Thickened Drinks - What Are They, Why Are They Needed and How Do I to Make Them?

As a Speech Pathologist, I was regularly made inquiries like this by the relatives of individuals who had been recently determined to have a gulping trouble. The vast majority have never known about gulping challenges, not to mention 'Thickened Drinks'. Gulping troubles (otherwise called 'Dysphagia') are not normal, but rather they can influence individuals of any age. There are many known reasons for dysphagia yet a portion of the more basic ones are: stroke; cerebral paralysis; Parkinson's malady; head injury; surgery and radiation treatment accordingly of disease of the head or neck; and changes to the nerves and muscles of the throat that making gulping troublesome for the elderly.

What Are Thickened Fluids and Why Are They Recommended? 

On the off chance that somebody you know has been determined to have a gulping trouble, odds are they have been suggested 'thickened beverages' or 'thickened liquids'. Thickened beverages are essentially typical beverages that have had an uncommonly defined thickener added to them, to make them thicker than standard beverages (this is examined all the more later in the article). They are prescribed by Speech Pathologists (otherwise called Speech Therapist or Speech and Language specialists) for individuals who can no longer swallow typical liquids securely and who are at danger of having beverages go into their lungs. The results of beverages going into the lungs can be solid hacking, gagging or more genuine dangers, for example, a trunk disease and desire pneumonia. I as of late worked with one woman who, just four months prior, had been in doctor's facility with her third episode of yearning pneumonia in under 10 months. She had been prescribed thickened beverages more than 12 months prior, yet she was all the while drinking ordinary beverages at any rate once every day and little measures of the beverages were going into her lungs. This was an issue, not just as a result of the liquid in the lungs, but since actually happening microscopic organisms in her mouth went with the liquid and into her lungs. When this happens, it is just a short time before the microscopic organisms causes a trunk contamination known as desire pneumonia. Luckily for this woman, she at last tuned in to guidance and just drank the thickened beverages that were prescribed to her. She has not had a repeat of goal pneumonia since!

So what's so extraordinary about thickened beverages? One reason they work is on account of they travel all the more gradually down the throat and are less demanding for a man to control when they swallow. To show signs of improvement thought, envision this-Someone begins spilling water out of a container and instructs you to catch it in a bowl that you are holding. You will attempt to react as brisk as possible, yet there will likely be a postponement between when they begin pouring and when you have moved the bowl to get the water. This short deferral will most likely imply that a portion of the water arrives on the floor. Presently envision somebody pouring a thickened drink, similar to a thick shake, out of a glass. You would most likely catch a great deal a greater amount of this fluid in light of the fact that the thick shake streams all the more gradually out of the container and gives you more opportunity to react. This is like what happens when somebody with a gulping trouble drinks water versus a thickened drink. When they drink water, the muscles and nerves in their throat don't act rapidly enough and a portion of the water can go into their lungs. Be that as it may, when they drink thickened beverages, the liquid moves all the more gradually and this gives their body more opportunity to control and direct the liquid far from their lungs and toward their stomach. That is one motivation behind why thickened liquids work. As individuals with gulping troubles have a tendency to have the trouble throughout the day, consistently, thickened liquids are planned to supplant ordinary beverages. That implies individuals having thickened liquids will by and large, not have the capacity to drink ordinary beverages at all or until their Speech Pathologist exhorts something else. Along these lines, when somebody is on thickened beverages, they ought to intend to drink as quite a bit of them as is expected to keep up ordinary hydration (1-2 liters).

The Three Levels of Thickened Fluids

When somebody is determined to have a gulping trouble, a Speech Pathologist will prescribe one of three distinctive thickness levels. The level of thickness that is prescribed fluctuates from individual to individual. It relies on upon the seriousness of a man's gulping issue. Normally, the more terrible the gulping issue, the thicker the drink. As of late, Speech Pathology Australia and the Dietitian's Association of Australia cooperated to make the Australian Standards for Texture Modified Foods and Fluids*. They built up the accompanying naming and portrayals for the three perceived thicknesses of thickened beverages.

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