A team of scientists found that children and adolescents who stutter are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in adulthood.
About 80 million people worldwide speak with a stutter (also known as a stutter in many countries), where they have difficulty pronouncing words.
In the new study, the research team followed the lives of more than 866,000 people to see how stuttering affected their long-term health.
Scientists found that people with speech problems were more likely to have high blood sugar levels in adulthood, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
The study revealed that teenage girls who stuttered were 61% more likely to have high blood sugar levels when they grew up.
Meanwhile, teenage boys who stutter are only 18 percent more likely to have high blood sugar in adulthood.
Some scientists believe that this association may be due to shared genetic factors.
Some studies have found that environmental factors, such as childhood trauma, may be linked to both stuttering and type 2 diabetes. Other experts believe it may be due to differences in brain structure.
There is no clear explanation yet for exactly what causes stuttering. However, some studies suggest that the area of the brain responsible for planning and executing our speech works differently in people who stutter.
The study was published in the journal Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews.