Editing Choking (section)

==Causes==
[[File:Illu conducting passages.svg|thumb|Respiratory tract|285x285px]]
Choking occurs when a [[foreign body]] blocks the airway.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Committee on Injury|first=Violence|date=2010-03-01|title=Prevention of Choking Among Children|journal=Pediatrics|language=en|volume=125|issue=3|pages=601–607|doi=10.1542/peds.2009-2862|issn=0031-4005|pmid=20176668|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":02" /> This obstruction can be located in the [[pharynx]], the [[larynx]], [[trachea]], or lower respiratory tract.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=2172|title=Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Emergency Medicine |author=Dominic Lucia |author2=Jared Glenn |publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2008|isbn=978-0-07-184061-3|location=New York}}</ref> The blockage can be either partial (insufficient air passes through to the lungs) or complete (complete blockage of airflow).<ref name=":1" />

Foods that are small, round, or hard pose a high risk of choking. Examples include hard candy, chunks of cheese or hot dogs, nuts, grapes, marshmallows, and popcorn.<ref name=":0" />

Among children, the most common causes of choking are food, coins, toys, and balloons.<ref name=":0" /> In one study, peanuts were the most common object found in the airway of children evaluated for suspected [[foreign body aspiration]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yadav|first1=S. P.|last2=Singh|first2=J.|last3=Aggarwal|first3=N.|last4=Goel|first4=A.|date=September 2007|title=Airway foreign bodies in children: experience of 132 cases|journal=Singapore Medical Journal|volume=48|issue=9|pages=850–853|issn=0037-5675|pmid=17728968}}</ref> Small, round non-food objects such as balls, marbles, toys, and toy parts are also associated with a high risk of choking death because of the potential to completely block a child's airway.<ref name=":0" /> Children younger than age three are especially at risk of choking due to lack of fully developed chewing habits, and the tendency to insert object in their mouth as they explore the environment.<ref name=":0" /> Because a child's airway is smaller in [[diameter]] than that of an adult's, smaller objects can more often cause airway obstruction in children. Additionally, infants and young children generate a less forceful cough than adults, so coughing may not be as effective in relieving airway obstruction.<ref name=":0" />

Risk factors of foreign body airway obstruction for people of any age include the use of alcohol or [[sedative]]s, procedures involving the [[Human mouth|oral cavity]] or [[pharynx]], oral appliances, or medical conditions that cause difficulty swallowing or impair the [[cough reflex]].<ref name=":02" /> Conditions that can cause difficulty swallowing and/or impaired coughing include neurological conditions such as stroke, [[Alzheimer's disease]], or [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boyd|first1=Michael|last2=Chatterjee|first2=Arjun|last3=Chiles|first3=Caroline|last4=Chin|first4=Robert|title=Tracheobronchial Foreign Body Aspiration in Adults|journal=Southern Medical Journal|language=en-US|volume=102|issue=2|pages=171–174|doi=10.1097/smj.0b013e318193c9c8|pmid=19139679|year=2009|s2cid=5401129}}</ref> In older adults, risk factors also include living alone, wearing [[dentures]], and having difficulty swallowing.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/298940-overview?pa=O5pzXnIQmp0HSYIjLAN2mYVvrJsEmBNyNHtRnP9znPLPzn2yYsFObfV518L8UVs0Bov2jwgwzAu4eLRPOzK6WiwhCTQq25Ki1mL6i64Z7Vg%3D|title=Foreign Body Aspiration|last=Warshawsky|first=Martin|date=31 December 2015|website=Medscape|access-date=1 December 2017}}</ref> Children and adults with neurological, cognitive, or psychiatric disorders are at an increased risk of choking<ref name=":0" /> and may experience a delay in diagnosis because there may not be a known history of a foreign body entering the airway.<ref name=":02" />

Choking on food is only one type of [[airway obstruction]]; others include blockage due to tumors, swelling and inflammation of the airway tissues (from organic foreign bodies or another reason), and compression of the [[laryngopharynx]], [[larynx]], or [[vertebrate trachea]] in [[strangulation]]. Foreign bodies can also enter the reparatory tract through the chest wall, such as in the setting of a gunshot injury.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Airway foreign bodies in adults |url=https://www.uptodate.com/contents/airway-foreign-bodies-in-adults |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=UptoDate}}</ref>