Dysphagia impacts countless individuals, and whether you’re a clinician, a student, or a researcher, you’re part of the collective effort to understand and address this complex condition. But are we all speaking the same language when it comes to defining dysphagia? Surprisingly, the field still lacks a unified definition.

In this episode, we welcome three leading experts, Prof. Debra Suiter, Prof. Giselle Carnaby, and Dr. Martin Brodsky, who are working to establish a clear and consensus-based definition of dysphagia. They share the current progress of their research, including insights from a comprehensive scoping review and a Delphi survey. 

Defining dysphagia isn’t just an academic exercise—it’s a critical step in improving communication across disciplines, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, and ultimately providing better care for patients. Join us as we discuss the challenges and opportunities in creating a definition that can guide research, clinical practice, and education.

Huge thanks to NFOSD for letting us share the song “Won’t go down”.

In this episode, we build on our previous one by exploring the practical, clinical side of pharyngeal electrical stimulation (PES) as a treatment for people with dysphagia. This time we spoke to Rachel Coates, an experienced dysphagia clinician from Ireland who incorporates PES into her daily practice.

Rachel shares her insights into how PES works, the benefits and challenges of using this treatment, and her advice for clinicians considering incorporating PES into their practice. If you are not familiar with PES, we recommend you listen to our previous episode with Shaheen Hamdy first.

Literature and resources from this episode

We are excited to share this episode about pharyngeal electrical stimulation with you. Our guest is Shaheen Hamdy, Professor of Neurogastroenterology at the University of Manchester in the UK. In addition to his academic role, he is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Phagenesis, the company behind Phagenyx – a treatment for dysphagia using pharyngeal electrical stimulation. This approach is one of the most promising advancements in the field of dysphagia treatment today. Join us as Shaheen explains the science behind this innovative treatment and what makes it a game-changer in the field of dysphagia therapy.

Recommended studies for further reading

This is part two of our conversation with Prof. Joan Arvedson. In our last episode, we laid the foundation for understanding feeding and swallowing. In this episode, Joan will share her insights on the treatment approaches for infants with feeding and swallowing difficulties, and we explore the essential role that parents play in the therapeutic process.

We also talk about some fundamental principles that we as clinicians should consider—principles that apply not just to the pediatric population, but to adults as well—making this episode valuable for anyone in the field.

Literature and resources that we discuss:

Drinking is one of the very first activities that newborns engage in, not only shaping their daily routine but also fostering crucial communication and interaction between them and their caregivers. Developing skills such as sucking, swallowing, and coordinating these with breathing is vital, but what happens when a baby struggles with these essential tasks?

We were thrilled to speak with Prof. Joan Arvedson, a leading expert in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. In our conversation, she explains the intricacies of sensorimotor learning, neuroplasticity, and the developmental processes underlying sucking and swallowing in infants.

We also talk about some fundamental principles that we as clinicians should consider—principles that apply not just to the pediatric population, but to adults as well—making this episode valuable for anyone in the field.

Literature and resources that we discuss

Did you know that dysphagia can occur not only in people with head and neck cancer, but also in people with cancers outside the anatomical swallowing regions? This is an area that is often overlooked in clinical practice and is also an under-researched topic. To shed light on this important issue, we interviewed Prof. Ciarán Kenny from Trinity College Dublin. In his PhD research, Ciarán investigated the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and predictors of dysphagia in people with cancer outside the anatomical swallowing regions. Join us as we explore his findings and much more.

If you are interested in the recipe booklet you can contact Ciarán vial email. His email address can be found here.

Literature that we discuss:

It was about time we had a conversation about dysphagia in people with head and neck cancer (HNC). And this time our guest was none other than Prof Katherine A Hutcheson from the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Kate answered all our questions about HNC-related dysphagia and its presentation, prehabilitation and instrumental assessment using the Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGEST), which she and her colleagues developed. 

Literature that we discuss:

Welcome to a new episode, this time with Prof. Rainer Dziewas, a neurologist and expert in the field of swallowing and swallowing disorders. For this episode, we asked Rainer to explain how swallowing works on a neurophysiological level because we believe that for dysphagia clinicians like us, understanding the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms is essential for a solid assessment and an effective intervention. Get ready for a trip from the brain to the swallowing muscles and join us as we discuss the factors that can affect physiological swallowing. We recorded this episode in person at the annual meeting of the German Society for Dysphagia, so please excuse the background noise in this episode and enjoy listening.

Literature that we discuss:

Join us in this episode as we explore the world of pediatric feeding disorders in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with Dr. Pamela Dodrill, a Pediatric Feeding Specialist. Together with her co-authors, Pamela developed a consensus definition and conceptual framework for pediatric feeding disorders and she was part of the FOIS-P team, the Functional Oral Intake Scale for pediatrics. We talk about these two projects and her work in the NICU and how it differs from other settings. Pamela also talks about the feeding and swallowing assessment pathway in the NICU and how the treatment is guided by a thorough assessment. We conclude the episode by asking Pamela about her vision in this field and what research we need in the future for this population.

Literature and resources that we discuss:

As clinicians working in dysphagia management, providing guidance on different consistencies to support our patients in their rehabilitation process and daily life is a fundamental aspect of our clinical responsibilities. However, effective communication about these consistencies is a recurring challenge for both patients and clinicians. In previous episodes, you have already heard us talk about IDDSI. We have now had the pleasure to talk to Peter Lam (chair person and chief-executive officer) from the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI). Peter gives a comprehensive overview of IDDSI: What it is, why it is helpful for dysphagia clinicians and how to start implementing it in clinical practice.

You can find lots of resources on the IDDSI website: www.iddsi.org. You can find more information on the testing methods here. If you have any questions for the IDDSI team, you can email them at [email protected]