Many individuals have difficulties swallowing medicine when it is offered to them as tablets or pills. Dysphagia or swallowing difficulties can affect men and women spanning various ages including young children although it is most frequent in older people as they tend to be more vulnerable to the causative illnesses as well as age related changes in the functions of the saliva glands. Up to 1/3 of people in care homes experience Dysphagia which makes taking care of their health and well being a much more complicated job.

Dysphagia consequences can be very serious as it can clearly interfere with treatments proscribed by doctors when the affected person is reluctant or not able to take medication in tablet form. Furthermore there’s a threat that pills ingested orally could potentially cause choking or a blockage of the airway and there’s also a danger that tablets may become stuck in the throat which might lead to the incorrect dispersal of the medicine to the body as well as possible harm to the oesophagus.

Up till now the most typical way of dealing with the issues that Dysphagia presents has been tablet crushing to make treatments less difficult to swallow. However there are a number of issues associated with crushing tablets that could have significant implications and may affect the effectiveness of the medicine. Some capsules are sugar coated to make them taste better and while crushing them won’t alter the way the pill works it will make them taste very unpleasant. Tablets with an enteric coating must never be crushed before they are used since the coating is designed to keep the pill together in the stomach to either; guard the stomach from the medicine, protect the medicine from the stomach or to release the medicine after it has left the stomach.

Fortunately help is readily available for individuals with Dysphagia and the people that take care of them. There is today a bigger range than ever before of liquid medicines which can be taken orally and have exactly the same effect as pills or capsules. Oral liquid medicine is made to deal with an array of ailments and diseases such as 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 are available in a variety of enjoyable flavours.