Inside STAT: The vodka trial: In search of a treatment for vocal disorders

(ALEX HOGAN/STAT)

To Karen Feeley, treatment for her speech disorder is like getting a toothpick pushed into her Adam's apple. She needs that painful shot of Botox into her vocal cords to help with laryngeal dystonia, a mysterious condition that causes the cords to move involuntarily, creating breaks in words and delays in speech. Although the effects only last a few months, these injections are among the best available therapies. But last April, Feeley traveled to Boston to test the effects of a different sort of medicine: two shots of vodka. Dr. Kristina Simonyan, the otolaryngologist behind the trial, had heard anecdotes from patients claiming their laryngeal dystonia symptoms improved with alcohol. Now, she wanted to see if she could turn that into a safe and reliable treatment. STAT's Eric Boodman has more here.