Disorder

Sometimes the appearance of a birthmark catches a new parent by surprise. Physicians are often quick to offer reassurance that most birthmarks are harmless, and many will shrink or disappear over time. Although that's true, a birthmark can also be the key to early identification of a rare disorder called Sturge-Weber Syndrome. Dr. Anne Comi, director of the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute, tells us how to determine when a birthmark might be a sign of something more.

A group of friends and family from Elkridge prepared for the Preakness as they have every year for decades. They packed tubs of Rice Krispies treats, shrimp salad, macaroni salad, cashews, soft drinks and a giant bag of Utz chips into their cars and headed to Pimlico Race Course . But this year, the Boston Marathon bombing was in the back of their minds. Peggy Maher, one of the group, brought her grandson for the first time. Just in case the unthinkable happened, she went over an emergency plan with everyone should they get separated: Meet at Sinai Hospital, a little over a mile away.

If you accidentally drop an extra smidgen of flour into a bowl of cookie dough, do you throw out the whole batch?When the murder mystery ends without the murder solved, do you howl in anguish or applaud the weirdness?Can you sleep at night if your pencils are not sharpened to a perfect point and aligned from left to right in your desk drawer in ascending order of length?In short, can you handle disorder?Yes, sports fans, these questions do have a place here in the toy department this morning.

Data entry is repetitive and hard to do well - that is, quickly and accurately. Shane Foley is great at it. The 21-year-old Ellicott City man works on two computer screens, eyeing images of handwritten sheets on one and clicking the information into a program on the other. His boss gives him a glowing review. So does the head of the state agency whose contract he's working on. Really something for a young man whose neurologist told his parents, many years ago, to consider institutionalizing him. Foley, who has autism, is the first employee of a program for Marylanders with autism-spectrum disorders.

Ocean City -- JUNE BUG season officially opens today, and Ocean City has a new repellent: tenacity.Police say there won't be an "anything goes" atmosphere in Maryland's premier resort town during Beach Week this year.They claim they won't let it happen.They have plans: increased patrols, a new traffic safety unit, a resumption of last year's no-warnings arrest policy for noise violators and an overall crackdown on what Ocean City folks call "crimes of disorder" -- things like sleeping in strangers' front yards, urinating off balconies and nude wrestling.

Sleep is coming a little easier now for Orioles reliever Doug Johns. He no longer stares at the clock next to his bed, counting the hours lost rather than his blessings for getting another chance to pitch in the major leagues.In the same week that ace Mike Mussina returned to the mound after being troubled by a wart, Johns went on the disabled list May 8 with insomnia. He was losing a battle fought quietly and alone for more than a month, and he needed help.The Orioles are providing it through their employee assistance program, and Johns is encouraged by the results.

Celebrity psychologist Dr. Drew Pinsky recently admitted on CNN to exercising obsessively to stay slim, a condition not technically a mental disorder, but what some call exercise bulimia. He joked about his condition saying: “a little whiff of a mental health issue never hurt anybody.” Doctors at The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore  found the comment disturbing. They say that calling exercise bulimia a “mild” mental health disorder sends the wrong message to the public.

In a nationally publicized case involving claims of crippling injuries to chicken-plant workers, Perdue Farms Inc. has agreed on a plan to monitor and prevent cases of repetitive motion disorder among employees of its four North Carolina processing facilities.The agreement between Salisbury-based Perdue, the North Carolina job-safety agency and the employees was announced yesterday in Raleigh, N.C., as the company agreed to pay $39,690 in fines levied by the state in 1989 for workplace conditions linked to the debilitating disorder.

For those who find every wafting chemical of the urbanized, industrialized world to be more than their bodies can bear, the syndrome known as environmental illness or multiple-chemical sensitivity is as real a medical condition as diabetes or thyroid disease.But now researchers assert that some, if not all, symptoms of environmental illness, from fatigue to headaches, confusion to nasal congestion, are probably the results of a mental disorder.In a report being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Donald W. Black and his colleagues at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, said they found that when they evaluated a group of patients in whom environmental illness has been diagnosed the patients were much more likely to meet the criteria of a current or past psychiatric problem than were a group of normal people selected from the community.

In the first study in the country on the incidence of autism among young children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that there was a striking number of autism cases in Brick Township, N.J., but found no link between the disorder and environmental factors in the town. Agency officials, who traveled to Brick recently to report the findings of their yearlong investigation, also said that, while there were no other studies in the United States with which to compare their results, the overall prevalence of autism in the country might be higher than previously believed.

