A study released this month has found that thousands of Israeli children who have been prescribed Ritalin to treat attention disorders have been improperly diagnosed. Researchers from the Maccabi Health Maintenance Organization say many of the kids have psychological issues, and should not have been prescribed the popular ADHD medications.

Ritalin and the related drug Concerta are popular treatments for attention disorders including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The researchers found that professionals often prescribe these drugs without taking into account their young patients' coexisting conditions. This means that one in five children are receiving treatment they do not need. [Source: Haaretz News]

The study involved 520 children between the ages of six and 18, who were monitored for two years. In all, seventy percent of the patients had conditions such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, which werent being treated. The researchers concluded that more than 13 percent of the children who were receiving Ritalin or Concerta shouldn't have been given the drugs.

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A study out of Australia is again raising the question of how best to treat kids with ADHD. The study, from Western Australias Health Department, found that children who were treated with ADHD medications fared no better in school than those who weren't.

"Parents should be & using the information for making a decision as to what the treatment of their ADHD should be," ABC Australia reported. "Treatment should be a partnership between the parents, teachers and doctors and it does include health check, education support and in some cases, stimulant medication."

Professor Ian Hicke from the Brain and Mind Research Institute told ABC Australia that it's possible that the kids who used ADHD medication were doing worse academically and the medication simply enabled them to perform at normal levels.

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A University of California, San Diego study found that children who took Tylenol after the administration of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR) had six times the risk for autism.

Dr. S.T. Schultz studied 86 children with autism and 80 control children and found there was no similar risk if the children were given ibuprofen after vaccination.

Many parents of children with autism , blamed mercury in vaccines for their children's conditions; however, this cause has been ruled out by previous studies.

The new study appears in the journal Autism.

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A study out of Europe has found a connection between being ambidextrous and having ADHD. Researchers studied nearly 8,000 children and found that ambidextrous 15- and 16-year-olds were twice as likely to have ADHD symptoms.

The adolescents also reported having greater difficulties with language than those who were left- or right-handed. This is in line with earlier studies that have linked mixed-handedness with dyslexia&

Some researchers have suggested that mixed-handedness indicated that the pattern of dominance is not that which is typically seen in most people, i.e. it is less clear that one hemisphere is dominant over the other. [Source: PsychCentral]

Though the study indicated that ambidextrous kids are at greater risk of developing ADHD, researchers cautioned against assuming ADHD is inevitable. Researchers have yet to discover the reason for the link.

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As kids reach adolescence, they begin breaking away from their parents. They want to decide when they should do homework, if they should get an after-school job, and what time they should go to bed.

However, an article on the website of KMOT-TV (Minot, ND) indicates that parents of teens shouldn't give up on ensuring that their children get enough sleep:

A new study finds moms and dads shouldnt completely give up the parenting basics when it comes to bedtime. The study, conducted by a Columbia University Medical Center doctor, finds a link between lack of sleep among teens and depression.

Researchers found adolescents who reported sleeping five or fewer hours a night were 71 percent more likely to suffer from depression, and 50 percent more likely to think about committing suicide than teens getting eight hours of rest.

Lana Curl, a sleep center director, suggests that parents keep computers and televisions out of their kids rooms. She also suggests taking away cell phones if kids are texting late into the night.

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Research published by the American Psychological Association has found a link between omega-3 fatty acids and improved nervous-system function. The fatty acids appear to help animals avoid sensory overload.

"The finding connects low omega-3s to the information-processing problems found in people with schizophrenia; bi-polar, obsessive-compulsive, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders; Huntingtons disease; and other afflictions of the nervous system." [Source: ScienceDaily]

The key finding focused on two specific omega-3s, ScienceDaily reported: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The body, however, cant make these nutrients, but must instead convert them from a-linolenic acid (LNA) or from supplements.

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A survey conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found lower rates of some mental disorders among American youth than have been reported in other published findings. The one exception was ADHD.

This information was revealed in a Dec. 14 release issued by the National Institutes of Health:

• Overall, 13 percent of respondents met criteria for having at least one of the six mental disorders within the last year.
• About 1.8 percent of the respondents had more than one disorder, usually a combination of ADHD and conduct disorder.
• Among the specific disorders, 8.6 percent had ADHD, with males more likely than females to have the disorder.
• 3.7 percent had depression, with females more likely than males to have the disorder.
• 2.1 percent had conduct disorder.
• 0.7 percent had an anxiety disorder (GAD or panic disorder).
• 0.1 percent had an eating disorder (anorexia or bulimia).

