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Bonnie Cunningham makes a strong case for the prevalent opinion that excess saliva is caused by less swallowing. I appreciate her effort. I would like to clear up a point. If I may quote myself: >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. The swallowing problems I refer to are those in which food, instead of going down the esophagus, goes down the breathing passages. This was the case in one of those I mentioned. It led to pneumonia and untimely death of the PWP involved. There was no difficulty swallowing saliva. The flow was simply overpowering, as it is in others I have seen. One of those is solving the problem by carrying small towels along. Saliva production can vary strongly. It can be influenced by mental processes as it was in my own case with the dentist. Thinking about delicious food can "set the juices flowing". Where else would this expression come from? For myself, I remain convinced that there could well be a connection with the speech problems that are often associated with the palidotomy procedure and the abnormal flow of saliva. In other words, the operation which affected speech, also affected the control of the saliva glands. The simple solution of less swallowing is too easy for me and does not agree with my observations. Will A. Kuipers Dallas, Texas 78 / 72 / 71 <[log in to unmask]>