Neurological Illness Causing Hoarseness

The protective reflexes in the back of the throat are disturbed. Normally the body has one "program" for swallowing food that is protected by a proper sequence of swallowing mechanisms and protection of the airways by flipping the epiglottis over the upper larynx opening.

If anything should go wrong, a powerful cough reflex expels air from the lungs to push foreign bodies or fluid back out that attempts to enter into the airways instead of into the esophagus.

With neurological diseases such as the ones mentioned above or following strokes or seizures there can be an interruption of these protective reflexes or a partial or complete loss of the proper swallowing mechanisms causing aspiration of food or fluids. The patient very quickly would turn sick and get aspiration pneumonia and often has to be taken care of in a hospital setting (Ref. 2, p. 1765).

Disclaimer

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References

1. James Chin et al., Editors: Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, 17th edition, 2000, American Public Health Association.

2. Behrman: Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th ed., 2000, W. B. Saunders Company

4. Noble: Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, 3rd ed.,2001 Mosby, Inc.

5. Abeloff: Clinical Oncology, 2nd ed.,2000,Churchill Livingstone, Inc.

6. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc.

7. Rakel: Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

Last Modified: Sept. 20, 2004