"With the exception of ADHD, the prevalence rates reported here are generally lower than those reported in other published findings of mental disorders in children, but they are comparable to other studies that employed similar methods and criteria,"lead author Kathleen Merikangas, Ph.D., said in the release.

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A research effort into fruit fly behavior may have yielded insights that can help experts who are studying Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Lia Steakley reported on the fruit fly research and its potential ADHD implications in a Nov. 30 post on Stanford Universitys Scope blog:

In the study, which was led by Caltech postdoctoral fellow Tim Lebestky, researchers exposed flies to a series of brief air puffs and identified flies with an abnormally exaggerated hyperactivity response.

Genetic studies of flies with an exaggerated response revealed a mutation in a dopamine receptor that produced the aberrant behavior. Flies with the mutation were hypersensitive to the air puffs and took much longer to calm down than flies without the mutation.

David Anderson, PhD, an investigator at Caltech's Howard Hughes Medical Institute, explained in a release how these results may benefit ADHD research:

"The findings that flies exhibit emotion-like behavior that are controlled by some of the same brain chemicals as humans opens up the possibility of applying powerful genetics of this 'model organism' to understand how these chemical influence behavior through their actions on specific brain circuits.

While the specific details of where and how this occurs are likely to be different in flies and in humans, the basic principles are likely to be evolutionarily conserved, and may aid in our understanding of what goes wrong in disorders such as ADHD."

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A study led by Yale School of Public Health assistant professor Jason Fletcher and University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Barbara Wolfe found that young people with ADHD are more likely to commit crimes as adults.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 13,000 adolescents that had been collected during the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

An Oct. 28 article by Yale Daily News contributing reporter Jennifer Nadelmann provided the following details:

The type of crime committed depended on whether the child was diagnosed with impulsive ADHD, inattentive ADHD or a combination of the two. Children with impulsive ADHD were more likely to commit impulsive crimes such as theft. Children with inattentive ADHD were more likely to engage in premeditated crimes, such as burglary and selling drugs.

Children with both impulsive and inattentive ADHD were less likely to commit crimes compared to children with the other subtypes. ...

The study recommended extensive school intervention programs for children with ADHD, who not only tend to perform worse in school but also leave school earlier than their peers. The programs, Fletcher and Wolfe said in the study, could be "dollars well spent in terms of crime and drug abuse averted."

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A new government study indicates that one in 100 American children has autism. This is up from the 2007 federal estimate that one in 150 children suffers from this lifelong disorder that impedes communication and social interactions.

Since boys are four times more likely to have the disorder than girls, the new study indicates that one in 58 boys is autistic.

The new estimate is the result of a telephone survey of 78,037 parents by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The figures are more accurate than those in the past because the CDC used a network of 11 sites around the country to gather exact information concerning childrens medical and special education needs.

"[The new study] provides what scientists call convergent validity-- no matter how you shake the bushes, you come up with this 1 percent," said Richard Roy Grinker, an expert on autism at George Washington University.

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A study that appeared in the journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that children who had been prescribed Ritalin for ADHD were still affected by the condition eight years later.

A July 7 article by Kim Thomas of the New Zealand-based website stuff.co.nz provided the following details about the study:

Researchers reassessed participants when they were in their teens and found they had higher than average levels of delinquency, aggression, and arrests by police than the general population. ...

University of Canterbury psychologist Dr Julia Rucklidge, an ADHD expert, said the research showed Ritalin was a "band aid" which gave some short-term relief for sufferers and their parents, but had no long-term effect.

Rucklidge said the study was significant because it highlighted the need for a fresh look at Ritalin prescribing and at new treatments.

"Ritalin has been seen as this amazing drug but this research is showing that really it is just acting as a band-aid. While it improves behaviour in the short term, it has no lasting effects. These kids continue to struggle in the long term despite taking Ritalin."

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The University of Pittsburghs Youth and Family Research Program is recruiting children ages 6 to 12 who have been diagnosed with ADHD. The children will participate in a treatment study that will measure the safety and effectiveness of a long-acting form of Ritalin.

