A new study indicates that even four-year-olds can have full-blown symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

OCD is not the same as the "normal developmental rituals" that most young children exhibit, such as asking their parents to re-read a favorite bedtime story. OCD has specific criteria that include repetitive thoughts and ritualized behaviors such as hand washing and re-cleaning or re-checking the same thing over and over. Treatment for OCD usually involves a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

Psychologist Abbe Garcia and her colleagues at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center evaluated 58 children ages 4 to 8, and concluded that OCD begins around age 5. In half the cases, the onset was gradual; 29 percent had a chronic course; and 28 percent had a course that waxed and waned. Many suffered from anxiety and other problems as well as OCD. The Hasbro study was the first to look at very young children and OCD.

"If parents are concerned about their child, if their behavior is causing problems in daily routine, then they should take their child to their pediatrician - someone who knows the child well." Dr. Garcia said. "Early intervention is important."

Labels: ocd, toddlers

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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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Labels: brain_activity, genetics, ocd

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