Malnutrition

In January 2012, 66-year-old Joseph Forrester suffered a stroke, which left him in a debilitating state."It was devastating," said Joseph, a former economist who taught math and economics in Jamaica.Jason Forrester, Joseph's son, said he couldn't always respond to questions."He pretty much had a stare, and his eyes would move.  You could see that he understood what he needed or what he wanted to do," Jason said. "He couldn't walk or use his right hand."However, there was one side effect that no one could see. Joseph was ultimately given a feeding tube, because he had lost the ability to swallow.Dr. Georgia Malandraki, a speech pathologist at Teacher's College of Columbia University, said swallowing is a basic function that most people do not even think about."We do it many, many times a day – up to 1,000 times a day," Malandraki said. "We even do it in our sleep. So, we swallow all the time. It's vital for our survival."The inability to swallow, called dysphagia, can lead to malnutriti...

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