Researchers at the University of Missouri established 15 metrics that could be compared to human swallowing function. These metrics include functions such as swallow rate and pharyngeal transit time. Using mouse models, researchers found that healthy aging mice develop symptoms of swallowing impairment that closely resemble the impairments seen in older adults: generally slowed swallowing function, impaired tongue function, larger size of the amount swallowed and an increase in the time it takes liquid to travel through the throat to the stomach.
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Also, click here for an NFOSD article on “How Aging Affects Our Swallowing Ability.”