Autistic kids’ parents more likely to have mental disorder
A new study purports that the parents of children with autism are twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder. Is this getting scientists closer to proving some sort of genetic link?
The study looked at 1,237 children born between 1977 and 2003 who were diagnosed with autism before age 10. To be deemed autistic, the children all had to have received a diagnosis of autism disorder, Asperger Syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder.
Seventy-seven per cent of the children involved in the study were boys.
“These results support those of smaller studies that indicated an increase in psychiatric conditions among parents of children with autism, specifically schizophrenia, neurotic disorders and depression,” write the authors. “Identifying families with a propensity for rare psychiatric conditions may help uncover rare genes that contribute to the susceptibility of both disorders.”
Information from: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/0...
