A new observation by Iowa City doctors points out that usually all vocal cord dysfunction cases are diagnosed as asthma and clubbed together – a misguiding and harmful practice. Their study points out that what your doctor is calling asthma might actually be another form of vocal ailment, caused differently and to be treated differently.
The study was conducted by Dr. Miles M. Weinberger, of the University of Iowa and his team who observed 49 vocal cord dysfunction patients. The period of observation spanned over 13 years and patients were from the age group of 8 to 25 years. 41 of these 49 patients had received a diagnosis of asthma previously by their doctors.
When the researchers conducted medical checkups, they found two different types of vocal cord dysfunctions in the group. One type was the asthma kind which resulted in uneasiness only with exercise, while the other resulted in similar symptoms spontaneously.
Numbers showed that 29 of the group had the exercise related form of vocal cord dysfunction and 16 suffered from spontaneous outbreaks of the symptoms. 4 patients suffered from both types of dysfunctions. Significantly, the researchers highlight that the oral inhaler Atrovent (ipratropium) seemed effective in blocking exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction, but not the other. Weinberger also points out that those who underwent speech therapy with a therapist familiar with their problem found better results than others.
