World Voice Day - April 16

 When:

• April 16 is the official World Voice Day
• A public seminar on voice health will be held April 17, 5:30-7:30 p.m., at McGill’s New Music Building Rm A-832, 527 Sherbrooke St. W.  For more information:mcgill.ca/scsd/wvd

Why it is important

• Voice disorders affect one in ten adults in their lifetime.
• They often affect people whose work depends critically on voice, such as teachers, coaches, salespeople, politicians, and singers. The singer Adele, for example, cancelled a tour in 2011 because of voice problems, but good treatment allowed her to make a successful comeback.
• Voice problems can lead to loss of employment and depression.

What can be done

• Most problems can be prevented or self-managed.
• Screening for emerging problems in a voice clinic (imaging of vocal cords, sound testing of the voice)
• Good voice habits (modifying and resting one’s voice, drinking water, avoiding dry-air environments…)
• Treatments for major problems range from exercises to injecting a drug into the patient’s throat or other types of surgeries.

The future of voice health

• Researchers are now looking at ways to diagnose some problems using lasers instead of doing biopsy which involves minor surgery.

Potential interviewees

• Dr Karen Kost is a medical doctor and Director of the Voice Clinic at the Montreal General Hospital. She can comment on screening, therapy and what is good “vocal hygiene”.
• Prof Nicole Li, Assistant Professor of Faculty of Medicine at McGill, is in charge of a research lab on voice disorders. She can talk about voice therapy and the research behind that.
• Corina Vincelli is a professional singer and was treated for voice problems at Dr Kost’s clinic.