Mental Health Zeitgeist

In Fairbanks, Maureen Harwood serves as one member of a diagnostic and advisory team — the Fetal Alcohol Community Evaluation Services team, or FACES — focusing on a medical and social issue cited as, among other things, the most common cause of preventable mental retardation.

Polishing off his strawberry-banana yogurt, Jacob Moore races to his keyboard with a whoop, picks his way through "Pop Goes the Weasel" and gives his mom a high five. This is the average stuff of childhood, and it has not come easily to the 8-year-old with Down syndrome.

Ensworth High senior V. Kenji Alexander was one of only two students in Tennessee and 162 in the country to earn a perfect score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam during its June administration.

Scientists investigating the mechanisms of Down syndrome have revealed the earliest developmental changes in embryonic stem cells caused by an extra copy of human chromosome 21 -- the aberrant inheritance of which results in the condition.

By Cindy V. Culp

ENVIRONMENT •  There is no “safe” amount of radiation. Each new exposure can lead to the risk of cancer and harm the body’s immune system. Radiation also can lead to spontaneous abortion, mental retardation, heart disease and leukemia. •  Increased reliance on nuclear power plants threatens the water supply. Reactors must be near large bodies of water to create steam to power their turbines ...

Paula Kavolius already had two boys, 2 and 4 years old, when her third son, Timmy, was born. It soon became evident that something was wrong. Timmy couldn't crawl, he couldn't talk. But he could scream, and he did, six to eight hours a day. Finally, doctors put a name to it: FG syndrome, a rare congenital disorder with multiple ...

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, has entries for seven different types of bipolar disorder. Each lists different qualifications for diagnosis; each defines the most recent episodes to determine the ultimate type. No type of bipolar is curable.

Physically, Deron Dickerson was a 38-year-old man. Mentally, he was a toddler who needed constant supervision.

The state Department of Mental Retardation will have a new name next year.

The state Department of Mental Retardation will have a new name next year.

John C. Whitehead/The Patriot-News Paul Geffert a volunteer from Mental Health Mental Retardation cleans cat bowls for PAWS Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Paul was participating in the United Way Day of Caring at PetSmart in Swatara Twp.

LYNCHBURG -- The U.S. Department of Justice plans to investigate possible civil rights violations at a state training center for the mentally disabled. The agency notified Gov. Timothy M. Kaine of the investigation of the Central Virginia Training Center in an Aug. 21 letter. Spokeswoman Meghan McGuire says the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services ...

The state Department of Mental Retardation will have a new name next year.

The state Department of Mental Retardation will have a new name next year.

By Darren MeritzEl Paso TimesEL PASO -- Limited resources and an increased number of patients who require mental-health services are creating a huge financial burden in El Paso that could be remedied

The Carroll County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities presented its 2007 annual report to Carroll County commissioners during their Thursday meeting at Carrollton.

The Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities has closed its West Stark Center on Hills & Dales Road in Massillon due to a power outage in the building this morning.

September is National Newborn Screening Awareness Month and the American College of Medical Genetics strongly advocates universal newborn screening for 29 treatable conditions. In many of these diseases, serious complications such as death, disability or mental retardation are avoidable only through newborn screening, with appropriate follow-up and treatment.

The $63 million went for mental health and mental retardation programs.