"During the first three weeks, all children will begin on a low dose of methylphenidate (commonly known at Ritalin) while parents receive an 11-session course of parenting training," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. "Over the next six weeks, half of the children will be randomly assigned to receive risperidone & in addition to methylphenidate, and half will receive a placebo."

The study will last for months. For more information, e-mail Heidi Kipp at kipphl@upmc.edu

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A new study conducted through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found that an abnormality in the way the brain processes rewards and motivation may be a root cause of ADHD.

In studies past, researchers have focused on issues of attention and hyperactivity, viewing them as the primary issues -- but a NIDA release indicates that approach may need to be revised:

Recent studies have found that children with ADHD dont respond to rewards in the same way as children without ADHD, [lead researcher Nora] Volkow said. In addition to the classic symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity, there is also a disruption in motivations and sensitivity to rewards, she said.

This newest study found a disruption in the brains reward/motivation pathway in people with ADHD. The study also found a direct correlation between that disruption and the severity of inattention. Researchers called the study a wake up call for teachers, believing it emphasizes the importance of finding creative ways to keep kids engaged.

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ADHD medication can help people focus, but doesn't necessarily make them smarter. Claire Advokat and Sean Lane, professors in the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, want to find out why.

"Given their well-established benefit for increasing attention and concentration, it seems counterintuitive that ADHD medications are not more effective in improving academic and occupational attainment," Advokat said in a release that was posted on the LSU website "It is time to address this question and clarify the cognitive effects, as opposed to the activating, arousing and energizing actions of these drugs."

A grant from the Spencer Foundation will fund Professors Advokat and Lane as they determine whether ADHD drugs have real academic benefits.

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A research team at Weil Cornell Medical College has discovered some potential long-term effects of Ritalin use on brain development. The study was conducted on very young rats that were given injections of Ritalin from the time they were seven to 35 days old.

"The changes we saw in the brains of treated rats occurred in areas strongly linked to higher executive functioning, addiction and appetite, social relationships and stress," the study's senior author, neuroscience professor Dr. Teresa Milner, wrote. "These alterations gradually disappeared over time once the rats no longer received the drug."

According to July 18 article on the www.news-medical.net, Dr. Miner also reported that that the study emphasizes the degree of caution that doctors must use in diagnosing ADHD before prescribing Ritalin. For example, the brain changes noted in the study would be helpful for someone with ADHD, but could harm an individual with healthy brain chemistry.

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Although many parents of autistic children try various diets to alleviate their children's symptoms, a new study from the Mayo Clinic finds that autistic children have about the same number of digestive problems as children without the disorder.

• Dr. Samar Ibrahim and his colleagues compared 121 autistic children to 242 children without the disorder and found very few statistical differences between the two groups in terms of digestive disorders.
  
  
• The children with autism in the study were more likely to be picky eaters or constipated, but they did not have more diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, bloating, acid reflex disorder or vomiting.
  
  
• Many parents of autistic children try nutritional supplements and anti-fungus medications as well as diets that restrict chemical preservatives and colorings, gluten, sugar and other ingredients.

This study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

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A double-blind study funded by Shire biopharmaceutical company found that one of its products, Vyvanse, could alleviate the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children ages six to 12 years old.

Researchers divided a group of 129 children (ages six to 12 years old) with ADHD into two groups. One group received a placebo and the other group took Vyvanse. The children who took the drug had fewer symptoms for up to 12 hours than did the children who took the placebo.

Side effects of the drug are decreased appetite, insomnia, headaches, irritability, upper abdominal pain and affect ability.

The study appeared in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.

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A new study out of Canada aimed at understanding childhood brain development may also help diagnose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

"Our project investigates how the brain provides ... control by observing eye movements," physiology professor Douglas Munoz said in an article on the website PsychCentral. "Our experiments have been designed to combine high speed eye movement recording with modern brain imaging techniques to identify brain regions that control our behavior."

During the experiment, participants were shown a series of lights and asked to either look at them or look away. As their responses were recorded, their brain activity was also monitored.

Kids with ADHD not only had trouble following the instructions, but their brain activity was lower than normal. Researchers said they believe the study could be used both to diagnose ADHD and to test the effectiveness of new medicines.

