4. Laura Critchley
LAST April, Laura Critchley stood before thousands of pop fans at Wembley Arena in London as they waited for her to sing. But as she opened her mouth, she discovered that she had lost her voice. The singer, whose distinctive voice has won plaudits from Mika and Rod Stewart, was supporting the chart-topping Sugababes on tour. It was her first big break. But with her voice just a hoarse whisper, she had to mime her way through her five songs. ‘I felt a total fraud — I’d always hated other artists who mimed, and here I was in front of 10,000 fans doing exactly that,’ says Laura, 23. ‘It really made me question whether I had it in me to perform like this.’
In fact, the singer’s nightmare was caused by an increasingly common health problem thought to affect at least one in ten Britons, although many go undiagnosed. Laura was suffering from severe acid reflux which had ‘burnt’ her vocal cords.
Reflux occurs when the acid in the stomach, which is secreted to break down food, leaks back up the oesophagus (the gullet). The sphincter, the band of muscle that sits between the oesophagus and stomach, is meant to tighten after food has passed through. But increased pressure in the stomach can force this open (reflux is common during pregnancy and in overweight people). Doctors believe she may have suffered from GERD for years but didn’t know it because she didn’t have any other obvious symptoms. Treatment involved medication and resting her voice, and she was able to resume her career, which has included touring with Tom Jones.