In a recent revelation, it has come to notice that there is a blurred line of difference between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neuropsychiatric conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Being one of the most common childhood disorders, ADHD occurs before the age of 7 years and persists for at least 6 months and hence can be easily diagnostic for ADHD, while ASD is being seen as causing problems with social interaction and communication before the age of three.

Published in advance online editions of Science Translational Medicine, a team of researchers led by Dr. Russell Schachar, Senior Scientist and Psychiatrist at SickKids and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Stephen Scherer, Senior Scientist at SickKids, Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics at SickKids and the McLaughlin Centre at the University of Toronto has made significant contribution in probing the underlying theory.

For the study, the team used gene-chip technology to study the DNA of 248 unrelated patients with ADHD, to locate Copy Number Variants (CNV), which is an insertion or deletions affecting the genes.

"For the first time, we've tested these genetic alterations in ADHD and have a pretty good handle on a couple of decent ADHD candidate genes”, said Scherer "This is critical, as it gives us confidence in interpreting our results”.

It’s being believed that a lot of associated problems in ADHD and ASD have been fueled by the fact that they are sharing genetic risk for different conditions.