Home DNA Testing for ADHD
Many companies are now offering self-administered genetic tests over the internet for various conditions, including ADHD and Bipolar Disorder. However, many of these tests might be misleading to the public because they offer predictions that are not scientifically proven and may provide information that is not meaningful.Genetic testing looks at genes (DNA instructions inherited from relatives), chromosomes (contain DNA), or biochemical tests that test for enzyme levels. Genetic testing might help diagnose a disease or condition if someone already has symptoms, show whether someone is a carrier for certain genetic conditions, determine whether an unborn child will have a genetic condition, screen infants for missing proteins that can cause a disease, determine whether someone has a genetic predisposition to a disease before symptoms become apparent, and guide the selection of a particular medication or dose of medication for a particular person.
Testing is useful for rare types of cancers that run in families, for conditions such as Sickle Cell Anemia and Cystic Fibrosis, and for women who might be at risk for having a child with a chromosomal abnormality. However, I wouldn't send a sample of your saliva or cheek swab for psychiatric or behavioral conditions, along with a check for hundreds of dollars, just yet.
Where I find genetic testing sometimes useful is in determining the appropriate dose of Strattera, a medication used to treat ADHD. Genes determine how rapidly a person's liver enzymes break down Strattera. People who metabolize Strattera slowly will have higher than expected blood levels of a particular dose of Strattera, along with increased side effects, and people who rapidly metabolize Strattera have lower than expected blood levels corresponding to a poor response. I might have to use very small doses of Strattera for someone who is a slow metabolizer to achieve the appropriate response without significant side effects, and large doses for someone who is a rapid metabolizer to achieve therapeutic blood levels.
ADHD is highly heritable. If one parent or a sibling has ADHD, additional children have about a 30 percent chance of inheriting it, which increases to 50 percent if both parents have ADHD. However, I don't find genetic testing useful for ADHD as it only determines the probability of developing ADHD, not whether someone has ADHD. What you would do for a child at risk of developing ADHD would be good for every child: providing structure, a nutritious and balanced diet low in sugar and high in omega-3 fatty acids, plenty of exercise, and teaching them how to plan and organize their time for schoolwork and activities.
A child with a 30 percent chance of developing ADHD has a 70 percent chance of not developing it. Will genetic testing increase a parent's worry and change the way they interact with their child? Will everyone involved be so alert for signs and symptoms of ADHD that the child is at increased risk for getting a diagnosis when they don't have ADHD? ADHD most likely results from multiple genetic factors and the child's interactions with the environment. There is no genetic test that will diagnose ADHD, and the information provided by available tests tends to make little difference. Many internet sites are misleading, promising diets or nutritional additives that will avoid the use of medications. Someone should always check with their physician or genetic specialist prior to ordering self-administered genetic tests.
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7 Comments:
This statement is from your ADHD MEdications and Treatments article. "ADHD is highly heritable. If one parent or a sibling has ADHD, additional children have about a 30 percent chance of inheriting it, which increases to 50 percent if both parents have ADHD".
This statement is ridiculous and misleading. ADHD is a set of behaviors. Behaviors are learned not inherited.
ADHD is not learned! A child or adult cannot learn how to NOT pay attention to everything. Perhaps if you had a child that has trouble with this, you would understand. My 9 year old has such a problem with paying attention that if affects every part of her life. She faces everyday problems that you would take forgranted. No person that is affected with this disorder has asked for it and struggles with it in every aspect of their life. It is frustrating for the child and the family. Understand what you are talking about before you make suck a naive comment.
To add to the prior comments, ADHD is not simply a "set of behaviors". The "behaviors" you see are symptoms of the condition, which is due to the brain working in a different way.
I would encourage you to learn more about ADHD if it affects you or someone you know.
ADHD is diagnosed through a set of behaviors...period. Behaviors are learned, can be modified or completely changed. Adults and children can learn HOW to pay attention.
Do children and adults have issues with attention and others symptoms on the list of behaviors....of course. However, many doctors in this country believe now that ADHD is not a disease or disorder.
I know all about this "disorder" and understand completely what I am talking about. Just because I have a differing opinion doesn't make me naive or not educated.
Everyone faces issues and problems...it's what you do with oneself. Turn frustrations into accomplished challenges.
