[Dysphagia] aspiration tolerance

[Casper219 at aol.com (Casper219 at aol.com)]

Check out some of the work and publications by Dr. John Ashford in Nashville 
and Dr. Hank Mills at the VA in Murfreesboro TN.  They have done intensive 
investigation of the significance of laboratory values in assessing risk ... or 
looking at it the other way, aspiration tolerance.  The presence of a certain 
combination of altered lab values is strongly predictive of death within 6 
months of diagnosis.  They call their subjects "survivors" and "omegas".  Bottom 
line, if the patient has an intact immune system, aspiration is much less 
likely to cause a problem.

In addition, if you review the work of Dr. Susan Langmore and colleagues on 
the role that dysphagia plays in the development of pneumonia, in addition to 
respiratory ailments, you'll find factors such as oral health status, 
dependence for oral care, and dependence for feeding play a much greater role than 
dysphagia.  This makes sense in the context of the person's overall health status 
- we should ask the question of why normal eaters do not develop aspiration.

Mary Casper, MA, CCC-SLP, BRS-S