Spicy Solution for Oropharyngeal Dysphagia!

Published on November 8, 2022

Imagine your brain as a conductor, orchestrating the complex symphony of swallowing. But sometimes, the communication gets disrupted and the melody turns sour. That’s where capsaicin, a spicy compound found in chili peppers, comes in! Capsaicin acts as a troubleshooter, ramping up sensory input from the mouth and throat while tickling the cerebral cortex with repetitive stimulation. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis delved into the therapeutic effect of capsaicin on swallowing difficulties in stroke patients and the elderly. The results were sizzling—studies showed that capsaicin led to a significant improvement in swallowing function scores, with better performance on the Water swallowing test. However, there were limited high-quality studies available, signaling a need for more research to solidify these findings and spice up our understanding of capsaicin’s potential. If you’re curious about the science behind capsaicin’s role in addressing oropharyngeal dysphagia, grab your linguistic spoon and dive into the spicy details!

ObjectivesCapsaicin is a specific agonist of TRPV1 (multimodal sensory receptor), which improves oropharyngeal dysphagia by increasing sensory input from the oropharynx and hypopharynx and by increasing repetitive stimulation of the cerebral cortex. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of capsaicin on swallowing disorders in stroke patients and the elderly.MethodWe searched Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases. We used the Mesh terms search database to screen all clinical trials that complied with the inclusion criteria. Studies were subjected to literature screening, quality assessment, and data extraction to remove studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria. After literature screening, quality assessment, and data extraction, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the included study were performed.ResultsThis systematic review and meta-analysis were prospectively registered on PROSPERO under registration number CRD42022313958. Five high-quality randomized controlled trials were ultimately included. The results of our meta-analysis showed a more significant reduction in swallowing function score change in the capsaicin group compared to the control group [SMD = −1.30, 95% CI: (−2.35, −0.25), P = 0.01] and on the Water swallowing test the improvement was significantly higher in the capsaicin group [RR = 2.46, 95% CI: (1.73, 3.50), P < 0.0001].ConclusionsAlthough the results of our meta-analysis showed that capsaicin improved swallowing function, most studies had an unclear bias and included few studies. More studies are needed to support this in the future.Systematic review registrationwww.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=304061, identifier: 304061.

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