2<\/p>\n Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing, can be a sign of a number of serious conditionsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n But have you heard of the swallow test?<\/p>\n According to scientists, there’s a certain number of times a healthy person should be able to swallow within 30 seconds. <\/p>\n Those who fail to reach the number could be presenting signs of a deadly condition. <\/p>\n Struggling to swallow could mean you have dysphagia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more on cancer tests<\/p>\n While the condition is usually caused by certain medications and acid reflux, it can be a sign of cancer<\/a>, serious lung disease, dementia<\/a> or a stroke<\/a>. <\/p>\n A technique many health<\/a> professionals use to establish if someone has dysphagia is called the Repetitive Saliva Swallow Test. <\/p>\n The simple test can be performed at home and sees a patient attempt to swallow as many times as possible in half a minute, without consuming any food or drink.<\/p>\n In a study published in 2024, Israeli medics established the number of swallows healthy people of different age groups should be able to achieve. <\/p>\n They found adults aged 20 to 39 should be able to swallow, on average, 8.5 times within 30 seconds. <\/p>\n Those in their 40s should be able to swallow eight times, while those in their 50s should manage seven swallows. <\/p>\n What are the signs and symptoms of oesophageal cancer?<\/p>\n People in their 60s should be able to achieve just under seven swallows (6.7), and those in their 70s should be able to complete six. <\/p>\n Finally, those in their 80s should be able to do just over four swallows (4.3). <\/p>\n Someone who isn’t able to reach the relevant healthy swallowing goal for their age group can be flagged for further investigation to explore the cause of dysphagia. <\/p>\n Writing in the journal Dysphagia<\/a>, the researchers said their study was important as it displayed a much higher range of what should be considered healthy compared to previous studies.<\/p>\n The baseline previously established for the Repetitive Saliva Swallow Test had been set as three for all adults. <\/p>\n They wrote: “This finding reinforces the necessity for a more comprehensive exploration of the validity of the established cutoff values within the oldest old age group.”<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n The test scores for different age groupsCredit: SprInger Nature<\/p>\n The researchers noted the variation in test scores for different ages could be due to the physiological changes that occur in the throat muscles as people grow older. <\/p>\n Differences were also seen between men and women – men achieved more swallows than women.<\/p>\n This factor could also impact test results, the researchers said, although added further research is needed to look at the sex-based difference. <\/p>\n Dysphagia can be a symptom of various cancers, particularly those affecting the head and neck<\/a> and upper digestive tract, including\u00a0cancers of the oesophagus<\/a>, throat, mouth<\/a>, larynx, thyroid, salivary glands, and even some cancers in the stomach<\/a> or pancreas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Actor Van Kilmer<\/a>, who died earlier this week from pneumonia<\/a>, had a two-year battle with throat cancer. <\/p>\n The NHS<\/a> says other common causes os dysphagia include: <\/p>\n Check if you have dysphagia <\/p>\n WHILE some people with dysphagia have problems swallowing, particularly certain foods or drinks, others cannot swallow at all.<\/p>\n Signs of dysphagia include:<\/p>\n You may also drool and have problems chewing your food.<\/p>\n Over time, dysphagia can cause symptoms such as weight loss,\u00a0dehydration\u00a0and repeated\u00a0chest infections.<\/p>\n If you experience symptoms of dysphagia, speak to your GP. <\/p>\n Source: NHS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THERE are a number of simple checks you can carry out yourself at home to give you a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[207,105,437,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-2921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-cancer-disease","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-section-healthnews-health","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114283598569091714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/unhealthy-sad-young-woman-984708305.jpg\")
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