Swallowing Exercises May Lower Risk of Pneumonia
Monday, November 29, 2010
By: Euna Lhee, HealthyState.org

November 29, 2010 | WMFE - University of Florida researchers think they've found a way to help Parkinson's disease patients who have trouble swallowing. Patients, who used a certain type of hand-held device to strengthen the muscles used in swallowing, lowered their risk of pneumonia, a common cause of death for those with Parkinson's.

Courtesy of the University of Florida.

The device is shaped like a large white tube – patients blow into it to exercise their throat muscles. University of Florida researchers found a third of volunteers in the study improved their ability to swallow, if they used the device for 20 minutes a day for a month.

"In people with Parkinson’s disease, they often die from something called aspiration pneumonia, which occurs when you get food or liquid in your lungs when you swallow,” UF lead researcher Michelle Troche said. “So we were pretty excited with those results.”

Troche is also looking at the device’s effects on multiple sclerosis patients. She says more study is needed before this therapy becomes widely practiced.