DYSPHAGIA

Rehabilitation of impaired swallowing, also known as dysphagia, is a major area of rehabilitation. Dysphagia affects about half of all people with stroke, and many other individuals with neurological disorders, head and neck cancer, and muscle disease. Dysphagia often responds to rehabilitation strategies, including exercise, diet modifications, postural adjustments, and special techniques for altering breathing and swallowing. This issue of PM&R Clinics brings together an outstanding group of international experts in dysphagia rehabilitation from medicine, speech language pathology, surgery, and dentistry, under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Palmer of Johns Hopkins University. They present clear and informative summaries of the scientific basis of swallowing and dysphagia, methods for evaluation and treatment, and special issues in the most common types of dysphagia.