Which term describes difficulty swallowing?

• A. Edema
• B. Dysphagia
• C. Essential Nutrients
• D. Gastrostomy (G-Tube)

Answer: (B)

Dysphagia is the term for difficulty swallowing. It describes trouble moving food or liquids from the mouth through the throat and into the esophagus, which can occur for different reasons such as nerve or muscle problems, structural narrowing, or aging. Understanding this helps you connect why someone might have coughing, a sensation of food sticking, or repeated choking during meals—the swallowing process has several coordinated stages: the mouth prepares the food, the pharyngeal phase triggers the swallow, and the esophageal phase moves the bolus downward.

Edema refers to swollen tissue from fluid buildup, which is not the term for the swallowing problem itself, although swelling in the throat could affect swallowing indirectly. Essential nutrients are substances the body needs to function, not a description of swallowing difficulty. A gastrostomy tube, or G-tube, is a feeding tube used when swallowing is unsafe or impossible, but it describes a solution rather than the term for the difficulty.