Vocal Cord Tear Silences R&B Singer Frank Ocean

Image by Fred von Lohmann from Wikipedia On July 25, 2013, R&B singer Frank Ocean was forced to cancel his entire Australian concert tour due to a small vocal cord tear. After singing his opening night with a sore throat during which he reportedly sounded "noticeably off-key," he seeked medical attention and was informed of the unfortunate condition of his vocal cord. Listening to his voice on this YouTube video recorded during this fateful concert, his voice actually doe…

7/27/2013 0

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Google CEO Larry Page Suffers from Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis

Image by Marcin Mycielski from Wikipedia Over the past year, there has been concern over the health of Google CEO Larry Page after missing a few important meetings and having a hoarse voice that is unusually soft and prolonged. Apparently, it's because he suffers from bilateral vocal cord paralysis . [ link ] He initially suffered from a unilateral vocal cord paralysis at the age of 14 years old. At that time, his left vocal cord became paralyzed after a viral URI . Beyond a viral…

5/14/2013 0

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What to Do and Care After Vocal Cord Surgery

When surgery is performed on the vocal cords, there are some very specific after-care that is required to allow for optimal healing. In order to understand the "why" such post-operative care is required, one must first understand how the vocal cords normally work. If you already know, just skip down to the bottom. The vocal cords are arranged in the shape of a "V". When breathing, the vocal cords are open to allow air to pass through and down into the windpipe. When talki…

2/17/2013 54

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Julie Andrews and Her "Botched Throat Surgery"

It has already been well-publicized that the former singing sensation Julie Andrews underwent some type of throat surgery in 1997 after which she never regained her phenomenal 4-octave voice thus relegating her to more conventional roles of being an actress without the singing. This "botched throat surgery" per Julie Andrews lead to a lawsuit that was ultimately settled . It is unknown precisely what type of (presumed) vocal cord pathology was present as well as what type of su…

12/13/2012 1

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Congressman Putney with Vocal Cord Cancer

Media has reported that Congressman Lacey Putney, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee in the House of Delegates, has early stage vocal cord cancer. He is currently undergoing radiation therapy which has a high chance of cure with relatively minimal side effects along with voice preservation. My suspicion is that he is suffering from squamous cell carcinoma which is the most common type of vocal cord cancer. Though radiation therapy is a common form of treatment for this typ…

8/19/2012 0

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Stem Cells Restore Toddler's Congenital Hearing Loss

In a potentially revolutionary treatment, a two years old toddler born deaf has had her hearing restored after receiving stem cells from her banked umbilical cord blood. (Reported in ABC News ) Madeline Connor at age 1 year old was completely deaf in the right ear and had severe hearing loss on the left. Normally hearing aids or cochlear implant would have been the only options. However, in January 2012 at the age of 2 years old, Madeline underwent a "simple" experiment w…

7/11/2012 0

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