It’s the kind of thing you take for granted until you can’t: that is, swallowing your food seems a natural process that requires no thought. But for many people, especially after a neurological event like a stroke, or if you begin to suffer from some sort of muscle disorder, swallowing problems can lead to serious or even life-threatening consequences. Difficulty swallowing is known as Dysphagia and it’s estimated that 15% of seniors experience dysphagia at some point. If food doesn’t flow smoothly from your throat to your stomach, you could begin to suffer from malnutrition or dehydration, or even come down with pneumonia from food aspirated into your lungs. For a comprehensive overview and access to all sorts of dysphagia resources, check out this post from Medline of the US National Library of Medicine.

And in a new study out of NYU, researchers found that loss of muscle function in the throat, which naturally occurs as we age, could make us less efficient in swallowing, which could lead to serious health consequences. Like elsewhere in your body, when muscles become weaker, there are targeted exercises you can utilize to strengthen and improve their functioning, and that includes your throat as well. So open wide and read more about this study Here.