Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Catherine Falls Commercial
Topics: Cancer, Health, Science, Social Media
Britt Jones
Topics: Cancer, Health, Science, Social Media
If you were told to continuously swallow within 30 seconds, how well do you think you’d do at the challenge?
A lot of us might believe that we can ace it, and probably get around 15 or more in, after all, it’s just swallowing.
But without liquids, it might be a little harder to accomplish.
Ok, so maybe we can do 10 without liquid, surely?
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Mmm…You’re going to be shocked at the real answer.
According to doctors, there is a number you should be able to reach, and if not, you could have a deadly condition.
If you find that you’re struggling to swallow when undertaking the challenge, you might have dysphagia, a condition which just means that you have ‘difficulty swallowing’.
While this isn’t deadly, it ‘is a symptom of many different medical conditions’ as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Any one of those conditions could be serious, so let’s get into the study and the results of how many times the average person should be able to swallow.
In the largest study of its kind, docs found the base number of swallows which means that a person is healthy, varies from age groups.
Using the Repetitive Saliva Swallow Test, which allows them to diagnose a person with dysphagia, they make a person swallow as many times as possible without the aid of food or liquids for thirty seconds.
What they found was that anyone from between 20 to 39 should be able to swallow around 8.5 times in 30 seconds, those in their 40s should be able to swallow eight times, and those in their 50s should be able to complete seven swallows.
For those in their 60s, they should be able to complete just under seven swallows (6.7), those in their 70s should do six and patients in their 80s should be able be able to do just over four swallows (4.3) within the time limit.
But what if they can’t?
For those who cannot complete the number of swallows listed for their age range might have serious health problems that can cause dysphagia such as lung disease and even types of cancers.
The researchers said: “This finding reinforces the necessity for a more comprehensive exploration of the validity of the established cutoff values within the oldest old age group.”
If you struggle with the test, it could indicate that you have one of these conditions: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain tumors, cerebral palsy, dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), parkinson’s disease, GERD, a muscle disease, or cancer.
One person who tried this out and found that he just couldn’t swallow as he was meant to was a TikToker called Jesse Beharrell.
He took to his page to claim that you 'can only swallow two to three times before your body forces you to stop'.
He continued: "Go on, try it, let me know how many times you can do it."
So, let’s try it.
I managed nine - sorry, Jesse.
Although, it's important to note that we shouldn't go around self-diagnosing and if you do have trouble swallowing and think it could be telling of something more, go to your doctor get checked out.