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A cognitive learning specialist in Arlington, Virginia, says that a meditation technique made popular by the Beatles may offer significant benefits to young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

According to a June 17 Reuters Health article, a study that was led by Sarina J. Grosswald found that transcendental medication (TM) helped ADHD kids remember more, behave better, and focus more easily:

After three months, Grosswald and her colleagues found, the students reported lower stress and anxiety levels, while their ADHD symptoms also improved, based on questionnaires given to teachers and parents.

"Teachers reported they were able to teach more," Grosswald said, "and students were able to learn more because they were less stressed and anxious."

"TM doesn't require concentration, controlling the mind or disciplined focus," Grosswald noted. "The fact that these children are able to do TM, and do it easily. shows us that this technique may be particularly well suited for children with ADHD."

Grosswald's research into the usefulness of having children with ADHD practice transcendental meditation was published in the December 2008 issue of Current Issues in Education.

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Though scientists and medical professionals continue to make significant strides in their understanding of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, one piece of information remains unknown: the cause of the disorder.

According to a June 25 HealthDay News article, one of the reasons that experts have had trouble pinpointing the cause of ADHD may be that the disorder is the result of literally hundreds of genetic variations:

[Dr. Josephine Elia, a psychiatrist and ADHD expert at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia] and her colleagues analyzed genomes from 335 ADHD patients and their families, and compared them to more than 2,000 children without ADHD.

The hundreds of gene variations were found to occur more often in children with ADHD than in normal children. ...

"There may be hundreds of genes involved, only some of which are changed in each person. But if those genes act on similar pathways, you may end up with a similar result -- ADHD. This may also help to explain why children with ADHD often present clinically with slightly different symptoms," [study co-leader Peter S. White] said.

"When we began this study in 2003, we expected to find a handful of genes that predispose a child to ADHD," White said in the HealthDay article.

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A new study that was released in the American Journal of Psychiatry has caused concern among officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who are worried that parents will take their kids off ADHD medication without warning -- and without considering the risks. The study found that kids who take ADHD medication were six to seven times more likely to die suddenly for unexplained reasons than their peers.

The study was partially funded by [the] Food and Drug Administration, but agency experts said its methods -- which relied on interviews with parents years after a childs death -- may have caused errors. The agency urges parents to discuss safety concerns with their doctor, but to keep children on the treatments. (Source: The Associated Press)

The FDA also said that it is in the process of collecting larger amounts of data for a more in-depth study of the benefits and dangers of ADHD medications, though it gave no timeline for when that study might be completed.

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Canadian researcher Matthew Smith says we've got the wrong perspective when it comes to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Many doctors, authors and educators say that hyperactivity has always existed. But Smith believes that this perspective is incorrect. The truth, he argues, is that prior to the 1950s, hyperactivity was "clinically and culturally insignificant."

Smith made this argument during the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Ottawa, Canada:

Smith says that whether you consider hyperactivity a disease worth treating often depends on context  and the context changed in the 1950s when the U.S. refocused its education system in response to the space race ...

"We need to refocus the history of hyperactivity on the period starting from the late 1950s and 60s," he said. "By doing so, we start to understand why people started to think there was a problem with children, why they thought that problem needed to be fixed, and why it became acceptable to fix that problem with drugs." (Source: Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences)

By understanding the short history of ADHD, Smith contends, parents and children are better equipped to ask questions and ensure proper treatment, if any is needed.

Labels: research, Attention_Deficit_Hyperactivity_Disorder, history

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A study from the United Kingdom found that autism may be much more common and under-diagnosed than has been previously thought.

Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen concluded that for every three children who are diagnosed with autism, another two also have it but are undiagnosed:

• Dr. Baron-Cohen and his colleagues surveyed more than 11,700 parents of children living in Cambridge, Great Britain, using the Childhood Autism Screen Test and other tools.
• The group had 41 cases of children with diagnosed autism.However, another eleven children met the criteria.
• This means the true prevalence of autism may be closer to one in 64 children, although the undiagnosed children most likely have mild symptoms.

This study appeared in the British Journal of Medicine.

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If you're the parent of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, you've likely made countless requests for your child to "just sit still!" But according to a new study from the University of Central Florida learning to sit still may not help your child:

Fidgeting, as it turns out, helps kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder focus. So just like grown-ups need a cup of coffee before tackling a problem, kids with ADHD may tap their feet, swivel in their chairs or bounce in their seats while their brains are busily figuring out that math test. (Source: The Orlando Sentinel)

The UCF researchers studied differences in activity levels between boys with and without ADHD. When given math problems to solve, the ADHD boys were much more fidgety, but still worked on -- and solved -- the math problems.

