pica and Perceptual-Disorders

To investigate the relation between low-level absorption and neuropsychological function, blind evaluations were under-taken in forty-six symptom-free children aged 3-15 years with blood-lead concentrations of 40-68 mug. per 100 ml. (mean 48 mug. per 100 ml.) and in seventy-eight ethnically and socioeconomically similar controls with levels greater than mug. per 100 ml. (mean 27 mug. per (100 ml). All children lived within 6-6 km. of a large, lead-emitting smelter, and in many cases residence there had been lifelong. Mean age in the lead group was 8-3 years and in the controls 9-3. Testing with Wechsler intelligence scales for schoolchildren and preschool children (W.I.S.C. and W.P.P.S.I.) showed age-adjusted performance I.Q. to be significantly decreased in the group with higher lead levels (mean scores, W.I.S.C. plus W.P.P.S.I., 95 v. 103). Children in all ages in the lead group also had significant slowing in a finger-wrist tapping test. Full-scale I.Q., verbal I.Q., BEHAVIOUR, AND HYPERACTIVITY RATINGS DID NOT DIFFER.

Topics: Absorption; Adolescent; Affective Symptoms; Age Factors; Child; Child, Preschool; Cognition Disorders; Colic; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Hyperkinesis; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Motor Skills; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Examination; Neurologic Manifestations; Perceptual Disorders; Pica; Seizures; Socioeconomic Factors; Texas; Wechsler Scales

Twenty-seven asymptomatic children with confirmed chronic increased lead absorption were compared with 27 matched control children for evidence of neuropsychological impairment. Evaluation of each child included a complete history, physical examination, quantitative neurological tests, and comprehensive psychological tests. There was significantly increased incidence of hyperactive behavior in the subjects with increased lead levels, but there was no significant difference in any of the quantitative test results. Uncontrolled variables, especially lead absorption in infancy and adverse environmental pressures other than lead, still leave questions about the relationship between chronic lead exposure and behavior of intelligence.

Topics: Chelating Agents; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic Disease; Coproporphyrins; Feeding Behavior; Female; Humans; Hyperkinesis; Intellectual Disability; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Male; Medical History Taking; Neurologic Examination; Perceptual Disorders; Pica; Psychological Tests; Socioeconomic Factors; Urban Population; Wechsler Scales

Topics: Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Child; Child Behavior Disorders; Encephalitis; Humans; Neurocognitive Disorders; Perceptual Disorders; Personality Disorders; Pica