I have had my doctor tell me that I would never be able to walk a block...rather than be frustrated...I proved him wrong. I don't take anything for granted. Life is out there. I wanted to "grab" as much of it as possible.
My child had/s many learning issues. I looked for creative solutions and I didn't live a label. My child is now becoming an accomplished musician, an awesome soccer player and is doing great.
Not all behavior problems are ADHD and it is not the behavior that makes them ADHD. I think if you had a child with "ADHD" you would reconsider what you have written. ADHD is not a behavior problem, it's a chemical imbalance in the brain and when a child or adult has not been taught to "work through" the frustrations is when it becomes a behavior problem. Maybe you should spend some time with child who have ADHD and then rethink your opinion.
ADHD/ADD is a topic with which I am all too familiar: I am an elementary school teacher, and my family has a strong history of not only ADD, but narcolepsy and bipolar as well. We are all pretty high functioning, academically, as our family culture is to regard "disorders" as a condition, not an excuse.
SCHOOLMARM
That being said, we do use medication as necessary, with the first line of attack being the behavioral ones: diet, exercise, structure and occasionally counseling. Behavior often doesn't fix it all, medication can't fix it all, but compensatory strategies are possible.
As a teacher who is expected to multi-task, I am stressed and exhausted by what is almost impossible for me. On the other hand, my ability to hyper-focus makes me a really, really good tutor is getting a concept across. Evolutionarily, the ADD "wiring diagram" may have fitted us for special survival skills.
Students come to me with labels of "possible ADHD" and in my experience I find one third are purely behavioral (too much TV, too little structure), one third are mixed (enough diet and behavioral intervention, and developmental growth will probably suffice), and at most one third really need medication. Gifted females with the inattentive-type are not at all rare in this group.
As a teacher I can't legally recommend anything to parents, but in discussion I can offer my experienced opinion that most children should have at least a year or so of a trial of structure, diet and other behavioral interventions before trying medication. When medication is needed, though, it's like giving 0-10-10 to an orchid that has been miserably clinging to life for years and suddenly it's blooming!
I also believe there is "pseudo-ADD" or acquired functional ADD from too much early TV. Neurological alterations severely affect the ability to focus, both with listening and reading skills. This is a growing problem, and in sixty years of TV, this has influenced generational family culture, too. When I call a conference for a student in trouble, and the parent comes in, falls off the chair, fidgets, looks out the window, tells a school history similar to the child's, I just feel like sighing and giving up. But I don't. I start by sharing my spiel, as above ... P.S. I don't find that sugar is an issue, except as an insulin roller coaster. But giving kids too much junky food is symptomatic of family culture in need of overhaul.
Inherited or not, a condition of any kind is one that needs to be dealt with. Without some kind of treatment, (behavioral, counseling, support group, medication), or knowledge of treatment, "crazy" applies to all people who have ANY kind of disorder. The use of this word, should be left in the comic books of the past.
In all ways, it does come down to education. However, the education that parents may use to "label" their children, has helped many adults who have ADHD, learn, that it's not just for kids anymore.
I understand from School Marm's point of view. She sees children all of the time of whom she does not believe has this particular problem. With so many children to deal with every year, this must be a challenge for teachers everywhere.
Ignorance, on the part of worried parents as far as their child's behavior is concerned, does not make them wrong. It just makes them parents, who care enough to want to educate themselves for the sake of their child's future well-being.
I do not like "labels" as they neatly file someone into a certain category. We all are definite unique individuals.
However, I would not ignore a child's mental condition anymore than a Pediatrician would ignore a child's physical condition.
I thank God for specialtists in a field. Even though there are so many specialists, in so many fields, our body is a wonderous thing. No one person can be an expert on all of it.
Poted by...an extrememly hyper "crazy" person who knows it, and can now help herself because of it.
(Commonly known as a person with "bipolar disorder type 1", who sometimes "hallucinates", but thankfully is too "busy" to want to dwell on it, but educated enough to be aware of it.)
TOO MANy SOLEMN PEOPLE ARE POSTING.
All disorders are distressing, frustrating, infuriating, depressing etc. but there are good things about them too.. POSITIVE realities. If you educate yourself to the PROS as well as the cons, we might all become more content within ourselves.
As adults and as children.
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