Pervasive development disorder

Autism (Pervasive Development Disorder). The association between schizophrenia and autism is of particular historic significance. Bleuler, who coined the term schizophrenia, included autism as one of his four As among the symptoms of schizophrenia, the others being affect, ambivalence, and association. By autism, Bleuler meant the indifference to and separation from normal social interaction that is characteristic of schizophrenia. 

Tanguay, P.E. (2000) Pervasive development disorders a 10-year review. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39 1079-1095. 

E. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive development disorder, schizophrenia, or another psychotic disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (such as a mood, anxiety, dissociative, or personality disorder). 

Today, autism terminology includes pervasive development disorder (PDD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which in turn comprises five diagnostic categories autism, Rett syndrome, Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). PDD is also called broad autism, while the more severe autism per se is called narrow autism, as illustrated in John s case. 

Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide Hydroxyl group Polymerase chain reaction Pervasive development disorder... 

Pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified Positron emission tomography Rett s disorder... 

Children with pervasive developmental disorders are also at higher risk for developing TS. In a recent survey of 447 pupils from nine schools for children and adolescents with autism, 19 children were found to have definite TS, yielding a prevalence rate of 4.3% (Baron-Cohen et ah, 1999). However, caution is warranted, as complex motor tics can be difficult to distinguish from motor stereotypies, and differentiation among these behaviors may be especially problematic among retarded individuals with limited verbal skills. 

The differential diagnoses include several disorders with overlapping behaviors that have either a compulsive quality or impulse control deficits. The stereotypies and perseverative behavior of the pervasive develop-... 

Pervasive developmental disorder NOS is diagnosed when there is a severe and pervasive impairment in the development of reciprocal social interaction. Impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication skills and stereotyped behavior, interests, and activities may be present, but the criteria are not met for a specific PDD, schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder. 

The efficacy and safety of buspirone have been evaluated in the management of anxiety and irritability in 22 children with pervasive developmental disorders. One child developed abnormal involuntary movements of the mouth, cheeks, and tongue after having taken buspirone 20 mg/day for 10 months. No other drugs were prescribed. The abnormal movements disappeared completely within 2 weeks of withdrawal of buspirone. Other adverse effects... 

Social phobias are certainly influenced by developmental and other life experiences (such as the quality of early attachments, the development of appropriate social skills, and adequate experience interacting with others). At the same time, there is rather compelling evidence suggesting that social phobics (and their more pervasively impaired cousins—avoidant personalities) may have a biologically based disorder. 

An understanding of the pervasive effects of PUFA on the complex interactions among the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems is not yet complete. However, itis already possible to speculate on the directions that much of the future research and clinical developments will pursue in these areas. Not least among such concerns are the needs to clarify the role of the individual fatty acids, to properly explain the prolilc of the fatty acids in both the brain and serum, and, in particular, to delineate the importance and funcdonal consequences of the n-6/n-3 ratio. Perhaps most important is to recognize the mediating funcdon that PUFAs provide and, thereby, to advance basic research in both behavior and the life sciences, and to develop clinical applications for the treatment and prevention of a wide range of chronic disorders. 

Therefore, as we begin to develop greater understanding of the pervasive roles that ceramide plays in cellular signaling and disease, the use of agents that can modulate ceramide metabolism may find direct clinical applications for both the preventative and therapeutic treatment of a variety of disorders. 

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