Who ever thinks about swallowing? It's as natural as breathing - until something goes wrong. Now a research team led by Reza Shaker, M.D., director of the Medical College of Wisconsin Digestive Disease Center, has found a way to use a simple exercise to improve people's ability to swallow - no surgery, no drugs. It's been so successful that all the patients in the initial study were able to return to oral eating. The Shaker exercise requires the patient to lie flat, raise his or her head until the toes become visible, without lifting the shoulders. That strengthens a complex group of throat muscles, allowing food or liquid to pass down the esophagus. The researchers are planning a multi-institutional study with 200 patients to validate the pilot study. http://iago.lib.mcw.edu/my_html/April.htm <http://iago.lib.mcw.edu/my_html/April.htm>
-----Original Message----- From: Jean Long [mailto:creative@enter.net] Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 6:04 PM
Pieces of food are also getting "caught" in my throat now. Even a "linguine noodle" got stuck and I had a heck of a time getting it to go down, I have to pull the skin out at my throat and sometimes eat something else to help push it down .