The Coordination of Breathing and Swallowing in Parkinson’s Disease

Multiple investigations have determined that healthy adults swallow most often during exhalation and that exhalation regularly follows the swallow, even when a swallow occurs during inhalation. We hypothesized that persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease would demonstrate impaired breathing and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dysphagia 2008-06, Vol.23 (2), p.136-145
Main Authors: Gross, Roxann Diez, Atwood, Charles W., Ross, Sheryl B., Eichhorn, Kimberly A., Olszewski, Joan W., Doyle, Patrick J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Apnea - epidemiology
Apnea - physiopathology
Deglutition Disorders - diagnosis
Deglutition Disorders - epidemiology
Electromyography
Exhalation
Female
Gastroenterology
Hepatology
Humans
Imaging
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Original Article
Otorhinolaryngology
Parkinson Disease - epidemiology
Parkinson's disease
Plethysmography
Prospective Studies
Radiology
Respiration
Respiratory Mechanics - physiology
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Summary:Multiple investigations have determined that healthy adults swallow most often during exhalation and that exhalation regularly follows the swallow, even when a swallow occurs during inhalation. We hypothesized that persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease would demonstrate impaired breathing and swallowing coordination during spontaneous eating. Twenty-five healthy volunteers and 25 Parkinson’s disease patients spontaneously swallowed calibrated pudding and cookie portions while simultaneous nasal airflow and respiratory inductance plethysmography were used to track spontaneous breathing. Surface EMG was used to record the timing of each swallow within the respiratory cycle. When compared to the healthy control group, those with Parkinson’s disease swallowed significantly more often during inhalation and at low tidal volumes. The Parkinson’s participants also exhibited significantly more postswallow inhalation for both consistencies. Only the healthy subjects exhibited significantly longer deglutitive apnea when swallows that occurred during inhalation were compared with those that occurred during exhalation. The high incidence of oropharyngeal dysphagia and risk of aspiration pneumonia found in Parkinson’s disease patients may be partially attributable to impaired coordination of breathing and swallowing.
ISSN:0179-051X
1432-0460
DOI:10.1007/s00455-007-9113-4