BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr is once again making headlines for his anti-vax stances, which he attempted to suppress during his campaigns. The environmental lawyer recently appeared on 'The Joe Rogan Experience' podcast where he repeated several disproven statements that he had made as head of the anti-vaccine charity, Children's Health Defense.
The son of the late Attorney General Robert F Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F Kennedy has been in the public eye since he announced his candidature for the Democratic presidential nomination in April. RFK’s presidential campaign has apparently re-ignited public interest in his personal life and rare voice disorder. As per reports, Kennedy suffers from a rare voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, a specific form of an involuntary movement disorder called dystonia that affects only the voice box. The condition is not a life-threatening illness but it can certainly affect one's quality of life.
What is spasmodic dysphonia?
Spasmodic dysphonia is an exceedingly rare condition, which only affects one in 100,000, according to Cleveland Clinic estimates. The condition affects the functioning of the larynx's muscles, sometimes referred to as the voice box, by preventing the vocal cords from vibrating in a way that results in a typical speech pattern. As per a report by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, spasmodic dysphonia "causes voice breaks during speaking and can make the voice sound tight, strained, or breathy." “In more severe cases, spasms may occur on every word, making a person’s speech very difficult to understand,” the report further states, according to Washington Examiner.
According to NIDCD, the disease is "thought to be caused by abnormal functioning in an area of the brain called the basal ganglia," which regulates language and muscle movement. Basal ganglia function can be affected by strokes and drug usage, which Kennedy began at the age of 14. RFK Jr's voice started to shift in the late 1990s, as seen by time-lapse films of his public appearances. Talking about his disorder, the democrat previously revealed that the condition didn’t him until he was in his forties. “The disease didn’t hit me until I was about 43,” Kennedy told Oprah Winfrey in an interview in 2007, widely cited as the first time he publicly discussed his disorder.
'Look at this friggin' crybaby'
At the time, Kennedy noted “it is an effort” to speak despite it not being physically painful. “It began as a mild tremble for a couple of years. After people would hear me speak, I'd get all these letters, almost always from women: 'I saw you on TV and you were crying—it was so good seeing a man share his feelings!' I'd think, Oh God. I knew for every woman who wrote, there were ten men saying, "Look at this friggin' crybaby!" he continued. Kennedy continued by opening up about receiving Botox injections to lessen the disorder's effects. “I've been told that it's not supposed to, but I think it has. There's a treatment for it: Botox shots. They put a needle into your voice box every four months. They still haven't gotten my dose right,” he said.
