Etiology and Clinical Management of Aging-Related Dysphagia

—An Effort to Render Eating Enjoyable Again—

Abstract

In Japan, the average life expectancy is now 83 years —the longest of any country, according to 2013 World Health Statistics— and this super-aging society is getting older every year. Pneumonia is now the third most common cause of death in Japan, and dysphagia in the elderly has become a critical social issue. Dysphagia which is progressive triggers weight loss, immunological hyperfunction, and loss of the will to live, and the dysphagia itself inevitably continues to worsen further. In this report, I identify local and systemic changes relating to deglutition function in the aged.
In the pharyngeal phase of swallowing especially, in the elderly swallowing reflex is delayed, deglutition momentum changes, and the upper esophageal sphincter resists opening. In terms of prophylaxis, stimulation of oropharyngeal sensory function, activation of the cortex to modulate swallowing, and exercise of the laryngeal levator muscles may be useful in the treatment of age-related swallowing disorders.