2024-08-24 01:11:36
The sound of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s voice has made headlines due to his recent participation in the presidential candidacy. What is behind it?
Robert F. Kennedy Junior, nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Robert F. Kennedy, has entered the race for the US presidency. The 70-year-old not only stands out for his controversial content in his speeches, but also for his voice, which sounds creaky and strained.
The reason: As Kennedy Jr. himself explained, he suffers from spasmodic dysphonia, a disorder of the vocal cords that affects the sound of the voice. What causes it, how the disorder manifests itself and what treatment can help those affected.
People suffering from spasmodic dysphonia experience a spasmodic tension in the muscles involved in voice production when speaking. This leads to a very typical change in the sound of the voice.
The severity of the disease ranges from mild forms, which manifest themselves in the voice “getting stuck” and thus disrupting the flow of speech, to the most severe forms, which make verbal communication impossible for the affected person.
The exact cause of the disease is not known. Doctors assume that it has a neurological origin and could be due to a disturbance in the regulation of unconscious motor skills in the central nervous system. This leads to the nerves that control vocal cord movements becoming over-excited and the corresponding muscle movement occurring with too much force.
The cause of the voice disorder cannot be cured or treated. Therapy aims to alleviate the symptoms, i.e. reduce muscle spasms and improve the quality of the voice. This can be achieved with injections of botulinum toxin (Botox). The neurotoxin is injected into the larynx muscles. The effect is only temporary, however, and the injection must be repeated after the effect has worn off, usually at intervals of several months.