about dysphagia from his own point of view, obviously always with a view to considering all aspects in a global vision for the well-being of the individual patient “. To be able to participate in the event on June 18, you can register on the website Deglutizione Milano.