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Pub Date: |
2013-01-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Psychopathology; Risk; Public Health; Diagnostic Tests; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Genetics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Body Weight; Siblings; Prenatal Influences; Environmental Influences; Correlation; Attribution Theory; Molecular Structure; Autism; Hazardous Materials; Disadvantaged Environment; Intervention; Drug Therapy
Abstract:
Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its possible causes still attract controversy. Genes, pre and perinatal risks, psychosocial factors and environmental toxins have all been considered as potential risk factors. Method: This review (focussing on literature published since 1997, selected from a search of PubMed) critically considers putative risk factors with a focus on genetics and selected environmental risks, examines their relationships with ADHD and discusses the likelihood that these risks are causal as well as some of the main implications. Results: No single risk factor explains ADHD. Both inherited and noninherited factors contribute and their effects are interdependent. ADHD is familial and heritable. Research into the inherited and molecular genetic contributions to ADHD suggest an important overlap with other neurodevelopmental problems, notably, autism spectrum disorders. Having a biological relative with ADHD, large, rare copy number variants, some small effect size candidate gene variants, extreme early adversity, pre and postnatal exposure to lead and low birth weight/prematurity have been most consistently found as risk factors, but none are yet known to be definitely causal. There is a large literature documenting associations between ADHD and a wide variety of putative environmental risks that can, at present, only be regarded as correlates. Findings from research designs that go beyond simply testing for association are beginning to contest the robustness of some environmental exposures previously thought to be ADHD risk factors. Conclusions: The genetic risks implicated in ADHD generally tend to have small effect sizes or be rare and often increase risk of many other types of psychopathology. Thus, they cannot be used for prediction, genetic testing or diagnostic purposes beyond what is predicted by a family history. There is a need to consider the possibility of parents and siblings being similarly affected and how this might impact on engagement with families, influence interventions and require integration with adult services. Genetic contributions to disorder do not necessarily mean that medications are the treatment of choice. We also consider how findings might influence the conceptualisation of ADHD, public health policy implications and why it is unhelpful and incorrect to dichotomise genetic/biological and environmental explanations. It is essential that practitioners can interpret genetic and aetiological research findings and impart informed explanations to families. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
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Author(s): |
N/A |
Source: |
Healthy Schools Network, Inc. |
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Pub Date: |
2013-01-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Descriptive |
Peer Reviewed: |
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Descriptors:
Health Insurance; Risk; Public Health; Diseases; Educational Facilities; Water; Child Health; Poverty; Health Conditions; Environmental Influences; Children; Hazardous Materials; Intervention; Enrollment; School Personnel; Special Education; Minority Group Students; Economically Disadvantaged; Low Income Groups; Lunch Programs; Breakfast Programs; Poisoning; Court Litigation; Pollution
Abstract:
States compel children to attend school; in fact, 98% of all school-age children attend schools--irrespective of conditions. Yet the environmental conditions of decayed facilities or facilities close to hazards can damage children's health and ability to learn. At the same time, it is well documented that healthy school facilities can help children learn, grow, and stay healthy. Today, justice for children can be achieved, but that demands swifter, surer progress on federal, state, and local fronts to ensure that all children have environmentally healthy schools that are clean and in good repair--and when children do not, that they have timely on-site public health interventions to help reduce exposures and have necessary support services. This is a profound pediatric health and environmental justice issue that must not be set aside. "Towards Healthy Schools 2015: Progress on America's Environmental Health Crisis for Children" is the third triennial state-by-state data and policy report on this topic since 2006. "Sick Schools" (2009) and before it "Lessons Learned" (2006) researched and assessed state-by-state data and policies on environmental conditions at schools and risks to children's health, compiling them into a single, unique resource that painted a deeply disturbing picture, in which vulnerable children endure unhealthy schools. "Towards Healthy Schools 2015" cites, as did the two previous reports, basic federal data for public schools, such as total number of buildings; total enrollment; total number of personnel; percentage of children with asthma; percentage of children without health insurance; total number of children receiving special education; total number of children of minority status; and more. New in this edition are three data sets used to illustrate additional risk factors not covered in the first two reports: (1) total number of children eligible for free or reduced price meals (a proxy for poverty status); (2) states requiring schools to keep asthma/allergy incident reports; and (3) states requiring inspection of school drinking water outlets for lead. Appended are: (1) State Data Table Footnotes; (2) US Environmental Protection Agency: Office of Children's Health; (3) US Department of Education: Green Ribbon Schools; (4) Map: School Equity Funding Lawsuits in the States; and (5) Coalition for Healthier Schools: Position Statement and Policy Recommendations. (Contains 30 endnotes.) [Additional funding was provided by the Wallace Genetic and the Marisla Foundation.]
