As a cisgender, Caucasian female in recovery from an eating disorder, I’m all too aware that I fit the bill for what we presume is the stereotypical eating disorder patient. So often in movies and TV shows that is all that is shown, so it never surprises me when others are surprised at the various […]
Searching for a diagnosis: How scientists are untangling the mystery of developmental disorders
Evie Walker sits on Alison’s lap, playing a game she never grows tired of: turning her mum’s hand over and over, stroking and examining it. When she takes a break and looks around, it is with the open-mouthed look of curiosity and awe that you see in many infants. Evie’s vocabulary currently consists of a […]
Stray proteins cause genetic disorders
The seizures typically begin in the first months of life. It often takes years, however, before those suffering from the rare glucose transporter type 1 (Glut1) deficiency syndrome obtain a correct diagnosis. If the disorder goes untreated, affected children experience developmental delay and frequently have neurological problems. Various defects in one gene underlie the syndrome. […]
Seven percent of children in orthodontic care at ‘high risk’ for sleep disorders, according to new research
A child who is restless, hyperactive and can’t concentrate could have a problem rooted in a source parents might not suspect: a sleep disorder. That’s according to a new study by Case Western Reserve researchers at the School of Dental Medicine, who found that about 7 percent of children between ages 9 and 17 in […]
Is Evolution of the Human Brain to Blame for Some Mental Disorders?
THURSDAY, Aug. 9, 2018 — Evolutionary changes in the human brain may be responsible for psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, new research suggests. The researchers identified long, noncoding stretches of DNA (called “repeat arrays”) in a gene that governs calcium transport in the brain. Their findings were published Aug. 9 in the […]
Scientists identify mechanism that may explain why males are more at risk than females for neurodevelopmental disorders
Researchers have recently begun to realize that biological sex plays a key role in disease risk. Sex plays a role in hypertension, diabetes, arthritis—and in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Depression and anxiety affect females more, while neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, early onset schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity, affect more males. Males are […]