Ask An Expert: Asthma and Voice

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Ask An Expert: Asthma and Voice

Question:

Does asthma have any effect on the voice, such as making it breathy or unclear, or making it more difficult to produce sounds?

Answer:

Asthma may affect the quality and volume of a person's voice, especially if the asthma is not well controlled.

However, when a voice change is the main symptom, asthma may not be the problem, but rather the medications used to treat the asthma. For example, corticosteroid inhalers can cause an overgrowth of yeast in the mouth and on the vocal cords if the mouth isn't rinsed often enough.

Many people with asthma also have allergic rhinitis and nasal congestion. Breathing through the mouth because of a stuffed nose often results in a very dry mouth and throat. Drugs to treat a stuffy nose can cause dryness, too. This is a common reason for a voice change, even in people who don't have asthma.

Another possibility is that the problem isn't from asthma but is a problem with the vocal cords, called vocal cord dysfunction. People with vocal cord dysfunction can have symptoms similar to those of asthma, such as wheezing and shortness of breath. Normally, our vocal cords stay open when we breathe, unless we are talking. With vocal cord dysfunction, the vocal cords close when they shouldn't, especially when breathing in.

Howard LeWine, M.D., is chief editor of Internet Publishing at Harvard Health Publications. He is recognized as an outstanding clinician and teacher and is a recipient of the Internal Medicine Teacher of the Year award at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. LeWine continues to practice Internal Medicine; most recently he became a hospitalist after practicing primary care for over 20 years.

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Last updated:	January 24, 2007