New research published in The Lancet has thrown fresh light on inherited mental disability. The parents of a mentally handicapped baby are often reluctant to produce more children – fearing that they too will be disabled, but doctors at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg may offer comfort.It seems that the genetic mutations that cause mental handicap may not in fact be hereditary. Professor Andre Reis from the Institute of Human Genetics explained the findings.
In children with severe intellectual disabilities genetic causes are very frequent and we have found in more than half of the 51 cases we have studied that mutation is new and was not present in the parents and only forward in these children.
View the original article here: Mentally handicapped children may not have inhertited handicap from parents
