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Robert F. Kennedy says the cause of what he calls his “terrible” voice is a condition known as spasmodic dysphonia – a neurological disorder that affects your voice and speech. While it is a lifelong condition that causes the muscles that generate a person's voice to go into periods of spasm, RFK has been suffering for almost three decades.

Earlier this year, in an article published in the Los Angeles Times, the current nominee to run the US Department of Health and Human Services said that he “can’t stand” the sound of his voice. “My voice doesn’t get tired,” the 70-year-old continued, “But the injury is neurological, so actually, the more I use the voice, the stronger it tends to get.” He added, “If I could sound better, I would.”

Kennedy said he first noticed his voice change in 1996 when he was 42 years old. Even though he acknowledges that there is no proof that the flu vaccine contributed to his spasmodic dysphonia, Kennedy said he views the vaccine as “at least a potential culprit.”

According to experts, spasmodic dysphonia is a rare speech disorder that affects your vocal cords, making your voice change and sound very different from what it originally was. Your voice may break, sound tight and strained, or very breathy and heavy too.

This disorder also makes it very hard for people to understand what you are saying, can cause anxiousness, and makes you uncomfortable when you are talking, especially in a large group of people. Doctors say there is no cure for spasmodic dysphonia, but there are treatments that ease your symptoms.

Across the United States, spasmodic dysphonia affects around 500,000 people, mostly women, who are more likely to have this condition than men. While it may begin at any age, spasmodic dysphonia usually begins between ages 30 and 60 years.

According to experts, spasmodic dysphonia can completely change how your voice works and sounds. Even though its symptoms develop gradually, those suffering from the condition describe their voices as sounding:

• Breathy, soft, or like they are taking in whispers
• Strained and tight
• Hoarse
• Broken since certain sounds cut off while they are speaking
• Shaky and trembling

What causes spasmodic dysphonia?

Doctors say it is a neurological issue that studies say starts with your basal ganglia - an area of the brain that helps coordinate your body’s movements. While the problem begins to make the muscles in your larynx or voice box - including your vocal cords go into spasms, these tighten the cords, making your voice sound strained.

When your vocal cords come apart, your voice sounds breathy. Experts don’t know what exactly triggers these spasms. However, many studies have also pointed towards genetic traits which makes some people more prone to developing spasmodic dysphonia, and others may have a central nervous system injury that increases the risk of the condition.

Even though RFK has said he was not ruling out the flu vaccine as the cause of his condition, scientists say they do not have any evidence showing a link between the two.

The condition, according to statistics, does not aggravate in those who have taken the flu vaccine.

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