Some children develop pebbly or ivory colored skin lesions on the upper arms, legs and back. The degree of advancement is different in each individual, and the range is very broad in the types and severity of symptoms (National MPS Society, 2014). The extent of mental retardation and life expectancy are two of the highest concerns related to Hunter Syndrome. Those with the disease that are not mentally retarded have lived into their 20’s and 30’s. Reports show some have lived to be sixty.
Is there an Autism epidemic? Problem Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that affects social and communication skills and in some cases, to a lesser degree, motor and language skills. (6) Autism was first diagnosed in the 1940’s and was described as a very rare disorder with cases being as few as one in every 10 000 children (1). By the1990’s diagnoses began to soar (as shown in graph below) and diagnosis had risen to one in every 500 children. In the 1990’s it was speculated that the increase was due to certain chemicals in vaccinations such as the MMR.
ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders and can carry on through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behaviour and hyperactivity. Scientists are not sure what causes ADHD, but many studies suggest that genes are a factor. In addition to genetics, researchers are looking at possible environmental factors, and are studying how brain injuries, nutrition, and the social environment might cause ADHD. Children who have suffered a brain injury may show some behaviour similar to those of ADHD.
Summary Autism Spectrum disorder is a syndrome with a wide diagnosis. The main features of ASD include lack of social communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interests. Autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, intergrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder all fall under ASD. ASD is effecting more than 1% of the population and there is a dramatic increase in recognition is creating huge demand on health care for accurate diagnosis. In 2008, it was stated that 1 in every 88 children had some form of autism with it being more common in boys, even though the reason is unknown.
However, others suggest that the illness is a result of neuroanatomical factors as Torrey found that the ventricles of sufferers are 15% larger than those of non-sufferers. Ho et al followed their participants over several years and found that the larger the ventricles became the less likely symptoms would ease and become controllable. One of the psychological explanations is the psychodynamic approach in which Freud blames parents for the development of the schizophrenia. A child raised by uncaring parents will employ the defence mechanism regression, psychologically reverting back to the oral stage of development. The theory also indicated that a child with cold parents has a weak Ego in which the Id is in full control causing primary narcissism, when a person is totally focused on
The brain is the organ most affected in Rett Syndrome and is typically underweight. The average size of a mature Rett brain is approximately the same as a 12-month child. Neurons within the Rett brain display significant decreases in dendritic branching and somal size and elevated neuronal packing density. Also, Blue et al (1999 a, b) have demonstrated abnormalities in receptor densities: AMPA and NMDA receptors are increased in the young Rett brain (80% of guts with a diagnosis of RS have been found to have some type of MeCP2 error. The role of MeCP2 in brain development is not fully understood at this time.
It is the most common chronic disease in childhood, affecting an estimated 7 million children, and it is a common cause of hospitalization for children in the United States (Morris). The direct cause of Asthma is unknown, but researchers have found key things that will strike an attack. Although Asthma is not very pleasant to have, luckily it is manageable through treatment. 1. Bronchospasms- spasms in the bronchial passages 2.
Also the percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis that are being placed on medication jumped from 55% in 1989 to 75% in 1996 (Gibbs 1998). Now that I have illustrated some of the statistics behind our country’s ADD/ADHD children, perhaps I should talk a little more about what exactly an ADD/ADHD child is. ADHD does not have physical signs that can be recognized in the patient. Most diagnoses are made through observation and over a period of time. The most common behaviors fall into the three following categories: inattention, hyperactivity, and
Canavan disease is rare genetic neurological disorder characterized by the spongy degeneration of the white matter in the brain. Affected infants may appear normal at birth, but usually develop symptoms between 3-6 months of age. Symptoms may include an abnormally large head (macrocephaly), lack of head control, severely diminished muscle tone resulting in "floppiness," and delays in reaching developmental milestones such as independent sitting and walking. Most affected children develop life-threatening complications by 10 years of age. Canavan disease occurs because of mutations in the aspartoacylase (ASPA) gene that affects the breakdown (metabolism) of the N-acetylaspartic acid (NNA).
For anyone who is knowledgeable in the slightest about drug trial procedures, you may need to wait years to be approved to test on primates with some drugs, however, these drugs are being thrown at hundreds of thousands of children each year. I think attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may exist, but with a significantly lower prevalence than is currently reported. In my absolute, honest opinion, the vast majority of those that “suffer” from ADHD are more likely to be dealing with significant behavioral issues with an underlying cause lying outside any perceived mental disorder. There was a study released in 2011 that stated that children from low-income families were approximately 40% more likely to