Struggling to swallow could be a sign of poor health, latest evidence has highlighted.
A new study has found that a 30-second swallow test can identify whether or not someone is living with a serious health condition.
Medically known as dysphagia, struggling to swallow can be a sign of lung disease, dementia and cancer.
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The Repetitive Saliva Swallow Test sees people attempt to swallow as many times as possible in half a minute, without consuming any food or drink.
On average, adults aged between 20 and 39 should be able to swallow nearly 8.5 times in 30 seconds and those in their 40s should be able to manage eight swallows.
Meanwhile, adults in their 50s should be able to swallow about seven times in 30 seconds and those in their 60s should reach just under seven swallows.
Medics have also revealed that people in their 70s should reach six swallows in half a minute and those in their 80s should manage just over four swallows in the time limit.
According to experts, people who cannot swallow the recommended number of times for their age could be living with a deadly disease.
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The authors said: “This finding reinforces the necessity for a more comprehensive exploration of the validity of the established cutoff values within the oldest old age group.
“The significant variation in test scores by age could be due to the physiological changes that occur in throat muscles as people grow older.”
They added: “The differences were also seen between men and women, with the former, on average, achieving more swallows (7.6) than the latter (6.5), another factor that could impact test results. The reasons for this sex-based difference in swallowing speed needed further research.”
Read more in the online journal Dysphagia.
