Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 02/11/2010.
Hello, I have a question regarding how ADHD is inherited. Can a father with ADHD inattentive without hyperactivity have one child with ADHD with hyperactivity, impulsivity and one child with ADHD inattentive without hyperactivity. Is there a separate gene for each type of ADHD? I am wondering because my husband has ADHD inattentive and each of my children have a different type of ADHD. My son age 11 presents just like my husband, quiet, inattentive, lack of initiative. My daughter age 8 is loud, hyperactive, interested in everything and is driven by a motor. I suspect that my brother has ADHD and he is loud and hyperactive. So maby my son inherited it from my husband and my daughter inherited from my side of the family?
combination of genes
Submitted by arwen on
Sarah, I'm not an expert, but from what I have read, my understanding is that ADHD disorders (and other disorders like Asperger's syndrome) are determined by a complex combination of genes, some of which have been identified and others of which are as yet being looked for. (It's apparently clear to the researchers that the genes that have been identified are insufficient,but what other genes may contribute is uncertain.) It's not even clear, as far as I know, that there is only one gene controlling the hyperactivity component. So at this point, it's really impossible to say exactly what traits the offspring may have relative to the traits the parents have. I'm sure there's nothing that has been discovered in the research that would preclude a nonhyperactive person with ADD having a child that was hyperactive with ADD and a child that was not hyperactive with ADD.
In my husband's extended family, all the men over 4 generations have had ADD (all non-hyperactive), but in all those four generations, only 1 of the women has had it. So in his family, there seems to be a pretty strong sex-linked characteristic to the ADD genetics. In other extended families I know, it seems to be pretty random as to who has it and who doesn't.
Genetic
Submitted by MelissaOrlov on
From everything I've read,
Submitted by tazangel36 on
From everything I've read, scientists believe there is a strong genetic link; they see it run in families. They just haven't found the link yet.
Also, from other research, the reason that attention-deficit presents differently in different people boils down to biology. I'm not a scientist, so I encourage you to do your own research on this rather than take my word for it, but here's what I got out of the research I read:
There are 4 different "nodes" in your brain responsible for making, storing, processing and relaying dopamine and its derivatives. Dopamine and its related chemicals are responsible for executive-order functioning. In attention-deficit people, after reading brain scans and MRIs, scientists know that 1 or more of these "nodes" are not doing its job, for whatever reason. We don't yet have the technology to accurately pinpoint which node(s) is malfunctioning, and why. Some could be malformed, some could be missing, some could be letting a trickle of those important chemicals in or out; you get the idea. Since we can't accurately pinpoint which node is affected, we can't tailor diagnosis and treatment to the individual. We have to cover it w/ a blanket approach.
There are also personality differences at work, especially in AD families. In my family, for example, my mother-in-law, husband, and son all present with varying levels of ADHD. My mother-in-law latches onto a project, grows bored within a month, and moves on to another; prefers to spend a lot of time to herself; hates discussing difficult topics so much that she will end the conversation. My husband fidgets, talks a lot, hyperfocuses on any project that catches his fancy, and gets caught in thought-loops. My son loves to be active, help people whether they need it or ask for it or not, craves positive reenforcement, and has great difficulty following simple instructions. All 3 have ADHD; all 3 have different personalities, different ways of looking at the world. The differences between ADHD behaviors and personality are much easier to see in adults, in my opinion. Hope this helps!
Asperger or ADHD
Submitted by Brandon on
I have ADHD and my son we think has asperger I know what to look for in ADHD but I am not sure about asperger. My sister who is a therapist says he might have asperger but the link between parents and kids with ADHD has me thinking he has ADHD. Any imput ????
Don't know about any link
Submitted by sullygrl on
I don't know about any link between Asperger's syndrome and ADHD. Asberger is a form of autism. The biggest sign is extreme difficulty in social situations. People with Asberger's usually can't read social cues, can't deal with the smallest changes in routines, don't understand a lot of "joking" especially sarcasm or other things that need reading a tone of voice. Like ADHD they can hyperfocus on one thing, but unlike ADHD that doesn't necessarily change when it gets boring. If it's movies, or wrestling, it will always be movies or wrestling. And these will be the things they are able to have a conversation around.
So some of the signs are the same, missing social cues, hyperfocusing, but they tend to manifest themselves differently.