Damage To Vocal Cords Possibly Causes Long-Term COVID Symptoms, Researchers Say
Researchers say nerve damage to vocal cords could be the reason some patients recovering from COVID-19 are experiencing mysterious bouts of shortness of breath after they shook off the COVID-19 infection.
The main function of the vocal cords is to constrict across the airway as individual talks, vibrating in the air, and moving past to create the voice's sound. When one is not talking, his vocal cords retract to enable the air to flow more freely into the lungs.
However, according to ear and throat specialist Dr. Jonathan Aviv, from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, in some patients, COVID-19 seems to impair the nerve that regulates speech, leading their vocal cords to block breathing even where they are not talking.
"Think about when you're chit-chatting," explained Dr. Aviv and continued, "Imagine if they didn't open," after the third or fourth sentence, and an individual would feel short of breath. This means, the doctor also explained, the airway is closed.
The expert shared the good news, though, that this sort of a problem with breathing can be treated easily through a common technique in speech therapy.
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Doctors have been confused by occasional COVID-19 patients who continue experiencing shortness of breath.
Successful Treatment
In a recent study published in the International Journal of Pulmonary & Respiratory Sciences, Dr. Aviv and his colleagues shared they were able to successfully treat around 18 COVID-19 patients through the use of a "combined speech therapy and diet modification."
Diet modification means, the study authors explained in their work, which means avoiding foods that might aggravate the nerve irritation.
Describing their study finding, Aviv said, all patients address their shortness of breath. "You can see it when they come back," he elaborated, the patients' vocal cords are now normally functioning.
The ear and throat specialist also explained, the vagus nerve runs from the brain and regulates "voice, swallowing, coughing and breathing." Past studies have shown that an injury in the vagus nerve can lead the vocal cords to fail to retract, blocking the flow of air.
"If the vagus has been towel-snapped by a virus," Aviv continued explaining, it is not going to function as it has used to, and one of the indicators is shortness of breath, "with or without cough."
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Use of a Tiny Camera
According to Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic pulmonologist, Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, doctors have been confused by occasional COVID-19 patients who continue experiencing shortness of breath. However, the inflammation resulting from the viral infection has disappeared, and imaging scans did not show any lasting lung injury.
He added they are seeing "a bunch of people that have normal breathing tests and are not responding to asthma inhalers." These people, he added, have got real symptoms although their test result is normal.
To determine if vocal cords might be responsible for the symptom, the study investigators ran a tiny camera which, reports on the finding describe as "smaller than a shoelace" down the 18 COVID-19 long-haulers' noses so that they could get a closer view of their airway. As a result, the camera showcased the vocal cords of people were failing to properly pull back.
Specifically, Aviv explained, this kind of vocal cord disorder is treated through "respiratory training," a series of exercises developed to improve the respiratory muscles' function.
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Nov 04, 2020 11:00 AM EST
