Alternative Treatment for Children with Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a hereditary form of mental retardation that often includes an ADHD disorder. Previously, stimulant medications like Ritalin were found to produce side effects like increased irritability. Now, a new study has found that a certain amino acid (called L-acetyl carnitine or LAC) can reduce ADHD symptoms without side effects.

"Those treated with LAC demonstrated reduced hyperactive behavior and increased attention. No side effects were exhibited, confirming that LAC is a safe alternative to stimulants... The patients treated with LAC also had significantly improved social ability compared to the placebo-treated group."

The authors of the study concluded that LAC should be proposed as a viable alternative treatment for children with FXS who also display ADHD symptoms. Read more at MedicalNewsToday.com.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Linked to Differences in Brain Structure

Researchers at Cambridge University found that the brains of people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have abnormalities similar to healthy family members, indicating that the disorder may be genetic.

OCD is a disorder characterized by recurrent thoughts and ritualistic behaviors such as hand-washing, lining possessions up in a certain order, checking to see if doors are locked, etc.

Dr. Lara Menzies from the Brain Mapping Unit at Cambridge and others used magnetic resonance imagining (MRIs) to examine the brains of 31 people with OCD and 31 healthy close relatives such as siblings, and 31 others in a control. The OCD group and their family members had less gray matter in the area of their brains associated with suppressing responses compared to the control group.

OCD runs in families, and this new research may contribute to the theory that it is a genetic disorder.

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Gene Variant Linked to ADHD

Scientists at the National Institute of Health have conducted a study which found a genetic link to ADHD and promises improvement over time. The gene, called DRD4, seems to increase the risk for ADHD in younger children by causing brain areas that control attention to be thinner. However, as the children get older, this gene appears to be associated with a normal thickening of the same areas of the brain.

"Although this particular gene version increased risk for ADHD, it also predicted better clinical outcomes and higher IQ than two other common versions of the same gene in youth with ADHD."

The DRD4 gene appears to account for about 30 percent of the genetic risk for ADHD. Read more at MedicalNewsToday.com.

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Attention Deficit Disorder in Kids Linked to Alcoholism in Teens

Children with Attention Deficit Disorder/Hyperactivity are at risk for alcoholism or drug dependence as teens and adults, according to a new study by the University of Pittsburgh. If their parents are alcoholics, the likelihood increases even more.

Dr. Brooke Molina and her colleagues interviewed 142 adolescents diagnosed with childhood ADHD and 100 demographically matched others without the disorder. The team also interviewed another group of 364 children with ADHD as adolescents ages 11 to 17 years and then again as young adults ages 18 to 28.

Their two studies showed a link between ADHD and alcoholism.

"Alcoholism and ADHD tend to run together in families," Dr. Molina said. "We found that parental alcoholism predicted heavy problem drinking among teenagers, that the association was partly explained by higher rates of stress in those families, and these connections were stronger when the adolescent had ADHD in childhood."

About 14% of the 15 to 17-year-old adolescents with childhood ADHD were diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence compared to none of the 15 to 17-year-olds in the control group without ADHD. The ADHD group reported being drunk 14 times the previous year compared to 1.8 times in the control group.

"It is important to recognize that not all children with ADHD will have problems with alcoholism" Dr. Molina said.

This study appears in the April 2007 issue of

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

.