'Massive spin' on child ADHD study
A high-profile child psychologist accused drugs companies and other scientists on Thursday of falsely claiming attention deficit disorder (ADHD) was a genetic disease in order to promote the controversial drug Ritalin.
Clinical child psychologist Dr Oliver James tore into a Cardiff University study on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, accusing the university’s child and adolescent psychiatry professor Anita Tharpar of “putting a massive spin” on the research which claimed to prove that ADHD was a genetic disorder.
The study said it found that children with ADHD were more likely to have a difference in the brain caused by small pieces of DNA that were duplicated or deleted. But of the 336 children with ADHD in the study’s sample, just 16 per cent of them had such DNA.
Dr James said the study in fact disproved any link between genes and ADHD because almost nine out of 10 of the children did not have the gene supposed to cause it.
Read more here: ‘Massive spin’ on child ADHD study / Britain / Home – Morning Star.
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About The Author
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts is founder of Support for Special Needs and has been a regular contributor since its inception in May 2010. A mom to two kids with special needs, she didn't want other parents to feel what is the often isolating world of raising a child (or two!) with disabilities. Her kids had kidney transplants at the age of eight and will need liver transplants in the future as a result of ARPKD/CHF. They both have vision disorders and learning disabilities.
I guess he missed all the previous genetic studies on ADHD…..at some point, we really have to stop giving people like this more PR. He obviously doesn’t know any of the other research that has been been published on the subject. And there is a lot. Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Kids was part of one very large multi-center study, involving siblings, parents, extended family. It’s been a long proven fact that ADHD is one of the most heritable genetic disorders ever studied.
Or perhaps he does know the research but would prefer to just bash parents. Whatever.
Anyway, there are a dozen sources a day of poorly done ADHD articles out there, I prefer to focus on the good ones. Thanks.