Understanding comorbidity: A twin study of reading disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

* Willcutt EG,
* Pennington BF,
* Olson RK,
* Defries JC.

University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado.

A community sample of twins in which at least one member of each pair exhibited significant reading difficulties (99 monozygotic and 80 dizygotic pairs) or symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 83 monozygotic and 78 dizygotic pairs) was used to test the etiology of comorbidity between reading disability (RD) and ADHD.

Univariate analyses revealed moderate to high heritability for all measures of reading difficulty and ADHD. Read more of the article...

Tuning major gene variants conditioning human behavior: the anachronism of ADHD.

* Arcos-Burgos M,
* Acosta MT.

Medical Genetics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

New findings suggest that attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral variant associated with a mental condition.

ADHD prevalence reaches figures of 18% in populations worldwide. Furthermore, genetic variants conferring susceptibility to develop ADHD are not rare but very frequent and eventually totally fixed in some populations. Read more of the article...

Advances in genetic findings on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

* Thapar A,
* Langley K,
* Owen MJ,
* O'donovan MC.

Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common, childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder with adverse consequences during adult life.

Family, twin and adoption studies show that genetic factors contribute to the aetiology of ADHD and that environmental factors also play a role.

Family and twin studies have shown the importance of genetic influences on continuity in ADHD over time and in accounting for the co-occurrence of ADHD and conduct disorder problems. Read more of the article...

Genetic Studies on Attention Deficit Disorder – ADHD show gene alterations that may contribute to ADD ADHD in some children. They are especially looking at the DRD4 dopamine receptor gene.

Familial Genetic Studies show that ADHD runs in families.

For example, a child with an older sibling with ADD ADHD is 300% to 500% more likely to himself have Attention Deficit Disorder than is a child without ADD ADHD siblings.

Twin studies and Adoption studies are also included.

Here are some facts from the NIMH on the genetics of ADHD, and some of the current research: Read more of the article...

The effects of essential fatty acid supplementation by Efamol in hyperactive children.

* Aman MG,
* Mitchell EA,
* Turbott SH.

Thirty-one children, selected for marked inattention and overactivity, were studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of essential fatty acid (EFA) supplementation.

Subjects received the active treatment and placebo conditions for 4 weeks each and were assessed on a variety of cognitive, motor, and standardized rating scale measures.

EFA supplementation (evening primrose oil; Efamol) resulted in significantly lower levels of palmitoleic acid (a nonessential fatty acid) and higher concentrations of dihomogammalinolenic acid, an EFA previously found to be deficient in some hyperactive children. Read more of the article...

Supplementation with flax oil and vitamin C improves the outcome of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

* Joshi K,
* Lad S,
* Kale M,
* Patwardhan B,
* Mahadik SP,
* Patni B,
* Chaudhary A,
* Bhave S,
* Pandit A.

Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune-411007, Maharashtra, India.

Considerable clinical and experimental evidence now supports the idea that deficiencies or imbalances in certain highly unsaturated fatty acids may contribute to a range of common developmental disorders including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Read more of the article...