INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Pychinka lived on a feeding tube for nine months because he was not able to swallow foods or liquids.

Chemotherapy and radiation to treat neck cancer severely weakened his throat muscles.

"It was harrowing," the 62-year-old retired educator said.

Pychinka suffered from dysphagia, a potentially fatal swallowing disorder that affects 15 million people.

Symptoms can range from mild discomfort, including coughing during or after swallowing, to a complete inability to swallow.

Some patients develop aspiration pneumonia, where food or saliva go down the wind pipe and into the lungs. It's one of the leading causes of death among older people.

Susan Michel-Dant, a clinical speech pathologist with St. Vincent Rehabilitation Services, called dysphagia "a misunderstood and underdiagnosed medical condition."

She told Matthews nearly 75 percent of stroke survivors develop dysphagia.

It can also occur following meningitis, traumatic head or spinal cord injury and radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.

A new treatment called VitalStim therapy uses a small current passed through electrodes placed on the neck to stimulate and retrain muscles and allow a patient to eat and drink again.

VitalStim therapy, the only neuromuscular electrical stimulation approved by the FDA to treat dysphagia, must be prescribed by a physician and requires several therapy sessions to restore swallowing.

"The first time I was able to drink a little soda and eat some basic food, it was unbelievable," Pychinka said. "And when I sit down and eat I watch other people eat, because they eat so quickly. Now it takes a little bit longer but it certainly is much more fulfilling."