Pharmacological aspects and neurological speech therapy: target of dysphony, dysarthria and dysphagia

The word dysphagy was suggested by Nicolatopoulos (1907) and derives from the ancient Greek “δυς”, which means “difficulty” and “καταπινειν”, which means “to swallow”. Generally, the dysphagia is defined on the basis of its origin: oral, pharynx and oesophagus, otherwise by its mechanical or neurological aetiology. The symptoms are dependent on the nature of the lesions in the affected organs. The swallow is a complex motor sequence dependent on the coordinate contraction of the muscle of mouth, of larynx and of the oesophagus. The mechanical action of the swallow helps the liquid or solid food progression from mouth to stomach thanks to cooperation of 31 muscles and 5 cranial nerves and allows swallowing about 580 times approximately. The dysphagy in neurological diseases is mainly due to the following reasons. Increase of vascular cerebral disease, increase of population age and increase of road and work traumas. The difficulties in swallowing causes heavy social problems like meager diet, social isolation and worsening of quality of life. The speech rehabilitation requires the involvement of care givers through a re-educational program that takes place in two periods: the first of relaxation, and the second of restoration of phonodeglutition praxis.