Lauren Williams and her father unbox the treasure: a three-wheeled cycle, powered by the arms. Larry Williams adjusts the footrests and affixes Lauren's feet with Velcro straps. Lauren, 26, narrows her eyes in determination, pushes one pedal with her right hand, the other with her left, and rolls away at a good clip. Her father, a baseball coach, watches her go. "If I had a team full of players like her, I could own the world," he says. For other young adults, a new bicycle might mean an opportunity to shed pounds, travel sustainably or just get out in the elements more often.

Less than two weeks after signing a one-year contract with the Ravens, linebacker Rolando McClain was arrested in Decatur, Ala., on Sunday and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. McClain, who is from Decatur and played college football at Alabama, was arrested after an incident at Pines Park, according to a police report. Police officers arrived at Pines Park in response to a reported disturbance, resulting from what witnesses said was somebody spitting on McClain's car, according to Lt.

Four students in Harford County Public Schools were arrested in the past several days, including one accused of stealing milk from the cafeteria throughout the school year. The other three students all were charged with being disorderly in their respective schools – two at Joppatowne High School and one at Edgewood High School. Last week, a 16-year-old boy was charged with theft less than $100 after he allegedly stole a carton of milk from the cafeteria at Patterson Mill High School, then admitted he's been taking a milk daily during this school year, according to a Harford County Sheriff's Office police report.

Young children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder continue to suffer from severe symptoms even with treatment, a study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers has found. The study, published online Feb. 11 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, found that nine out of 10 young children with moderate to severe ADHD experienced symptoms even after treatment. "ADHD is becoming a more common diagnosis in early childhood, so understanding how the disorder progresses in this age group is critical,"  lead investigator Dr. Mark Riddle, a pediatric psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, said in a statement.

Holding cut-outs of activist Kim Trueheart's face, protesters objected at Wednesday morning's Board of Estimates meeting to her ban from City Hall. "I was with Kim Trueheart a week ago when she was arrested trying to attend this very meeting," fellow activist Mike McGuire said. "As anyone who has been around City Hall knows, Kim is quite a fixture. With her banning from City Hall, and her subsequent arrest, she couldn't be here. We wanted to make sure she was present at least in spirit.

A frequent critic of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration was arrested Wednesday when she tried to enter Baltimore's City Hall. Kim A. Trueheart, 55, of Baltimore, was arrested Wednesday morning as she tried to attend the city's 9 a.m. Board of Estimates meeting. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he had few details about the arrest, but said Trueheart was being "disorderly. " "City Hall is a public building, but we have an obligation to make sure that citizens that come to conduct business don't pose any type of threat and they're also respectful," Guglielmi said.

Andrew Mattingly Jackson Jr. whirs his three-wheeled electric cart into a paneled dining room in a nursing home in Silver Spring, hurrying to join a gathering of his relatives.Waiting for him is John Philip Mattingly, a resident of the home. He nudges his right hand against the control stick of his electric wheelchair, spinning to greet Mr. Jackson face to face. One by one, the rest arrive: Anna Mae in her wheelchair; Jay with his cane and plastic ankle braces; Bonnie and then Janet, both with a telltale hesitation in their step.

Randy and Lynn Gaston's 5-year-old triplets all have brown hair, a thin build and a sunny personality. They also share another trait that has touched every part of their family's life: All three have autism. Nicholas is musically inclined and likes to flip through books for hours by himself. Hunter likes dancing, knows his ABCs and habitually chews on his toys. Zachary is great with computer games and has some language skills, but little things can make him melt down without warning. The Gastons consider themselves lucky that their boys find ways to communicate, when some children with autism are severely withdrawn.

Dr. William J. Weiner, a professor and chairman of the department of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who was nationally known for his work with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, died Dec. 29 of multiple myeloma at his Guilford home. He was 67. "Bill was a true scholar, leader and visionary. He was academically and clinically very strong," said Dr. E. Albert Reece, vice president for medical affairs for the University of Maryland and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Julie Bowen was on the set of the television show "Boston Legal" four years ago when she got the call from her husband, who was on his way to the hospital with their then-infant son Oliver. While hanging out in the backyard of their California home, Oliver's neck and face suddenly began to swell. Emergency room doctors treated him for anaphylaxis — a life-threatening allergic reaction to foods and other things in the environment. Peanut butter or a bee sting was probably the culprit in Oliver's case, said Bowen, best known for her role as a neurotic mom on the television show "Modern Family.