Breathing and swallowing share a common pathway, making the timing and co-ordination extremely important. Breathing is inhibited before and during the swallow, and this cessation of breathing is accomplished by closure of the vocal folds, that also serve as the last...
Drooling, can be an embarrassing and annoying problem for individuals with a neurodegenerative disease, and a fairly common complaint I hear from patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is: “I have too much saliva.” Whether the problem is one of excessive saliva or...
Dyskinesia (uncontrolled involuntary movements that can look like fidgeting or swaying of arms, legs, oral-facial, or trunk muscles) are unfortunately a common experience for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Dyskinesia are associated with long term use of...
Would you be surprised to know that you can breathe too much, causing physical symptoms? Breathing is generally taken for granted, going on without our supervision. We breathe more during exertion such as exercise, and we have a strong reflex to prevent suffocation....
When attending seminars for persons with Parkinson’s disease I am always a bit annoyed when I hear speakers refer to swallowing (dysphagia) and speech symptoms (hypokinetic dysarthria ) as “non-motor” symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). After...
Respiratory muscle training (RMT), is a type of exercise that has been used effectively for over 30 years, and like strength training for the skeletal muscles, RMT can be an effective way of improving the way we use the muscles of breathing. RMT devices were first...
