[The Voice and menopause: the twilight of the divas]

The larynx is an hormonal target. Tone of the voice depends on the fact that there is or there is not male hormones, or on the presence of female hormones? At menopause, estrogens and gestagens may fade, and androgens may appear. Both are in harmony. But does the fact that estro-progestative hormones disappear at menopause allow androgenic action? Often androgens can be converted in estrogen and estron-sulfate. The voice, then, may stay feminine. Otherwise, the androgenic effects will affect the striated muscles of the vocal fold, the thickness of the stratified epithelium and the strength of the larynx. Of 100 women, our study has shown that 17 had a menopausal voice syndrome with lack of intensity, a voice fatigue, a narrow register. The hormonal replacement treatment is the treatment for voice professional. The singing voice, the speaking voice recover. For each woman, the specific treatment has to be adapted with vitamins and hormonal therapy to preserve the harmony of the voice and the being.