Attention deficit, autism share genetic risk factors
Some of the same genetic risk factors may underlie both autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a study published 10 August in Science Translational Medicine.
Some of the same genetic risk factors may underlie both autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a study published 10 August in Science Translational Medicine.
New studies of restricted and repetitive behaviors link autism to other disorders and may lead to more effective treatments.
A new study pinpoints an autism hotspot in an information technology-rich region in the Netherlands.
In the past year, several studies have suggested that brain scans will soon help clinicians diagnose autism. But many experts say these scans are far from — and may never be — ready for use as diagnostic tests.
Developmental disorders increased by 17 percent between 1997 and 2008 in the U.S, according to a report published 6 June. Is this cause for alarm, or a sign that we are at last assessing the true rate for these disorders?
Deletions on a segment of chromosome 11 are associated with autism, attention problems and obesity, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A.
Autism is diagnosed based on the severity and variety of its symptoms. This makes it very difficult to diagnose and easy to confuse with other disorders, such as language delay and intellectual disability, cautions Isabelle Rapin.
Two large studies published in the past two months have found that traits linked to autism are widely distributed in the general population. Although about 1 in 100 children is diagnosed with autism, up to 30 percent of people may have at least one of the traits associated with the disorder.
Small duplications or deletions of DNA regions — called micro-copy number variations — may not lead directly to disease, but could raise the risk of autism when combined with other mutations, according to a study published in March in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics.
Two children with Asperger syndrome have disruptions in the PARK2 gene — one child has a duplication in the gene whereas the other has a deletion — according to a study published in February in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.