Caring for children of parents with frontotemporal degeneration: a report of the AFTD Task Force on Families With Children.

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) organized a 7-person Task Force on Families With Children to explore the concerns of families when a parent of young children or teens is diagnosed with FTD. This report summarizes the findings of the task force and highlights the need for additional attention to this topic. The task force conducted a review of related literature and existing resources and compiled issues identified by spouses/partners, teens, and adult children within an affected family.

Latent class subtyping of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid conditions.

Objective: Genetic studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) generally use discrete DSM-IV subtypes to define diagnostic status. To improve correspondence between phenotypic variance and putative susceptibility genes, multivariate classification methods such as latent class analysis (LCA) have been proposed. The aim of this study was to perform LCA in a sample of 1,010 individuals from a nationwide recruitment of unilineal nuclear families with at least one child with ADHD and another child either affected or clearly unaffected.

Genetic counseling and presenilin-1 Alzheimer's disease: "Research Family" members share some thoughts.

Genetic counseling is a 2-way street between counselor and the counseled. In this article, both share experiences gained through more than 25 years of searching for the gene, finding the presenilin-1 Alzheimer's disease gene, and waiting for a cure. "Research Families" made research models a reality.

Prothrombotic factors in children with stroke or porencephaly.

Objective: This study compared the frequencies of genetic and functional coagulation abnormalities in children with arterial ischemic stroke or porencephaly with frequencies in previously published studies.

Methods: A series of 59 children (age 0-18 years) with arterial ischemic stroke or porencephaly were referred to the National Institutes of Health. A blood sample, buccal smear sample, questionnaire, and pedigree were requested for each child.

Genetic aspects of Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, and other dementias.

Although genetic testing is available for some degenerative diseases, in most types of dementia, both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Overall, dementing diseases can be either sporadic or inherited, and in general, the earlier the onset, the more likely a disease is to be inherited. Before genetic testing is performed, the ethical issues, such as the effect the tests might have on asymptomatic children, should be considered.