A little talk on the chances of inheriting ADHD, and the importance of knowing your family’s medical history. Oh, and a little mention of Muggsy Bogues (no pun intended). 
From the author of “10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD” and “Making the Grade with ADD: A Student’s Guide to Succeeding in College with Attention Deficit Disorder”. www.stephaniesarkis.com
ADD and Genetics
8 Responses
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March 8th, 2010 at 8:19 am
doc you have great videos
thank you
March 8th, 2010 at 9:12 am
thanks for allowing my video response!
because its lovely to be able to do video responses in this day in age!
have a good one
and thanks for your video!
peace be with you always
March 8th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I have AD/HD because I’m XXY, many XXY males do do have AD/HD. If your son has AD/HD and there is no incidence of AD/HD in your family, it may be desirable to have a Karyotype, a test to count the chromosomes, to see it if that is the cause.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Yes, thank you! “Off the record” indeed meaning the lack of a formal diagnosis, but very clear symptoms. Thank you!
March 8th, 2010 at 9:49 am
By “off the record” I’m assuming that you mean that no one in your family was formally diagnosed. You can tell your doctor that there are people in your family (and give their relationship to you: mother, father, cousin, etc.) that you suspect have/had symptoms of ADHD, depression, borderline personality disorder and/or anxiety. Let me know if that answers your question.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I have several family members with psychological problems – none have ever been diagnosed because they survived the way they were living. My grandma was borderline, my parents have been depressed – but I’m very happy-go-lucky and rational so I don’t think I have either. I have one cousin who was diagnosed with ADHD, and one of her children – that’s it. I’ve always had severe concentration problems. My father likely has ADD, too. How can I best inform my doctor since this is all off the record?
March 8th, 2010 at 11:27 am
The info I had in my second book is if you have ADD, there is a 75% chance that you inherited ADHD genes from at least one of your parents (Rietveld, et al., 2004). (Granted, that is not the most recent data.)
Here’s the reference:
Rietveld, M.J.H., et al. 2004. Heritability of attention problems in children: Longitudinal results from a study of twins, age 3 to 12. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 45 (3): 577-588.
Feel free to PM me. I highly recommend Barkley’s work.
March 8th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Russell Barkley said there was a 20% chance the mother has it and a 25-30% chance the father…
Is that figure (from 2000 I think) out of date?
I know at that time they were only linking DRD4 and DAT1, which I’m guessing is not the case today?
I’m not criticising, I’m just trying to find the newest information.
I read what he’d said about executive function and the part where he talked about internalising speech and time are totally alien to me… could I PM you about those things?