天博体育

Therapy, exercises, and changes in eating habits will help keep you safe.

听Image: nyul/ iStock

It used to be so easy to munch a handful of nuts: chew, swallow, enjoy. Now, you avoid them or make sure there's a glass of water nearby when you eat nuts or any other foods that seem to get stuck in your throat. "It's normal to have some age-related changes with swallowing or occasional difficulty swallowing. What's not normal is when food or liquids get into the lungs regularly," says Semra Koymen, a speech-language pathologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Causes and symptoms

Treatment

听

Nasal irrigation using a neti pot was more effective than inhaling steam in relieving chronic sinus symptoms in a large randomized study.

Some simple techniques can make big pills go down more easily.

听Image: Thinkstock

If you have trouble swallowing a pill, you're in the majority. In a Harris survey conducted a few years ago, 51% of women said they had experienced difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules. "We often see people who can swallow food and liquid just fine, but have difficulty with pills," says Denise Ambrosi, director of the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Ambrosi notes that some people have physical issues that affect their ability to swallow, while others have an aversion to taking pills.

How swallowing can go awry

听

If you're missing a few words but not ready for a hearing aid, a few simple strategies and smartphone apps may help.

听Image: iStock

Are you avoiding certain restaurants because they're too noisy? Do you catch yourself wondering what you just heard the radio announcer say? Are you wearing out the volume control on your remote? Chances are you have a bit of hearing loss.

It's easy to ignore a hearing loss because it can be subtle and gradual. And you may be in denial because you don't like the idea of wearing hearing aids. Yet struggling to hear can erode your quality of life.

News briefs

A recent study suggests that the more hearing impairment you have, the more your health may be at risk. A study published online Sept. 24, 2015, by JAMA Otolaryngology鈥揌ead & Neck Surgery found that mild hearing impairment was linked with a 21% increased risk of death, and moderate-to-severe hearing impairment was linked with a 39% increased risk of death, compared with people who did not have hearing loss. Researchers combed through large surveys of about 1,700 adults ages 70 or older who had undergone hearing tests and adjusted the results for heart disease and other risk factors. "The findings do not indicate that hearing loss causes an increase in mortality, or that hearing aids might reduce that risk. Instead, age-related hearing loss reflects accumulated stresses and damage of a lifetime, so perhaps we should not be surprised that hearing loss is not the only health impact of those stresses," says Dr. Steven Rauch, an ear, nose and throat specialist and the medical director of the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Balance and Vestibular Center.

When you sense the ground spinning under your feet, it could be vertigo. But there may be a simple remedy.

An episode of dizziness is one of the things most likely to drive you to the doctor鈥攁nd for good reason. The sense that you're literally losing your footing can be terrifying.

A loss of volume and clarity can interfere with your ability to understand conversations.

Tinnitus can't be cured, but find out about proven treatments for persistent and bothersome sounds.