WEIRD SCIENCE

IT COULD be the only medical condition one may wish upon an irritating partner: sudden speechlessness.

But this bizarre symptom may be a sign of a nutrient deficiency, as one 29-year-old Dutchman found last year. Tests at Amsterdam’s University Medical Centre revealed he was suffering from a severe deficiency in calcium, which is found in milk and cheese. This had caused temporary paralysis in the muscles in his throat and voice box.

The man was treated with intravenous calcium, followed by supplements, and within two months his voice returned.