TalkWhat We’re Talking About This Week
Copy Number Variation in Our Genome. Over at Evolgen, RPM explains “recent work indicates that there’s also quite a bit of variation amongst individuals in the actual content of their genomes. Such variation is known as copy number variation (CNV) or copy number polymorphism (CNP). What it means is that some people may have one copy of a genomic region, other may have two, and even others may have none.” What does this actually mean? Read RPM’s commentary and Hsien’s explanation. Or, read Reuters’ boiled-down news. Or, check out Nature’s accessible but detailed article.
Proof is Scant on Psychiatric Drug Mix for Young. Many psychiatrists and parents believe that drug combinations or “cocktails” help for conditions such as ADHD. There’s a lot to be debated about this, and when it comes to children, all our concerns about drug risks are amplified. Studies in children are fewer, children’s bodies and minds are evolving, and children don’t usually get to choose for themselves. What do you think?
Last year in the United States, about 1.6 million children and teenagers — 280,000 of them under age 10 — were given at least two psychiatric drugs in combination, according to an analysis performed by Medco Health Solutions at the request of The New York Times. More than 500,000 were prescribed at least three psychiatric drugs. More than 160,000 got at least four medications together, the analysis found.
Technorati Tags: human genome, copy number variation, polymorphisms, psychiatric drugs, medications, children, ADHD, controversy
