Dysphagia and Nutrition : The Meal of a Patient with Swallowing Disorders

The book offers a comprehensive overview of deglutition disorders and of dysphagia treatment, presenting a review of the main instruments for evaluating and treating dysphagia. Swallowing difficulties are a growing concern in the general population, particularly in older patients. Deglutology, an emerging discipline that studies the physiopathological, diagnostic, and rehabilitative aspects of swallowing, is rapidly expanding in response to the increasing demand for clinical and rehabilitative interventions in this field. This book provides an updated presentation of the available diagnostic tools and rehabilitative treatments for dysphagia, offering a broad overview of the meanings that eating and meals hold in individual life. Based on the close relationship between food and quality of life, the concept of palliative nutrition is introduced, aiming to ensure the pleasure of eating and, along with it, attention to the non-nutritional aspects that food provides to individuals. This book will be of interest to professionals and academics specializing in deglutology, dysphagia treatment, and related disciplines, i.e. speech-language pathologists, physicians, nurses, researchers, and other healthcare professionals who are involved in the assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders.  The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.