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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Several Psychiatric Disorders Share The Same Root Cause, Study Finds
Researchers recently discovered that eight different psychiatric conditions share a common genetic basis. A study published this year pinpointed specific variants among those shared genes and uncovered how they behave during brain development. The US team found that many of these variants remain active for extended periods, potentially influencing multiple developmental stages – and offering new targets for treatments that could address several disorders at once. "The proteins produced by these genes are also highly connected to other proteins," explains University of North Carolina geneticist Hyejung Won. "Changes to these proteins in particular could ripple through the network, potentially causing widespread effects on the brain." In 2019 an international team of researchers first identified 109 genes that were linked in different combinations with eight psychiatric disorders, including autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anorexia. This may explain why these conditions often co-occur – for example up to 70 percent of individuals diagnosed with autism or ADHD have the other too – and why they frequently cluster in families. Each of these eight conditions also has gene differences that are unique to them individually, so Won and team compared the unique genes with those shared between the disorders. They took almost 18,000 variations of the shared and unique genes involved and put them into the precursor cells that become our neurons to see how they could impact gene expression in these cells during human development. This allowed the researchers to identify 683 genetic variants that impacted gene regulation and to further explore them in neurons from developing mice. Genetic variants behind multiple seemingly unrelated traits, or in this case conditions, are called pleiotropic. The pleiotropic variants were involved in many more protein-to-protein interactions than the gene variants unique to specific psychological conditions, and they were active across more types of brain cells. Pleiotropic variants were also involved in regulatory mechanisms that impact multiple stages of brain development. The ability of these genes to impact cascades and networks of processes, such as gene regulation, could explain why the same variants can contribute to different conditions. "Pleiotropy was traditionally viewed as a challenge because it complicates the classification of psychiatric disorders," says Won. "However, if we can understand the genetic basis of pleiotropy, it might allow us to develop treatments targeting these shared genetic factors, which could then help treat multiple psychiatric disorders with a common therapy." This would be a very useful strategy given the World Health Organization estimates 1 in 8 people (almost 1 billion in total) live with some form of psychiatric condition. This research was published in Cell. An earlier version of this article was first published in February 2025. New Smart Dental Floss Can Detect Your Stress From Saliva Gluten Intolerance vs Celiac Disease: Experts Reveal The Key Differences Weight-Loss Drugs Like Ozempic Can Leave Lasting Damage in Your Mouth
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mother of daughter with rare disability writes book celebrating difference
An Irish mother whose daughter was born with a rare genetic condition has written and illustrated a children's book to help celebrate difference. Sarah Gannon, an occupational therapist living in Co Kilkenny drew inspiration for her book, Just See Me: seeing beyond difference, from her seven-year-old daughter Ciara who has Charge syndrome and is deafblind. Mrs Gannon, 39, who has more than 17 years' experience of working with children with disabilities, said she wanted to write the book to educate people and encourage them to see beyond differences. 'Charge syndrome has lots of different areas of difference, my daughter has got a visual and a hearing impairment, so she's deafblind and she's other bits going on with that, like a cleft lip and palate,' Mrs Gannon told the PA news agency. 'She also has cardiac issues and is fed via peg tube. She's got autism and she's got an intellectual disability.' Despite her medical needs, Mrs Gannon said Ciara is a regular little girl who wants to play and engage with other children. In her career, Mrs Gannon has always been passionate about encouraging inclusion and reducing discrimination against children and adults with disabilities. Since having Ciara, she said she has felt compelled to try to reduce people's fear of disability. 'The book is just a little poem about seeing beyond her differences and seeing her for her strengths and her abilities and her potential,' she said. 'The illustrations are brightly coloured and hopefully interesting to kids with visual and hearing impairments.' Mrs Gannon says all proceeds from the book will go towards the Anne Sullivan Foundation, Ireland's national charity which supports people who are deafblind. The new author, who also has a four-year-old son named David, said the experience of having a sibling with additional needs has made him incredibly compassionate. 'The two of them are mad about each other. He is her biggest advocate,' she said. 'He's very compassionate and sweet with her. 'Siblings of kids with additional needs, they're amazingly resilient, because they have to be, they're amazingly compassionate.' Mrs Gannon stressed the importance of linking up with other parents in the same position as she reflected on her experience as a parent of a child with a disability. 'It can be very isolating and very lonely as a parent of a child with additional needs because you feel like you're the only one in that boat,' she said. 'You have to become the expert in your own child, particularly when there's a rare condition. 'You have to educate the educators and the professionals because they've probably never heard of it. 'Other people don't get it, really, they don't, and that's partially what the book is trying to do, help them get it a bit more.' Ciara celebrated her seventh birthday on Sunday and Mrs Gannon said she and husband Ian are feeling optimistic about their daughter's future. 'We'd be quite sad around her birthday usually because, of course, it's a reminder of where she should be as a seven-year-old and where she's not. And that can be tricky sometimes,' she said. 'But this year, for the first year, we're feeling more optimistic and hopeful as she's made huge gains in the last year, and a lot of that is thanks to school. 'Her communication and speech is really improving and she's very happy with life.' Just See Me: seeing beyond difference by Sarah Gannon is available now, published by Austin Macauley in paperback at £7.99, hardback at £12.99 and ebook at £3.50.
