The total indirect and direct cost of epilepsy in the United States is estimated to be $15.5 billion yearly. This estimate is based on a reported cost of $12.5 billion in 1995 converted to 2004 dollar value using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 4.
Many patients with adductor type spasmodic dysphonia complain of physical fatigue, tightness of the neck, back, and shoulder muscles and shortness of breath due to their efforts to phonate through the closed glottis. The severity of the symptoms of adductor spasmodic dysphonia varies within and among individuals.
Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological disorder affecting the voice muscles in the larynx, or voice box. When we speak, air from the lungs is pushed between two elastic structuresâcalled vocal folds or vocal cordsâwith sufficient pressure to cause them to vibrate, producing voice (see figure).