In response to the question about the background of speech
language pathologists, maybe this will help a little.  A few years
ago, in my previous life as a rehabilitation nurse, I worked with
many patients who had suffered a CVA(cerebral vascular accident,
stroke)  Some of these clients developed a chronic cough, or
recurrent aspiration pneumonia.  As part of the rehab team, the
SLP would do some sort of swallowing assessment, with various
thicknesses of food/fluid.  I believe one of the tests was done with
the ENT-a videoflouroscopy.  The results determined the degree of
dysphagia, and the consistency of the fluid required to prevent
aspiration.  We used a product called Thick-it, which transformed all
liquids to a pudding-like consistency.  A cup of coffee was never the
same for these clients.

Doreen Vanderstoep RN, IBCLC
missing my old life with the elderly, but loving my new life
with moms and babies.

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html