People with swallowing problems are often encouraged to eat foods that are easy to swallow, such as soup. (Larry Crowe/Associated Press)

Researchers in southwestern Ontario are trying to determine if chewing gum will ease swallowing problems among people with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's is a degenerative nerve disease that affects more than 100,000 Canadians, and can cause swallowing difficulty as the disease progresses, according to the Parkinson Society Canada.

That's because Parkinson's symptoms such as tremor, stiffness and slow movements can affect the mechanisms used in speaking and swallowing, said neurologist and researcher Dr. Mandar Jog of the London Health Sciences Centre.

Early research points to improved swallowing among Parkinson's patients who chew gum several hours a day.

Mouth exercise

Chewing is a form of exercise for the mouth. The researchers think that having gum in the mouth and chewing it may help to train Parkinson's patients to also move their tongues while eating and swallowing.

"Gum acts like sensory cue to train the system," said Jog, who is also director of the Movement Disorders Centre.

Other types of training have helped people with Parkinson's. For example, when lights are placed in front of patients, the visual cue seems to help them improve their gait, Jog said.

Now the team is investigating how long the benefits of gum chewing last.

"We have patients regularly coming back to the clinic that are remarkably better at swallowing."

Jog and speech pathologists Angie South and Stephanie Somers are conducting a year-long pilot project to learn more about how chewing gum may help improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson's.

Study expands

This week, the team received a $31,500 grant from Parkinson Society Canada to extend their study to 40 patients from 20.

Participants will receive a full assessment of their swallowing before and after they start chewing gum. They'll use the gum on their own time at home before meals.

Chewing gum to exercise the mouth doesn't involve any extra hardware and is socially acceptable, which should help with compliance, Jog said.

Since the concept has already been shown, there's no reason patients couldn't start trying it now, as long as they are aware of what's happening to them, aren't bedridden and choking isn't a concern, he said.

The initial results have been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

The Parkinson society also awarded grants for studies looking at:

• The difference between the neurological, cognitive, functional and biomechanical problems caused by Parkinson's disease, and how patients perceive those deficits.
• The structure of a mutated protein, called parkin, that is involved in a form of juvenile Parkinson's.