ADHD Genetic Connection Found

[Anonymous]

Check this out. At least it is a good start.

http://www.thirdage.com/news/adhd-genetic-basis-identified_9-30-2010

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[Anonymous]

Someone sent me a story on this yesterday. Some validation to what most of us knew already. It’s a family thing

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[Anonymous]

I once went to a seminar put on by Dr. Russell Barkley, who some call the king of ADHD research. He was presenting the results of a meta-analysis he did on ADHD and included in this was the genetic component. Apparently they have isolated the specific genes involved in having ADHD.

Apparently, there are about twenty of them and if you have at least seven of these in your DNA then you will have ADHD. What’s especially interesting is that which genes are present determines not only how the symptoms will manifest, but what medications work best!

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[Anonymous]

I’m glad to finally find some research which links ADHD to development.

I heard a long time ago that some psychologists put ADHD on the autism spectrum, but I was never able to find any research to back it up, so thank you so much for this!

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[Anonymous]

Found this story – a little more explanation and background (interesting how it’s always “kids with ADHD” noted in the articles …)

http://healthandfitness.sympatico.ca/news/study_kids_with_adhd_more_likely_to_have_missing_or_extra_dna_in_their_brains/12a56a98

What a great step in the right direction!

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[Anonymous]

From what Lisa posted:

“This is not a structural abnormality in the brain, it’s just the last phase of development that’s gone wrong,” he said. “It could be the brain just needs to be fine-tuned.”

This goes against this research:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/464774

which does show structural differences in ADHD brains

“…those with ADHD had reduced regional brain size localized predominantly to small areas of the dorsal prefrontal cortices, as well as in bilateral anterior temporal areas. The ADHD group also had significant increases in the gray matter in large regions of the posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortices.”

Now, the sample size in that latter research was VERY small, but it was consistent, none the less.

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[Tim]

New Scientist also has a story on this.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19528-have-gene-findings-taken-the-stigma-from-adhd.html

I think the truth is that this evidence is pretty weak. From the story posted by Lisa SB:

“In children without ADHD, about 7 per cent of them had deleted or doubled chromosomes in the analyzed gene sequence. But among children with the disorder, researchers discovered about 14 per cent had such genetic alterations. “

Only 14% with the abnormality? That leaves 86% of the ADDers with apparently normal genes.

This issue isn’t going away any time soon….

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[Anonymous]

The parameters of the study were very narrow, and among other things, stated that it did not include information on ethnicities; clearly, we are a long way from any definitive answers. The positive spin is that the discussions and the studies are taking place, because someone gave their data a little nudge to get the ball rolling.

In the article, Peter Burbach was quoted as saying “This is not a structural abnormality in the brain, it’s just the last phase of development that’s gone wrong,” he said. “It could be the brain just needs to be fine-tuned.” Note that the article states that he was NOT a part of the Lancet research; perhaps he is basing his information on his own research, which likely takes a broader perspective

From the same article: “… Peter Burbach, a professor of molecular neuroscience at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, was surprised some of the genetic defects found for ADHD were identical to ones for autism and schizophrenia. He was not connected to the Lancet research. “There’s a great chance the environment is modifying these genes,” Burbach said, adding the genes could lead to several brain disorders, depending on things like the child’s upbringing and other genetic factors.”

Let’s see how this continues to unfold …

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[Anonymous]

Bear in mind also that they seemed to mainly be looking at chromosomal abnormalities, which is not the same as having certain genes switched on or off. For instance, trisomies are the cause of things like Down’s Syndrome, and various other things where an individual has three sex chromosomes instead of the normal two.

So they’re not really looking at the genes which cause ADHD, they just seemed to find a correlation with ADHD and an increased likelihood of having the wrong number of chromosomes.

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[wiredonjava]

Hello! I dug out this interesting old post & found it relevant to my latest questionings. Now almost five years later, do the experts know anything more? My 25 year old daughter told me last night that she has decided not to have any children because she doesn’t want to pass on the ADHD gene. She is sheer exhausted simply by trying to live up to everyone else’s normal level of functioning at work. I was recently diagnosed last year so I wonder if I would’ve reconsidered having kids? (2 of my 5 have it) I don’t know. Then again, life is a gamble and perhaps we can successfully treat ADHD? I know educators are becoming aware lately but we have a long way to go still. There are other genetic problems we can pass on unknowingly so I guess I shouldn’t feel bad. My sister found out a few years ago that she had the CF gene, passed it to her daughter and now her grandchild has it. She did not see this coming! Please try not to judge too harshly, but no matter how careful you are in life, there are always surprises awaiting. We have to do the best we can with what we have, and hopefully in the end, it will all make sense. Embrace neurodiversity!!!

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