IN 2015, the Zika virus outbreak in Recife, Brazil made international headlines. The Brazilian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization rang the alarm bell because pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus were suspected of giving birth to children with birth defects, most notably, microcephaly. (1, 2)
“A sudden, sharp increase in babies with ‘no foreheads and very strange heads’ was baffling doctors in Brazil. That set off a search for answers that led to a little-known pathogen, the ZIKA virus.” — NY Times, February 6. 2016.
Your voice is not healthy if it doesn’t sound right to you or others. The way the voice sounds is a clue, a symptom to an underlying problem which can be due to many causes; including vocal misuse, smoking, infection, cancer or neurologic (nerve) problems.
We all want a pleasant voice. Hoarseness is an abnormal, unpleasant change in the quality of the voice. It‘s a symptom, not a disease. It can affect the clarity, loudness and/or vocal effort of the individual. It’s a signal of an underlying problem that makes it more difficult to communicate with others. It’s never normal.
Sudden Hearing Loss (SHL) is an alarming medical emergency that is often a medical mystery. It’s devastating to patients and demoralizing for physicians.
One of the things we take for granted is a good voice, one that is strong, easily understood and of good quality. We have a problem when a voice disorder interferes with our ability to communicate personally, with family or friends – or professionally, to earn a living.
In a few seconds, with remarkable confidence, one can tell the sex of a person speaking on the telephone or radio. We can recognize almost immediately the voice of our favorite artist who is singing our favorite song. And in the middle of the night, a mother can tell which child is crying. What’s going on?
Most people would agree that the flu is more troublesome than a cold. Influenza (flu) is a contagious viral infection that targets your nose, throat, larynx and lungs. Flu virus droplets spread through the air when people sneeze, talk or cough. You can also contract the virus by touching a surface with the virus and then touching your nose or mouth.
In 2011, two Louisiana residents died after using a neti pot and tap water. Their deaths were caused by the “brain eating” amoeba N. fowleri. Once the amoeba enters the nose, it travels to the brain and this bacterial infection is almost always fatal. These residents had symptoms similar to meningitis but within a week both were dead.
A cough is a protective reflex that works to clear mucus and foreign matter from the back of the throat, the voice box, windpipe and lungs. Although the cough reflex is there to help us — and often the cough is benign — the sound of a cough can be frightening and for good reason.