FYI Health Tip
As many as 10 million Americans have ADHD.
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The common symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, the inability to focus, and clumsiness or carelessness — which are also all common symptoms of childhood. Joking aside, for kids with ADHD, it can be a real struggle to stay seated during class, finish homework, and stay focused on a task. The problem for parents, teachers, and the medical community is that currently the tests for ADHD are subjective, which can lead to over diagnosis or a misdiagnosis. We may be getting a few scientific steps closer to proving ADHD is a genetic condition.
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Loading ...New research coming out of Cardiff University in Wales is suggesting that chromosomal defects are responsible for ADHD. The study also suggests that those subjects presenting with a mental disability like autism or schizophrenia were twice as likely to also have ADHD.
This is good news for the parents of children with ADHD who have to fight the social battle of naysayers who claim ADHD is over-diagnosed. Though this study was small, it is a step in the right direction go developing a definitive medical test to diagnose ADHD.
The supporting research
ADHD Diagnosis is Medical not Just Social
Summary
Autistic and schizophrenic people and have been shown to have certain chromosomal defects called copy number variants (CNVs). This study was undertaken to determine if certain CNVs were the genetic cause for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and whether these CNVs were related to those associated with autism and schizophrenia. Results suggested that it was indeed true. On analysis, it was also observed that there were more genetic defects when ADHD and mental disability presented together.
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