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Child health
Scientists have first identified the gene that causes children to get wet at night
Scientists have long believed that the genetic-genetic component plays a large role in the risk of nocturnal enuresis, which is a problem for about 16 percent of 7-year-olds.
They have now identified the genetic variants that cause this problem and another intriguing disorder
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health
Thursday, 28 January 2021, 07:27
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A serious problem that affects children's self-esteem very significantly.
Night wetting (Photo: ShutterStock)
Scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark have for the first time been able to identify the genetic variable responsible for nocturnal enuresis in children and adolescents.
Experts have long believed that nocturnal enuresis has a hereditary genetic component, because it is usually a familial phenomenon, and children are more likely to suffer from it if one of their parents suffered from it as a child.
To date, however, no scientific proof has been found for this hypothesis.
A new genetic study published in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health shows how a particular genetic variable increases the risk of nocturnal enuresis.
"About 16 percent of 7-year-olds suffer from nocturnal enuresis, and although in many of them the phenomenon passes without intervention when they grow up, 1-2 percent of them will continue to suffer from it even as young adults. This is a serious problem that can significantly affect self-esteem and quality of life. Of children, "said Jane Howardgard Christensen, one of the researchers who participated in the study.
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The study included 3,882 children and adolescents who were diagnosed with nocturnal enuresis or those taking antidepressant medication.
The control group included 31,073 children and young people who do not suffer from this problem.
The researchers compared the genomic differences between the two groups to identify the genetic cause of wetting.
The genetic variants are related to the brain's ability to reduce urine production at night, to the regulation of bladder function and to the normalcy of sleep.
A sleeping boy (Photo: ShutterStock)
"We identified two sites on the genome where specific genetic variants increase the risk of nocturnal enuresis. The genes we identified are related to, among other things, how the brain develops the ability to reduce urine output at night, bladder regulation and proper sleep," explained Cecilia Jorgensen, head of the study. .
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The study also found that all those suffering from nocturnal enuresis had common genetic variants, which explains the genetic-hereditary factor that constitutes about a third of the risk of the phenomenon.
However, the way in which these variants are integrated and accumulated in everyone has significance, as well as other factors that must exist in order for the problem of nocturnal wetting to occur.
That is, there may be a situation where all the variants will exist in a particular person, but he will not suffer from the problem.
Someone may have the genetic variables and will not suffer from nocturnal enuresis because he has no other risk factors.
(Photo: ShutterStock)
"Someone may have all the genetic variants associated with nocturnal enuresis, but he will not get wet at night. This is because there are other risk factors that affect it and we have not yet mapped them - both genetic and environmental. It turns out that this is a very complex matter. "He alone is the one who causes nocturnal enuresis," Christensen added.
The genetic link between nocturnal enuresis and autism
Another interesting finding that emerged from the study is a common denominator between the variants identified as increased risk of nocturnal enuresis and autism spectrum disorders, suggesting the potential for a genetic link between the two phenomena.
"Our findings do not really say that nocturnal enuresis causes autism in children, or vice versa, but only that these two phenomena have a common denominator in terms of their genetic factors. Further research in this area could clarify the similar and biologically different between these two disorders," Christensen pointed out.
To make sure that the genetic factor was indeed the cause of the nocturnal enuresis and not a circumstantial or accidental finding, the researchers also compared their findings to another genetic database - from Iceland, which confirmed their findings.
They also saw there that those genetic variants increased the risk of nocturnal enuresis.
"At this stage, we can still not use a particular child's genetic profile to predict whether or not his or her nocturnal enuresis will pass or whether a particular treatment for this problem will be effective in his or her case. But it may be possible in the future and with more detailed research," concluded researcher C 'Christensen' wine.
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