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Dear Will: According to everything that I've read and have heard in conferences, (I've read and heard Dr. Abraham Lieberman, specifically, address this topic), Kathrynne is correct when she stated that Parkinson's does not cause excessive salivation. As a matter of fact, she is right on target that the saliva does indeed pool under the tongue. Normally, throughout the day, we all subconsciously swallow at regular intervals. In those with PD, due to the increased incidence of swallowing difficulties, the tendency is not to swallow as frequently, therefore leading to a build up of saliva. When you mentioned post pallidotomy speech and swallowing problems in relation to "excessive saliva" (drooling), it reinforces this concept. With post-operative swallowing difficulties, there may appear to be an increase in saliva, however, once again, it is the decrease in the automatic swallowing. The good news is that there are certain 'exercises' that can be done to help this problem and a Speech Pathologist can show you those exercises. An excessive secretion of saliva is called 'ptyalism' and according to Taber's medical dictionary there are several conditions in which this can occur. It also can be caused by some medications (Taber's mentions mercury, iodides and pilocarpine). I know that for so many people, drooling is quite a problem. In Dr. Lieberman's book (Parkinson's Disease - The Complete Gude for Patients and Caregivers), he suggests that during the day sucking on a hard piece of candy will help as it will force the person to "remember" to swallow. He also suggests that for those who are in advanced stages of PD with this problem, that their caregivers periodically remove the saliva with a bulb syringe. Also the suggestion is made to have the person sleep on their side so that they will not have a choking episode. Warm Regards, Bonnie Cunningham NPF For once I beg to differ with your esteemed opinion. Since childhood I have experienced periods of increased saliva production. This is usually brought about by some reason, like biting into a delicious piece of food. It used to be so strong that on opening my mouth saliva would come out in a spray. Another occasion would be a visit to the dentist where the saliva production could be awkward and probably was psychosomatically induced. In those cases there was a real cause of increased saliva production and not a sudden cessation of swallowing. I have known several PWP's, who had undergone palidotomies and developed excessive saliva production as an aftereffect of the operation, along with speech and swallowing problems. I cannot go along with the explanation that the drooling these people exhibited was just caused by a sudden diminishing of swallowing and I don't understand that so many neuro's and other experts seize on the easy explanation. I wonder if there are more people that take issue with this. Will A. Kuipers Dallas, Texas 78 / 71 / 70 <[log in to unmask]>