S2 Ep94: HORMONES and the VOICE

Have you ever wondered why so many women professional singers retire in their prime, but the guys keep on going?  I googled “musicians over the age of 70 who are still performing” and Paul McCartney, Elton John, Marvin Gaye,  Mick Jagger, and dozens of others popped up. The list was really long for guys, and really short for women. 
One reason is that when estrogen levels take a plunge, the change in hormones has a significant impact on vocal frequency and range. In this episode, my guest is Dr. Cheryl Kinney, an expert on the impact of hormones on the voice.  




How estrogen and progesterone influence voice throughout life
Why testosterone lowers the voice
Why thousands of boys were castrated in the 1700s
How voice changes during a menstrual cycle
Why some birth control pills alter voice
What the cervix and throat have in common 
The impact of menopause on the voice
The impact on professional vocalists and voice-over actors.
How and why obesity influences hormonal impact on voice
Medical conditions and specific medications that alter voice
How to find a specialist who treats hormonal vocal changes
New research showing that voice changes can be a biomarker for hormonal changes and other health conditions



About Dr. Kinney
www.drcherylkinney.com

Dr. Cheryl Kinney is a gynecologist in in Dallas, Texas where she is Director of the Center for Female Health and Hormone Disorders.  Dr. Kinney is on the Board of Trustees of The Menopause Society and is on the Editorial Board of the journal Menopause. Dr. Kinney also serves on committees for the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. In addition to her expertise regarding menopause on health and sickness in the novels of Jane Austen and other 18th and 19th-century British authors. 


Lauren Streicher, MD is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. She is a certified menopause practitioner of the North American Menopause Society. 

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Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine. 

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Books by Lauren Streicher, MD

 Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain

Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat

Sex Rx- Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever

The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy