Four other of these transcripts included a myotubularin (MTMR8), a potential human homologue of the mouse Amac1 enzyme, a transcript similar to the mouse L-threonine 3-dehydrogenase gene, and one similar to a human oncogene. The remaining seven transcripts did not resemble any currently known genes. In all, none of the twelve transcripts displayed any evidence of pathogenic involvement with KWE. As a transcriptional map of this critical area is being drawn, based on microsatellite identification, haplotype analysis and other measures; localization of the gene associated with KWE pathogenesis is an ongoing process. Diagnosis
Treatment
Epidemiology
Oudtshoorn is a town in Western Cape (formerly Cape Province), South Africa, where KWE ("Oudtshoorn skin") was first described. The disorder is quite prevalent among Afrikaners of South Africa, a population which can be defined as caucasoid native-speakers of Afrikaans, with northwestern European lineage. Among this group, KWE occurs at a rate of approximately 1/7,200.This relatively high rate of occurrence has been attributed to the founder effect, in which a small, often consanguinous population is formed out of the larger ancestral population, resulting in a loss of genetic diversity. In the context of KWE, the founder effect was confirmed by haplotype analysis, which indicates that the chromosomal origin of a possible genetic mutation responsible for the disorder is particularly common among affected Afrikaners.
Typically, the child comes to believe that they have a personality defect that makes them unvalued and unwanted; overindulgent, permissive parenting or insensitive and over-controlling parenting are risk factors towards the development of NPD in a child.In Gabbards Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (2014), the following factors are identified as promoting the development of narcissistic personality disorder:
An oversensitive temperament (individual differences of behavior) at birth
Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic criticism
Excessive praise for good behaviors, or excessive criticism for bad behaviors in childhood
Overindulgence and overvaluation by family or peers
Being praised by adults for perceived exceptional physical appearance or abilities
Trauma caused by psychological abuse, physical abuse or sexual abuse in childhood
Unpredictable or unreliable parental caregiving
Learning the behaviors of psychological manipulation from parents or peersMoreover, the research reported in "Modernity and Narcissistic Personality Disorders" (2014) indicates that cultural elements also influence the prevalence of NPD, because narcissistic personality traits more commonly occur in modern societies than in traditionalist conservative societies. Pathophysiology
Studies of the occurrence of narcissistic personality disorder identified structural abnormalities in the brains of people with NPD, specifically, a lesser volume of gray matter in the left, anterior insular cortex. The results of a 2015 study associated the condition of NPD with a reduced volume of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex. The regions of the brain identified and studied – the insular cortex and the prefrontal cortex – are associated with the human emotions of empathy and compassion, and with the mental functions of cognition and emotional regulation.