Feb. 25, 2001--
Birds that pluck out their feathers. Dogs which lick off their fur. Or humans who pull out their hair!
Utah researchers may soon begin searching for a common gene which may trigger the compulsive disorder in all three species.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports from the University of Utah.
If scientists here at the University of Utah's Neuropyschiatric Insitute can find a so-called hair-pulling gene, it could lead to a whole new generation of genetic treatments for obsessive compulsive disorders.
Barbara Cowley's family found Lucy - as a pup - abandoned in a storm. Though they gave her a loving home, something now has triggered a behavior pattern where she's licking off her fur - in some spots - past the skin.
BARBARA COWLEY, LUCY'S OWNER: "SHE JUST SEEMS SO DETERMINED. IT JUST SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING SHE CAN'T CONTROL - THIS NEED TO LICK - AND WE NEVER KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN."
The same thing is happening to this parrot - only in this case, it's plucking out its feathers. Bare spots appear on the breast and all over the legs.
The obsessive-compulsive disorder - if that's what it is - may have been triggered by two components: A genetic trigger inside, combined with a stressful experience on the outside.
DANIEL CHRISTENSEN, M.D., U OF U NEUROPSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE: "IN DOGS THIS CAN BE A FATAL BEHAVIOR - WHERE ONCE THEY GET THROUGH THE SKIN AND INTO THE MUSCLE AND DOWN TO THE BONE - AND OF COURSE THEY ARE VERY PRONE TO INFECTIONS."
Clinical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry Dr. Daniel Christensen believes what sometimes happens to dogs and birds may be triggered by a common gene. In fact, that same gene may trigger one in a family of human obsessive compulsive behaviors - called Tricotelamania.
JOYCE WRIGHT: "YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE THAT YOU ARE DOING IT. YOU KIND OF PUT YOURSELF IN A TRANCE OR SORT OF YOUR OWN LITTLE WORLD."
Joyce Wright has been pulling out her hair - off and on - since she was five years old. Stressful situations seem to touch it off.
But she may have also inherited a gene which predisposes her to the condition. Though it may appear painful to pull patches of hair out one hair at a time - the pain for Joyce takes on a different meaning.
JOYCE WRIGHT: "SOOTHING OR IT HELPS YOUR STRESS LEVEL COME DOWN TO WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN DEAL WITH IT. BUT THEN YOU GET UPSET.
If researchers can find a common gene - it could lead to effective medications that might turn the genetic susceptibility trigger OFF. OFF not only for Joyce and others like her - but for a whole family of obsessive compulsive disorders nicknamed OCD's - which afflict six to eight million people in this country.
"WASHING, CHECKING, HOARDING AND SOME OF THESE OTHER BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE MUCH MORE COMMON AND SOMETIMES MUCH, MUCH MORE DISABLING."
If the study is approved, researchers here would like to pull small blood samples from a hundred human volunteers who have tricotelamania - and a hundred pets which pull out their fur or feathers.
If interested in getting your name on the list, please call 801 587 3122.