The Independent
14-04-2025
- General
- The Independent
Mother of daughter with rare disability writes book celebrating difference
An Irish mother whose daughter was born with a rare genetic condition has written and illustrated a children's book to help celebrate difference. Sarah Gannon, an occupational therapist living in Co Kilkenny drew inspiration for her book, Just See Me: seeing beyond difference, from her seven-year-old daughter Ciara who has Charge syndrome and is deafblind. Mrs Gannon, 39, who has more than 17 years' experience of working with children with disabilities, said she wanted to write the book to educate people and encourage them to see beyond differences. 'Charge syndrome has lots of different areas of difference, my daughter has got a visual and a hearing impairment, so she's deafblind and she's other bits going on with that, like a cleft lip and palate,' Mrs Gannon told the PA news agency. 'She also has cardiac issues and is fed via peg tube. She's got autism and she's got an intellectual disability.' Despite her medical needs, Mrs Gannon said Ciara is a regular little girl who wants to play and engage with other children. In her career, Mrs Gannon has always been passionate about encouraging inclusion and reducing discrimination against children and adults with disabilities. Since having Ciara, she said she has felt compelled to try to reduce people's fear of disability. 'The book is just a little poem about seeing beyond her differences and seeing her for her strengths and her abilities and her potential,' she said. 'The illustrations are brightly coloured and hopefully interesting to kids with visual and hearing impairments.' Mrs Gannon says all proceeds from the book will go towards the Anne Sullivan Foundation, Ireland's national charity which supports people who are deafblind. The new author, who also has a four-year-old son named David, said the experience of having a sibling with additional needs has made him incredibly compassionate. 'The two of them are mad about each other. He is her biggest advocate,' she said. 'He's very compassionate and sweet with her. ' Siblings of kids with additional needs, they're amazingly resilient, because they have to be, they're amazingly compassionate.' Mrs Gannon stressed the importance of linking up with other parents in the same position as she reflected on her experience as a parent of a child with a disability. 'It can be very isolating and very lonely as a parent of a child with additional needs because you feel like you're the only one in that boat,' she said. 'You have to become the expert in your own child, particularly when there's a rare condition. 'You have to educate the educators and the professionals because they've probably never heard of it. 'Other people don't get it, really, they don't, and that's partially what the book is trying to do, help them get it a bit more.' Ciara celebrated her seventh birthday on Sunday and Mrs Gannon said she and husband Ian are feeling optimistic about their daughter's future. 'We'd be quite sad around her birthday usually because, of course, it's a reminder of where she should be as a seven-year-old and where she's not. And that can be tricky sometimes,' she said. 'But this year, for the first year, we're feeling more optimistic and hopeful as she's made huge gains in the last year, and a lot of that is thanks to school. 'Her communication and speech is really improving and she's very happy with life.' Just See Me: seeing beyond difference by Sarah Gannon is available now, published by Austin Macauley in paperback at £7.99, hardback at £12.99 and ebook at £3.50.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mother of daughter with rare disability writes book celebrating difference
An Irish mother whose daughter was born with a rare genetic condition has written and illustrated a children's book to help celebrate difference. Sarah Gannon, an occupational therapist living in Co Kilkenny drew inspiration for her book, Just See Me: seeing beyond difference, from her seven-year-old daughter Ciara who has Charge syndrome and is deafblind. Mrs Gannon, 39, who has more than 17 years' experience of working with children with disabilities, said she wanted to write the book to educate people and encourage them to see beyond differences. 'Charge syndrome has lots of different areas of difference, my daughter has got a visual and a hearing impairment, so she's deafblind and she's other bits going on with that, like a cleft lip and palate,' Mrs Gannon told the PA news agency. 'She also has cardiac issues and is fed via peg tube. She's got autism and she's got an intellectual disability.' Despite her medical needs, Mrs Gannon said Ciara is a regular little girl who wants to play and engage with other children. In her career, Mrs Gannon has always been passionate about encouraging inclusion and reducing discrimination against children and adults with disabilities. Since having Ciara, she said she has felt compelled to try to reduce people's fear of disability. 'The book is just a little poem about seeing beyond her differences and seeing her for her strengths and her abilities and her potential,' she said. 'The illustrations are brightly coloured and hopefully interesting to kids with visual and hearing impairments.' Mrs Gannon says all proceeds from the book will go towards the Anne Sullivan Foundation, Ireland's national charity which supports people who are deafblind. The new author, who also has a four-year-old son named David, said the experience of having a sibling with additional needs has made him incredibly compassionate. 'The two of them are mad about each other. He is her biggest advocate,' she said. 'He's very compassionate and sweet with her. 'Siblings of kids with additional needs, they're amazingly resilient, because they have to be, they're amazingly compassionate.' Mrs Gannon stressed the importance of linking up with other parents in the same position as she reflected on her experience as a parent of a child with a disability. 'It can be very isolating and very lonely as a parent of a child with additional needs because you feel like you're the only one in that boat,' she said. 'You have to become the expert in your own child, particularly when there's a rare condition. 'You have to educate the educators and the professionals because they've probably never heard of it. 'Other people don't get it, really, they don't, and that's partially what the book is trying to do, help them get it a bit more.' Ciara celebrated her seventh birthday on Sunday and Mrs Gannon said she and husband Ian are feeling optimistic about their daughter's future. 'We'd be quite sad around her birthday usually because, of course, it's a reminder of where she should be as a seven-year-old and where she's not. And that can be tricky sometimes,' she said. 'But this year, for the first year, we're feeling more optimistic and hopeful as she's made huge gains in the last year, and a lot of that is thanks to school. 'Her communication and speech is really improving and she's very happy with life.' Just See Me: seeing beyond difference by Sarah Gannon is available now, published by Austin Macauley in paperback at £7.99, hardback at £12.99 and ebook at £3.50.