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Pub Date: |
2012-10-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Evidence; Risk; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Patients; Effect Size; Meta Analysis; Genetics; Environmental Influences; Hazardous Materials; Nutrition; Metabolism; Case Studies; Control Groups; Drug Therapy; Comparative Analysis; Cognitive Ability; Correlation; Clinical Diagnosis; Outcomes of Treatment
Abstract:
Objective: To determine whether peripheral biochemical markers (biomarkers) might differentiate patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from non-ADHD individuals. Method: We conducted a systematic search and a series of meta-analyses of case-control studies comprising studies from 1969 to 2011. Results: We identified 210 studies in the following categories: 71 studies of the main metabolites and metabolism enzymes of monoaminergic neurotransmission pathway; 87 studies of environmental risk factors divided into heavy metals (18 studies), substance/chemical exposures (16 studies), and nutritional factors (trace elements: 29 studies; essential fatty acids: 24 studies); 22 studies of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) pathway; 31 studies indicated with ''other.'' After screening for the availability for meta-analyses of drug naive/free case-control studies and Bonferroni correction, five comparisons were statistically significant (Norepinephrine [NE], 3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol [MHPG], monoamine oxidase [MAO], Zinc [Zn], cortisol), five of the significant findings found support in studies of response to ADHD medications (NE, MHPG, MAO, b-phenylethylamine [PEA], cortisol), six in studies of symptoms severity (NE, MHPG, MAO, ferritin, Zn, cortisol) and three in studies of neurophysiological or cognitive functioning (lead-ferritin-Zn). No evidence of publication bias was found, whereas significant heterogeneity of effect sizes across studies was found for three of the five biomarkers that differentiated ADHD from control subjects. Suggestive associations were evidenced for neuropeptide Y (NPY), manganese, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Conclusions: This study provides evidence for several peripheral biomarkers as being associated with ADHD both in diagnosis and in treatment efficacy. Further studies are warranted to replicate these findings, to assess their specificity for ADHD, and to quantify the degree to which they are sufficiently precise to be useful in clinical settings. (Contains 16 figures and 4 tables.)
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Pub Date: |
2012-08-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
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Descriptors:
Low Income Groups; Standardized Tests; Academic Achievement; Public Health; Achievement Tests; Children; Data Analysis; Public Policy; Child Development; Poisoning; Hazardous Materials; Child Health; Grade 3; Grade 4; Cohort Analysis; Correlation
Abstract:
Childhood exposure to even low levels of lead can adversely affect neurodevelopment, behavior, and cognitive performance. This paper investigates the link between lead exposure and student achievement in Massachusetts. Panel data analysis is conducted at the school-cohort level for children born between 1991 and 2000 and attending 3rd and 4th grades between 2000 and 2009 at more than 1,000 public elementary schools in the state. Massachusetts is well-suited for this analysis both because it has been a leader in the reduction of childhood lead levels and also because it has mandated standardized achievement tests in public elementary schools for almost two decades. The paper finds that elevated levels of blood lead in early childhood adversely impact standardized test performance, even when controlling for community and school characteristics. The results imply that public health policy that reduced childhood lead levels in the 1990s was responsible for modest but statistically significant improvements in test performance in the 2000s, lowering the share of children scoring unsatisfactory on standardized tests by 1 to 2 percentage points. Public health policy targeting lead thus has clear potential to improve academic performance, with particular promise for children in low income communities.
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Author(s): |
Kennedy, Mike |
Source: |
American School & University, v85 n1 Sep 2012 |
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Pub Date: |
2012-09-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive |
Peer Reviewed: |
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Descriptors:
Educational Environment; Video Technology; School Maintenance; Films; Sanitation; Hygiene; Hazardous Materials; Health Promotion; Pollution
Abstract:
The school year is back in full swing for millions of students across the nation trying to remember the names of their new teachers, what time lunch is served, and how to navigate the hallways and stairwells to get from one classroom to the next. Meanwhile, those responsible for keeping those education facilities clean, safe and well-maintained have to be vigilant to remove or minimize the numerous potential health and safety hazards that may be lurking in those classrooms and corridors, especially if workers haven't adopted effective procedures for cleaning and maintaining schools. Some of the suggested steps for monitoring and improving the school environment are offered.
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