Smith Magenis Syndrome

[cmuir]

This article in today's daily mail online makes interesting reading. It's about a little girl who has a rare genetic disorder which makes her like Jekyll and Hyde. Article states that some children are thought to have been wrongly diagnosed with Autism.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1329618/The-little-girl-violent-genetic-disorder-makes-real-life-Jekyll-Hyde.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith-Magenis_syndrome#Diagnosis

 

Caroline.

[baddad]

This article in today's daily mail online makes interesting reading. It's about a little girl who has a rare genetic disorder which makes her like Jekyll and Hyde. Article states that some children are thought to have been wrongly diagnosed with Autism.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1329618/The-little-girl-violent-genetic-disorder-makes-real-life-Jekyll-Hyde.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith-Magenis_syndrome#Diagnosis

 

Caroline.

 

 

Interesting. I think it's probably a huge 'plus' that this can be diagnosed by blood tests etc, otherwise I could see it being the next big bandwagon people jump on and casually diagnose to explain away behaviours in their own children. By extension, I wonder if the diagnostic criteria will ever 'widen' to the point that confirmation by blood analysis becomes redundant? I hope not

I did notice on the wiki article and the 'official' website (watch out for the awful jayazz background muzak loop!) :

http://www.smith-magenis.co.uk/

that 'some individuals with SMS will never show significant behaviour problems, although some degree of self-injury and sleep disturbance probably occurs in most'.

It's a pity, then, but I guess inevitable, that the first article I ever read on the subject focuses on this one aspect of the condition, and will undoubtedly become a self-fulfilling prophecy and defining 'characteristic' in any subsequent diagnosis. Hopefully, the fact that some will never show significant behavioural problems will be considered worthy of at least as much research and investigation as other aspects, but my guess would be probably not.

 

Still, for any children (and parents of children)who might have been misdiagnosed a hugely beneficial article. Lets hope some kids are identified and helped as a consequence.

 

L&P

 

BD