Well, hello there and welcome back to the RooCaus Medicine podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Kate Kresgey, and today we're talking about something that we all use,

but might not often think about as clinical data, the voice.

Now, voice issues are incredibly common.

In fact, estimates suggest about one-third of adults will experience dysphonia, meaning a significant

voice problem at some point in their lifetimes.

And yet in clinical settings, things like hoarseness, throat clearing, chronic cough, vocal fatigue,

they can still get treated like anti-symptoms without stepping back to ask what the voice

might be revealing about the whole system.

That's where my guest comes in.

Dr. Linda Dahl, she's an otolaryngologist and voice specialist in Midtown Manhattan, and

she's known for working with high performing voice users, including Broadway performers.

But what I love about Dr. Dahl is that she doesn't just treat the voice like a single issue.

She treats it like a window into the whole person and how she can help someone thrive overall.

And that ends up getting her phenomenal results.

In this conversation, we unpack things like why reflux is often misunderstood and mistreated in voice complaints.

Why silent reflux might be an unhelpful label.

And how clinicians can think more broadly about mucosal inflammation across the nose,

throat, lungs, and GI tract to help their clients get to their healthiest voice.

We'll also explore the role of the microbiome, diet patterns that may contribute to irritation,

and how hormones from the menstrual cycle to menopause can meaningfully change vocal performance.

Then we'll go beyond the local anatomy into the body's software, stress physiology,

...