Blog Archives

Co-occurring Conditions with Adhd & Autism

8/17/2024

See also Co-Occurring Conditions and Autism (Autism Research Institute) and ADHD and Co-Occuring Conditions (CHADD -- Children & Adults with ADHD).

Neuro-Diversity, energy issues & diet

8/6/2024

Val's Take/Conjecture

The Metabolic Mind folks are pushing a Keto Diet (or more accurately Ketogenic Therapy)
- I don't think it is the answer to everything, but it seems to understand that people with neuro-developmental disorders and/or psychiatric disorders have different energy issues.

Dr. Chris Palmer from about 4 years ago.

Palmer is a psychiatrist and is one of the early promoters of a Ketogenic Diet for Mental Health.

In this video, Palmer recounts impressive results but challenges too.
One of my big concerns is that people, including physicians, are sometimes looking for a hook to blame the individual.

I think Dr. Chris Palmer has gone to great lengths not to do that.

Metabolic Mind
What Is the Difference between a Keto Diet and Ketogenic Therapy? -- with Dr. Bret Scher

Nick Norwitz (2024)

Norwitz recounts a recent small Stanford Study. It was hugely successful in showing the benefits of Ketogenic Therapy for the participants.

Stanford has a significant contingent looking at Metabolic Health and Mental Health [Stanford Metabolic Psychiatry].

Interestingly, Norwitz observes that because this isn't a drug --- it can be hard to find funding to do the research.

Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial (2024)

"ADHD" and Epigenetics

8/4/2024

Val's Take

Epigenetics is more and more seen as a crucial player in Auto-Immune Diseases.
When we talk about Neuro-Developmental Disorders, they often begin with Maternal Immune Activation (MIA).
That MIA can result from many things, including infection, obesity, smoking, auto-immune disease, etc.
Since Epigenetics plays a large role in Auto-Immune and Inflammatory Diseases, it not surprising that Epigenetics would also play a large role in Neuro-Developmental Disorders.
Frontiers in Neuroscience: The Epigenome in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (2021)

"There is increasing evidence that dysregulated epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression are involved in the pathogenesis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)."

The Role of Epigenetics in the Pathogenesis and Potential Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2022)

Recent Research on Cognitive Disability

8/2/2024

Conduct Disorder Linked to Widespread Brain Structure Changes (2024)

Val's Take/Conjecture

The Criminal Law has at least to some extent dealt with the Defendant with an IQ under 70.
Further, we do have supports for people with an IQ under 70 and Developmental Disabilities.
The challenge in 2024, is the Defendant with an IQ over 70 and Developmental Disabilities.
- They may be tagged with ADHD, Autism, Conduct Disorder, and/or Anti-Social Personality Disorder, etc.
Further, people with ADHD are more likely to incur a brain injury (2015 study supports link between ADHD and traumatic brain injury)
People with brain injury make-up generally over 50% of the justice-involved population, with some estimates at 80%.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center found that the prevalence of brain injury in the criminal justice population was around 60%. (2024)

University of Southern California

Enigma Working Groups Around the World

The ENIGMA Consortium has grown to include over 1400 participating scientists from over 200 institutions, across 43 countries worldwide. ENIGMA is organized as a set of 50 WGs [Working Groups], studying 26 major brain diseases (see color key).

Each group works closely with the others and consists of worldwide teams of experts in each brain disorder as well as experts in the major methods used to study each disorder.

The diseases studied include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, and several neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, ataxia, and stroke.

In recent years, new WGs were created that grew into worldwide consortia on epilepsy (Whelan et al. 9 ), eating disorders (King et al. 104 ), anxiety disorders (Groenewold et al. 107 ), antisocial behavior, and infant neuroimaging.

"ADHD" and "ANTI-SOCial Personality Disorder"

8/2/2024

Val's Take/Conjecture

So "ADHD" is a Neuro-Developmental Disorder
It is part of a Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Continuum in which Epigenetics is playing a large role.
It is important to understand the "Generational" aspects to ADHD which often involve some type of maternal auto-immunity.
Additionally, this is often going back more than one generation.
In the case of "smoking," that can go back to the 3rd Generation (maybe more) --- so if your maternal grandmother smoked, you have a higher risk for ADHD.
ADHD, Autism and other Psychiatric Disorders are much more FULL BODY DISORDERS than we generally appreciate.
The Immune System is important as one might expect if ADHD is often seen with maternal auto-immunity and maternal immune activation during pregnancy.
As psychiatry and psychology slowly move to biomarkers --- that will bring a dimension of clarity that we just haven't had in mental health.
Further, the assumption was often that to get those biomarkers one essentially needed brain surgery.
Now, researchers are more and more finding biomarkers in the blood.

THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF

The rates of ADHD and Autism are increasing --- and if one appreciates the many causes of Maternal Immune Activation that is not surprising.
Boys and Men with ADHD, of color and poor are highly represented in Jails and Prisons in Colorado, the US and Countries around the world.
This is a Disability Rights Issue --- it's also a competent assessment and care issue .
Nobody's for sacrificing safety --- but we can't keep punishing a neuro-developmental disorder.

Does ADHD Cause Antisocial Personality Disorder? - WebMD

Studies suggest that as many as 90% of adults with ADHD have other mental health disorders. ASPD is one of the most common mental disorders that happens with ADHD. One study showed that men with ADHD were more likely to have antisocial personality disorder than women with ADHD.

Autoimmune Diseases and ADHD: Is There a Link?

The risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is increased with a personal or maternal history of autoimmune disease, particularly with type 1 diabetes and parental autoimmune diseases.

Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number is Associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (2020)

BACKGROUND: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder in children. ...Mitochondrial dysfunction (MD) is suggested to be one of the causes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity …

Hofbauer cells and fetal brain microglia share transcriptional profiles and responses to maternal diet-induced obesity (2024)

Single-cell RNA-seq identified common alterations in fetal microglial and Hofbauer cell gene expression induced by maternal obesity, as well as sex differences in these alterations.

We propose that Hofbauer cells, which are easily accessible at birth, provide insights into fetal brain microglial programs and may facilitate the early identification of offspring vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Recognizing and treating obesity as a disease | 60 Minutes

We have a long tradition of wanting to blame Mom --- and Maternal Immune Activation is often a key precursor to neuro-developmental disorders.

We need to strenuously resist the temptation to scapegoat Mom or anyone else as we work for more comprehensive understandings and treatments.

Forward>>

Translational Medicine Friday

We're riffing off NPR's Science Friday to create Translational Medicine Friday.

We'll be collecting Research Article recommendations for Clinicians with regard to Cognitive Disability.

There is much in the RESEARCH JOURNALS and we'll just be SKIMMING THE SURFACE.

The POINT is to INCREASE FUNDING for TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH at the Federal Level for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Nation's Research & Teaching Hospitals and possible collaborations with Medicare and Medicaid providers.

Translational Medicine Friday

Co-occurring Conditions with Adhd & Autism

Neuro-Diversity, energy issues & diet

"ADHD" and Epigenetics

Recent Research on Cognitive Disability

Conduct Disorder Linked to Widespread Brain Structure Changes (2024)

"ADHD" and "ANTI-SOCial Personality Disorder"

Translational Medicine Friday

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