Tablets and capsules are extremely hard to take for large numbers of people. Dysphagia is a condition which has an effect on all age ranges though it is a lot more common in the very young as well as the very old. Up to 1/3 of occupants in care homes are afflicted by Dysphagia which makes looking after their health and well being a much more challenging task. Dysphagia may have a serious effect on a patient’s health because it can interfere with medication management if the patient cannot or won’t take medication in capsule form. Furthermore there’s a danger that capsules ingested orally might cause choking or a obstruction of the airway. There’s also a chance that pills and tablets may become lodged in the throat which can cause damage of the throat and the incorrect dispersal of the drug. difficulty in swalloging The most popular and common way of coping with Dysphagia is tablet crushing to ensure they are more palatable and a lot easier to swallow. However whilst tablet crushing may seem like the most obvious answer it can make a medicine taken using this method much less effective which can lead to problems for the patient. Quite a few tablets have a sugar coating on them to make them taste more enjoyable and although crushing them will not have any kind of effect on the efficiancy of the pill it may make them taste really unpleasant. Pills that have an enteric coating should really never be crushed before they are used as the coating is designed to keep the pill together in the stomach to either; protect the stomach from the medication, protect the medicine from the stomach or to release the medicine after it has left the stomach. Fortunately there is now an alternative for those who are afflicted by Dysphagia and also the people that care for them. The benefit of liquid medications when dealing with patients with Dysphagia is being recognised by the healthcare community and has led to calls for a wider variety of liquid medicines to be developed. Oral liquid medicine is produced to deal with an array of ailments and diseases such as those having an effect on the cardio-vascular system as well as the endocrine system and more liquid medicines are being created everyday. Liquid medicines are painless to swallow for those with Dysphagia and are available in a number of enjoyable flavours.