Helping Fathers Of Sexually Abused Children

The preliminary results of a Universite de Montreal study show that fathers of sexually abused children can suffer from anxiety, depression and grief. Such patriarchs are often overwhelmed by a desire for vengeance, yet little literature exists to help them deal with their pain. Marie-Alexia Allard plans to change that.

“Many fathers of sexually abused children want revenge and express the desire to torture their child’s aggressor,” says Allard, a PhD student at the Université de Montréal Department of Psychology. “Supporting the mother is essential to the recovery of the child. And the focus is often put on the mother because the father is the aggressor. But what happens in cases where the father is not the aggressor?”

Preliminary data provides some insight on the extent of the trauma experienced by fathers. “Their situation is particularly difficult,” says Allard. “The most violent reactions arise when the aggressor is the stepfather of the child, the mother’s new boyfriend or her new husband.”

Cases in which vengeance is not the dominant emotion are ones where the aggressor is a family member with whom the father has an emotional bond. This was the situation in more than 50 percent of cases. Read more

Baldness Gene Identified

US researchers have found a gene mutation that causes a progressive type of hair loss known as hereditary hypotrichosis simplex and say their discovery is likely to affect research and improve treatments for different types of hair loss, including male pattern baldness.

A paper on the discovery, by investigators from Columbia, Rockefeller and Stanford Universities in the US, and research centers in Italy and Switzerland, was published online in the 15 April issue of Nature.

The progressive hair loss of hereditary hypotrichosis simplex begins in childhood through a process called hair follicle miniaturization, which also occurs in male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia. The process causes hair follicles to shrink so the hair they produce gradually becomes thinner and thinner, until a thick head of hair eventually becomes what is known as “peach fuzz”.

In this study, the researchers found that the gene APCDD1 causes hereditary hypotrichosis simplex and thus gives some insights into hair follicle miniaturization. But, they pointed out that this does not mean the same gene causes male pattern baldness, even though it also involves hair follicle miniaturization.

Lead author Dr Angela M. Christiano, professor of dermatology and genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center, said in a statement:

“It is important to note that while these two conditions share the same physiologic process, the gene we discovered for hereditary hypotrichosis does not explain the complex process of male pattern baldness.” Read more

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