Is ADHD really a Genetic Disorder?
So, at last the news we have been waiting for, the first direct evidence that the causes of ADHD are genetic.
We can now add this to a whole long list of other conditions that have been found to have a genetic component, including obesity, migraine, depression, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
But hold on a minute, is there more going on here than meets the eye? Well, since the embarrassment of the Human Genome Project (when the number of genes in a human being were found to be a fraction of what they “should” have been) the field of genetics has been turned on its head.
One of the most important discoveries is that of epigenetic markers.
What this means is that the long-cherished belief that our genes were just handed down from generation to generation relatively unchanged is wrong. We now know that our genes are directly influenced by many different environmental (or epigenetic) stimuli.
In other words, the nature of our environment influences which of our genes are switched on or off.
So, which environments are the most important in determining this????
Well, it should come as no real surprise that it is our earliest environments, including our prenatal environment, that is most important.
Many studies have shown the relationship between ADHD and maternal stress and smoking during pregnancy. In fact, the statistical correlations are much better for this than they are for genetic causes. A recent study has also shown that using a mobile phone during pregnancy can increase the likelihood of behavioural problems by up to 50%.
Unfortunately, the modern scientific paradigm which states “at our core we are our genes” is somewhat flawed. We now know that our genes can change and that these changes go on to affect future generations.
A sobering thought!
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