Comorbidities in Developmental Disorders

In the last decade the term ’comorbidity’ has gained popularity in the field of paediatric neurodisability, with the increasing recognition that many conditions are rarely present in isolation. Within this field, the term is often used to refer to the co-occurrence of conditions more frequently than would be expected by chance, which can include instances where one condition causes the other, where they share a common cause (for example, genetic), or where they are in fact manifestations of a single condition.

Whether it is valid to use the term ’comorbidity’ in all these situations, and how precisely it should be used, is something that the contributors to this book grapple with in their own fields of interest. The contributors, all world experts in their fields, also discuss what we can learn from the presence of comorbidities, however defined, about the aetiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental disabilities. In particular, they demonstrate how our increasing understanding of the mechanisms underlying the common association of many ‘comorbidities’ is helping us to understand the natural history of these conditions and improve our management of them.

Readership
Paediatricians, paediatric neurologists, child psychiatrists, neurodevelopmentalists, and physical, occupational and speech therapists working with children with developmental disabilities.

Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 187

Martin Bax (Editor)

Martin Bax was one of the pioneers of community paediatrics and brought a scholarly approach to the subject. He is Emeritus Reader in Child Health at Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital campus.

Dr Bax was for many years senior editor of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology and was chairperson of the European Academy of Childhood Disability and President of the Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes (SSBP).

He co-edited the third edition of Aicardi’s Diseases of the Nervous System in Childhood, Placenta and Neurodisability, 2nd Edition and Visual Impairment in Children due to Damage to the Brain.

Christopher Gillberg (Editor)

Christopher Gillberg is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg, and Chief Physician at the Child Neuropsychiatry Clinic at Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg. He is also Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University College London (Institute of Child Health), University of Glasgow and at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He is the founding editor of European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is or has been on the editorial boards of several journals. He has written or co-authored more than 450 peer-reviewed papers.

AUTHORS' APPOINTMENTS vii
FOREWORD ix
Christopher Verity
INTRODUCTION 1
Martin CO Bax and Christopher Gillberg
1 INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND THEIR COMORBIDITIES 7
Jeremy Turk
2 HETEROGENEITY IN CEREBRAL PALSY: VARIATIONS
IN NEUROLOGY, COMORBIDITY AND ASSOCIATED
CONDITIONS 20
J Keith Brown and Paul Eunson
3 GILLES DE LA TOURETTE SYNDROME AND ITS COMMON
COMORBIDITIES 40
Michael Orth and Mary May Robertson
4 COMORBIDITY IN NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS:
THE CASE OF ATTENTION-DEFICIT--HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER 60
Eric Taylor
5 EARLY LANGUAGE DISORDER AS A FREQUENT
COMORBIDITY IN MANY DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
IN YOUNG CHILDREN 75
Isabelle Rapin
6 AUTISM AND EPILEPSY: COMORBIDITY, COEXISTENCE OR
COINCIDENCE? 89
Christopher Gillberg and Brian Neville
7 GENETIC CORRELATES OF PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITY:
FRAGILE X SYNDROME 101
Sufen Chiu, David Hessl, Josh Day and Randi Hagerman
8 CHANNELOPATHIES 116
Sameer M Zuberi
9 INCREASED LONGEVITY AND THE COMORBIDITIES
ASSOCIATED WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL
DISABILITY 125
Alan H Bittles and Emma J Glasson
10 COMORBIDITY: CLASSIFICATION ARTEFACT AND
CLINICAL REALITY 142
Rutger Jan van der Gaag
INDEX 149

'Every chapter was enjoyable and easy to read and full of the understanding of nuances that only an expert can bring to a presentation. All of them have what physicians my age call "pearls" little known facts that are memorable because they are surprising or useful (or both). The chapter on the heterogeneity of cerebral palsy by Brown and Eunson has the largest number of these. I have never read clearer discussions of comorbid disorders in Tourette syndrome (Orth and Robertson), in ADHD (Taylor), in early language disorder (Rabin), and of autism and epilepsy (Gillberg and Neville). All chapters are very good but these five are excellent.' Gordon Worley, DMCN, 2011

'This compact book will make a useful contribution for both child psychiatrists and community paediatricians working with children with developmental disorders.' Felicity Hepper, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2011

'When you face a child who manifests seemingly multiple disabilities, which is the rule rather than the exception, this book will be an invaluable tool for your knowledge, reflection, and action.' Motohide Miyahara, International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 2011

'This book is very useful for physicians who care for children with developmental disorders. It offers a clear explanation of the disorders as well as an understanding of the many associated co-morbidities.' Judy Moreau, MD, Ochsner for Children