- With Mayo Clinic emeritus internist
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Dr. Edward Rosenow III sees a natural link between the Information Age and health care as a way to promote better health. Dr. Rosenow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, is board certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease and worked in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He retired from clinical practice in 1996 after 30 years' service at Mayo Clinic.
"It has always been my feeling that the better informed the patient is about his or her body and its functions, the better the patient-physician partnership," he says. "The informed patient is in turn more compliant with the physician's recommendations and better able to make intelligent decisions about health care needs."
Dr. Rosenow is a former Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray Professor of Medicine and former chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He was also president of the American College of Chest Physicians, consultant to NASA on the Space Station Freedom project, president of the Mayo Clinic staff, a regent with the American College of Chest Physicians and program director of the internal medicine residency program at Mayo Clinic.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Rosenow was a five-time Teacher of the Year in internal medicine and inducted into the Mayo Fellows Hall of Fame of Outstanding Teachers.
In 1994, he won the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award from Mayo Clinic staff and in 1995 was honored with the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award for Lifetime Dedication to Patient Care by the American College of Physicians. He was named to a mastership by the American College of Physicians in 1998 and that year also won the Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is also a Master Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. In 2008, a professorship was established in his name — the Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., Mayo Professorship in the Art of Medicine.
Dr. Rosenow has contributed to 156 publications, including 48 book chapters and one co-authored book.
Symptoms (1)
- GERD: Can certain medications increase severity?
Causes (1)
- Acid reflux and GERD: The same thing?
Complications (1)
- Laryngospasm: What causes it?
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Question
Laryngospasm: What causes it?
What causes laryngospasm?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Laryngospasm is a brief spasm of the vocal cords that temporarily makes it difficult to speak or breathe. Often the cause can't be determined. But laryngospasm can be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Laryngospasm can occur when stomach juices are pushed up your throat so that they come in contact with your vocal cords.
Laryngospasm happens suddenly and causes great difficulty breathing through the upper airways in your voice box (larynx). Laryngospasm also makes it difficult to speak. Though laryngospasm can be frightening, your vocal cords eventually relax without causing serious problems.
There's no effective medication to relax the vocal cords more quickly. However, sitting down and trying to relax your whole body during an episode may speed recovery.
If GERD is the cause of laryngospasms, treatment of GERD may reduce the number and severity of episodes.
Next questionGERD: Can certain medications increase severity?
- Hicks M, et al. Vocal cord dysfunction/paradoxical vocal fold motion. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice. 2008;35:81.
- Poelmans J, et al. Extraoesophageal manifestations of gastro-oesophageal reflux. Gut. 2005;54:1492.
- Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Oct. 13, 2009.
