FINDING THE GREATEST COMMON DENOMINATOR

What do dyslexia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism have in common?

In many children, these learning disorders tend to overlap. All of them are biologically rooted. And most have been strongly linked with essential fatty acid abnormalities, possibly arising from dietary imbalances or metabolic dysfunction.

For this reason, it's time to examine neurodevelopment disorders like these using a "new paradigm," suggests Dr. A.J. Richardson of the Laboratory of Physiology at Oxford University. Until recently, too much focus has been spent on assigning "discrete categories and labels" to these conditions, rather than examining their common biological underpinnings.

Dr. Richardson points to mounting clinical evidence suggesting that fatty acid abnormalities play an important role in neurodevelopmental disorders. "Gene-environment interactions are clearly crucial at every stage, and phospholipid metabolism is also at the interface of these, depending as heavily as it does on the dietary intake of fatty acids."

Fatty acids have a powerful influence on the developing brain structure and its functional ability - hence their potential link with dyslexia, autism, ADHD, and dyspraxia - a developmental coordination disorder. "The available evidence does suggest that fatty acid abnormalities are probably implicated to at least some extent in all these conditions," Dr. Richardson summarizes.

Fatty acid imbalances can affect the integrity of cell membranes, particularly those rich in phospholipids such as brain neurons. In addition, local-acting hormones formed by fatty acids (called eicosanoids) ensure proper cellular communication in the brain, act as natural sedatives, and help regulate the sleep/wake cycle.

In fact, abnormal fatty acid metabolism may partly explain the connection between early childhood development disorders and neuropsychiatric illness. "Recent evidence suggests that as many as one-third of children who currently receive an ADHD diagnosis may actually be suffering from early onset bipolar disorder, " Dr. Richardson points out.

Such a distinction is important. While treatment with omega-3 fatty acids appears to benefit many patients with bipolar disorder, stimulant medications often used to treat ADHD may actually worsen the condition.

In the future, more attention should be focused on common biological triggers in autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other conditions falling under the "phospholipid spectrum of disorders," Dr. Richardson urges. A better understanding of specific fatty acid metabolism, free radical damage, and other potential mechanisms involved, offers hope of improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for these conditions.

NOTE: Essential and Metabolic Fatty Acids Analysis (http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/fattyacids/) offers physicians a precise assessment of 30 individual fatty acids and five important ratios, as well as percent distributions of fat families. This test allows practitioners to clearly gauge the need for dietary or supplemental fatty acid interventions, and to monitor the effectiveness of treatment.

To find out more about other functional imbalances that may affect child neurodevelopment see the Autism and ADHD links in the Conditions pull-down menu on our website: http://www.gsdl.com

Sources: Richardson AJ, Ross MA. Fatty acid metabolism in neurodevelopmental disorders: a new perspective on associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, dyslexia, dyspraxia and the autistic spectrum. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 2000;63(1/2):1-9.

Bell JG, Sargent JR, Tocher DR, Dick JR. Red blood cell fatty acid compositions in a patient with autistic spectrum disorder: a characteristic abnormality in neurodevelopmental disorders? Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 2000;63(1/2):21-25.