In the past year, Google CEO Larry Page's voice has grown softer.
Today on Google+, he opened up about the vocal condition that caused his voice to change.
His vocal cords now have paralyzed nerves, so they do not move properly.
He says that his doctors don't really understand what happened to his vocal cords.
So, he started to do some research on his own. The vocal cord nerves run through the thyroid, so he started looking there for answers.
In 2003, Page was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. He describes it as a "fairly common benign inflammatory condition of the thyroid which causes me no problems."
He really downplayed Hashimoto's role in his letter. But, he did include it, which suggests its something he's thinking about.
What is Hashimoto's thyroiditis?
According to Wikipedia, it's "an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is attacked by a variety of cell and antibody-mediated immune processes."
The disease was first described in 1912 by Japanese specialist, Hakaru Hashimoto.
The symptoms are a little jarring (as come with any thyroid disease) and can include (also from Wikipedia):
- Weight gain
- Depression
- Manias
- Sensitivity to hot and cold
- Chronic fatigue
- Panic attacks
- High cholesterol
- Migraines
- Muscle weakness
- Memory loss
- Vision problems, infertility and hair loss
But Page insists the disease hasn't caused him any issues. He says his co-founder, Sergey Brin, spins his faulty vocal cords as a positive.
"Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully," writes Page. "So surprisingly, overall I am feeling very lucky."
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