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Advancing Treatment and Care for Fragile X Syndrome

A young boy at a doctor's visit

Fragile X-associated disorders (FXD) are among the most common inherited causes of intellectual disability or problems with learning, thinking, reasoning, or remembering. A new supplement published in Pediatrics and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contains some of the latest research on FXD and will be a wide-ranging resource for healthcare professionals and researchers in their efforts to advance knowledge, treatment, and quality of life for those with FXD.

The supplement contains

  • New research on individuals with both fragile X syndrome (FXS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD),
  • A description of what’s needed and the barriers and challenges to have FXS included in newborn screening,
  • Expert reviews of the scientific literature on FXD, and
  • An outline of the methods used by staff at FXS specialty clinics collecting data for the Fragile X Online Registry With Accessible Research Database, known as FORWARD. FORWARD is the largest database of individuals living with FXD in the United States and is funded by CDC.

New data: Fragile X syndrome and autism spectrum disorder

Most of the existing research on individuals with both FXS and ASD comes from small studies. New data included in the supplement come from a large number of individuals with FXS who receive care at FXS specialty clinics. This physician- and parent-reported information from FORWARD on almost 600 individuals with FXS between 3 and 21 years of age1 found that

  • Just over 4 in 10 individuals had both FXS and ASD.
  • Individuals with both FXS and ASD were about 3 times more likely to experience seizures than individuals with just FXS.
  • Approximately 4 in 10 individuals with both FXS and ASD had sleep problems that required treatment, compared to 3 in 10 individuals with just FXS.
  • There was a higher proportion of attention problems, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity/over reactivity, perseverative/obsessive compulsive behavior, and irritability/aggressive behavior/agitation/self-injury among those with both FXS and ASD as compared to those with just FXS.
  • Aggressive/disruptive behavior was the only behavior treated with medicine more often in individuals with both FXS and ASD compared to those with just FXS. About 4 in 10 individuals with both FXS and ASD were treated with medicine for aggressive/disruptive behavior compared with less than 2 in 10 individuals with just FXS.
  • Applied Behavior Analysis may be underutilized in children with both FXS and ASD.
Rendering of Fragile X Gene

Why is this new publication important?

Together we can improve care for individuals with FXD. The more we know, the better that care can be.

Resources for more information

Reference

  1. Kaufmann WE, Kidd SA, Andrews HF, Budimirovic DB, Esler A, Haas-Givler B, Stackhouse T, Riley C, Peacock G, Sherman SL, Brown T, Berry-Kravis E. Autism spectrum disorder in fragile X syndrome: Co-occurring conditions and current treatment. Pediatrics. 2017;139(Suppl 3): S194-206.
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