New stuttering discovery 'may impact on speech therapists'
Thursday 11th February 2010
The way in which speech and language therapists deal with patients who stutter may change thanks to new research conducted by a team at the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in the US.
Scientists working at the centre discovered that almost one in ten cases may be an inherited condition that could respond to treatment with drugs.
Director of the institute James Battey noted that the study - which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine - is the first to pinpoint specific gene mutations as a potential cause of stuttering.
In so doing, the research may dramatically expand the treatment options available, he added.
However, the team behind the findings acknowledged that the "task of joining the dots between genes and stuttering is just beginning".
According to the information posted on Great Ormond Street Hospital website Children First for Health, stuttering usually runs in families and it is more common in boys.
Written by James Puckle
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