Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Did you know?

That Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most heritable of all psychiatric conditions? That's according to: Faraone, SV. The Genetics of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Current Status and Clinical Implications. Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health. 2006;11(2) (free with registration). I don't understand most of the article precisely (it has a lot of information on genetics and brain chemistry action), but I did get that tidbit, along with the fact that several genes seem to provide a predisposition to ADHD, across several chromosomes. There is hope that the genes that effect the brain chemistry can be traced and additionally those which could predispose certain favourable response to medication can be found and used to target pharmocological interventions.

That doesn't mean environmental factors aren't an issue. A related story in the same issue of Medscape Pediatrics says that 41% of children with fetal alcohol syndrome also have ADHD. It's just that genes could make one more susceptible to those environmental factors.

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