The sign in your child’s voice that can give an early indication of killer disease later in life
OUR voices allow us to express lots of different thoughts and feelings.
But they might also offer warning signs that can predict your future health.
Israeli scientists found teens who stammer are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as adults than those who don’t have the speech impediment.
An estimated 80 million people around the world speak with a stammer (also known as a stutter in many countries).
Celebs like Emily Blunt and Tiger Woods have spoken openly about their struggles with the condition.
It usually leaves sufferers knowing what they want to say, but having difficulty saying the words.
Their speech is typically disrupted by repetitions, pauses or stops.
In the new study, published in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, the team followed the lives of more than 866,000 people to find out how stammering affected their long-term health.
The researchers found those with speech issues were significantly more likely to have high blood sugar levels in adulthood, which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Teenage girls who stammer are up to 61 per cent more likely to have high blood sugar levels when they grow up compared to their peers who don’t stutter, it revealed.
Meanwhile, teenage boys who stammer are just 18 per cent more likely to have high blood sugar when they grow up.
The exact reason for the link between stuttering and type 2 diabetes is not yet known.
However, some scientists believe it may be due to shared genetic factors.
Some studies have found that environmental factors, such as childhood trauma, may be associated with both stuttering and type 2 diabetes.
Other experts believe it may be due to differences in brain structure.
There is still no clear explanation of what exactly causes stammering.
However, some research suggests the region of the brain responsible for planning and executing our speech functions differently in those with a stammer.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease which occurs when the level of sugar in your blood is too high.
There are two types, with the main difference being that type 1 diabetes is a genetic condition, with type 2 is linked to lifestyle choices.
But both are as serious as each other and can lead to serious health complications such as sight loss and limb amputations.
Over 90 per cent of the five million people in the UK with diabetes have type 2 – with 850,000 of these undiagnosed.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can include:
- Peeing more than usual
- Feeling thirsty all the time
- Feeling very tired
People from an Asian, Black African or Black Caribbean ethnic background have a higher risk of getting diabetes.
Untreated high glucose levels can lead to long-term damage to blood vessels, nerves and organs.
It is important that type 2 diabetes is spotted as early as possible.
From monotone to husky – all the other things your VOICE can reveal about your future health
The vocal cords are what make the sound of your voice.
These are located in your the larynx, a part of the respiratory system that allows air to pass from your throat to your lungs.
When air passes through the lungs and then the larynx, it causes the vocal cords to vibrate, which produces sound, aka your voice.
Like any part of your body, your vocal cords and the surrounding area can be effected by illness.
And because we use our voices all day, everyday, it can be very obvious when something is wrong.
We spoke to consultant laryngologist and airway surgeon Mr Chadwan Al Yaghchi, to find out what sort of health issues your voice can reveal.
1. Husky voice: HPV
A husky voice in the morning, or after a heavy night, is to expected.
According to the NHS it’s usually a sign of acute laryngitisis (inflammation of the voice box), which happens because of a cold, a chest infection or overusing the voice.
You can usually fix it with some TLC and a few early bedtimes.
But in some cases, a gruff voice can be a sign of something serious, like cancer or HPV.
“Anyone who has a horse of husky voice for other three weeks should see a doctor to get their vocal cords examined,” Mr Chadwan explained.
Chances are, the huskiness will be down to “something benign” like a polyp or nodule on the vocal folds, he said.
These are non-cancerous growths which prevent your vocal cords (also called vocal folds) from vibrating normally. They can be removed through surgery.
“In rarer cases it sign of a serious cancerous growth or HPV,” he added.
Both HPV and cancer also cause growths of the vocal folds.
HPV is sexually transmitted but – because it doesn’t tend to cause symptoms or problems – most people don’t even know they have it.
It can be passed on via oral sex, which is why it can end up in the throat.
There are about 200 different strains of the disease, most of which are harmless and resolve on their own.
In some cases, it can trigger warts or growths, which when in the throat can affect the voice.
But two strains – HPV16 and HPV18 – can trigger cancers, including cancers of the neck like pharyngeal (throat) and laryngeal (voice box).
2. Monotone voice: Parkinson’s disease
A monotone voice can flatten even the most fun topic into something dull.
And make matters worse, a single toned voice can also be a sign of a neurological disease, like Parkinson’s, Mr Chadwan explained.
He said: “This is because movement of the vocal folds is controlled by the brain, so if something goes wrong in the brain the voice is often affected.
“People with the disease are likely to suffer from poor articulation, and soft, breathy, monotone voices.”
Parkinson’s is a condition the causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years.
It’s thought that approximately one in 500 people are affected by the condition.
Exactly what causes the loss of nerve cells is unclear.
But most experts believe that a combination of genetic and environmental factors is responsible.
3. Deep voice: PCOS
Deeper voices are usually associated with men – and there is a scientific reason for this.
“The vocal cords are two bands of muscle, and like all muscles in the body it grows when pumped with the male hormone testosterone,” explains Mr Chadwan.
This means women who suffer from certain hormonal issues like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) also likely to experience a deeper voice, he added.
PCOS is a common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work.
In some women, it can be triggered by hormonal imbalances, like high levels of insulin or androgens (‘male’ hormones).