[Jan 04, 97 - 09:39] Jane Kelley of 1:138/255 wrote to Jerry Schwartz:
JS>>You have offered no evidence that a disproportionate number of people 
ith
JS>>AD(H)D are from families with a history of alcoholism: you have merely
JS>>asserted that a certain percentage is (and you didn't even specify the
JS>>percentage).  With alcoholics making up 9% of the population (as I heard 
JS>>thi morning on the news), any child has around a 17% chance that at least 
JS>>one parent will be an alcoholic (if I remember my statistics correctly).
JK> Your figures are inacurate.  Alcoholics and their families make up
JK> closer to around 30% of the total population, and the percentage of
JK> children with ADHD from such families in one study by Dr. Terry Neher
JK> was around 33%.
You are misreading what I said.  I heard that 9% of the population is 
alcoholic; obviously, the number of families would be far larger, and your 
30% may well be as accurate as need be.  The 17% was my own calculation, 
based simply on each parent having a 9% shot; if you extend this to uncles, 
aunts, and other relatives then the odds go up, but when you correct for 
clustering then they go down again.  If you say 30%, then I'll accept that.
As for the percentage of children with ADHD from such families being 33%, 
that would be higher than the general population as I understand it; but "one 
study" is not convincing unless it is huge, diverse, and (since a diagnosis 
of ADHD can be swayed by the subjectivity of the researcher) blind.
JK> I am constantly aware that many professionals will do anything to avoid
JK> going back to school or attend lectures and seminars to learn new
JK> information.  THESE ARE VERY DANGEROUS and should be kept from seeing
JK> patients at all cost.
JK> Worse are those who have no background at all in medicine who think
JK> they are experts.
Whether an ill-informed lay person or a professional with an ax to grind is 
more dangerous may be arguable, but the argument is not profitable.
Jerry Schwartz
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