Elementary school teacher Darcey Eckers said she wasnt surprised by the studys results, telling the Sentinel that ADHD kids are "some of the smartest in the class" and that she doesn't mind if they need to move around a bit in order to get their work done.

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The University of Central Florida's Children's Learning Clinic is looking for parents who are willing to have their children evaluated as part of a research effort into Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The program's website provides the following details:

The Children's Learning Clinic-IV (CLC) offers free comprehensive assessments for children ages 8-12. Parents with children who may be experiencing difficulties with attention, learning, memory, and concentration are encouraged to contact us (including those previously diagnosed with or suspected of having ADHD).

The CLC-IV also provides free evaluations for typically developing children. Evaluations consist of a thorough historical information, diagnostic interview, parent and teacher ratings, full scale intelligence testing, academic achievement testing, objective measurement of activity level, as well as measures of learning and memory.

Parents who are interested in obtaining a free comprehensive assessment and evaluation for their child are encouraged to contact us at (407) 823-5773.

The Children's Learning Clinic is led by Dr. Mark Rapport, a professor and researcher who, the CLC website reports, "is particularly interested in children with [ADHD], developing conceptual models related to long-term outcome (e.g., scholastic success), and understanding the primary deficits associated with ADHD."

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Toddlers with autism show enlarged amygdala, a portion of the brain that processes faces and emotions, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Matthew Mosconi and his colleagues used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to scan the brains of 50 children with autistic spectrum disorders and 30 children without the the disorders. All the children were between the ages of two and four.

"Alterations of the amygdala may be associated with the core deficits of autism," Dr. Mosconi said in the May issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

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A study conducted through the Douglas Mental Health University Institute has found that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may be clinically sleep deprived and have abnormal REM sleep. Thirty-eight children participated in the study - 15 who had been diagnosed with ADHD, and 23 who had not.

"Results show that children with ADHD have a total sleep time that is significantly shorter than that of controls. Children in the ADHD group had an average total sleep time of eight hours, 19 minutes; this was 33 minutes less than the average sleep time of eight hours, 52 minutes, in controls."

Lead investigator Reut Gruber, Ph.D, said the study doesn't prove that sleep deprivation is the cause of ADHD, but that it may make symptoms worse. Over time, partial sleep loss accumulates into a sleep debt that can cause neurobehavioral impairments and affect overall learning and attention. Source: PsychCentral

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The Seattle-based Edge Foundation has announced that it will conduct a 27-month study on the effect personal coaching has on students with ADHD.

"The 27-month study will be led by a faculty team at Wayne State University in Detroit. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that coaching helps students, but there's never been a rigorous scientific study, said Sharon Field, the study's research director."

Funding for the study is being provided by an $805,000 grant from the Deerbrook Charitable Trust and other contributors. Source: Seattle Times

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Fourteen leading researchers have signed a letter cautioning that a new proposal would lead to increased diagnosis of ADHD among children. The proposal would train teachers how to spot ADHD behavior in their students.

"Dr Graham and her colleagues say that such an approach would encourage teachers 'to act as proxy-diagnosticians by looking for evidence of particular deficits, perhaps missing vital signs which may indicate other difficulties at home or with learning.'"

The group also criticized a proposal that would attach additional funding to ADHD diagnoses. The concern is that such a proposal would further encourage over-diagnosis. Source: Medical Condition News

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Stimulant medications like Ritalin have long been used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Though Ritalin is known to be effective, only recently has the medical community begun to understand how it works.

"In a paper published online this week in Biological Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology researchers David Devilbiss and Craig Berridge report that Ritalin fine-tunes the functioning of neurons in the prefrontal cortex - a brain region involved in attention, decision-making and impulse control - while having few effects outside it."

This is good news for parents who worry that Ritalin could be damaging to other parts of the brain.. While high doses of the medication could still pose problems, clinically accurate (low) doses are proving to be safe and effective. Source: MediLexicon News

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The University of Pittsburgh has been awarded $3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children with autism. The study will test two types of treatment: a nonstimulant medication and parent management training.

"'ADHD symptoms are common in children with autism, but children with autism often do not respond well to stimulant medications, the conventional treatment for ADHD,' said Benjamin Handen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine."

The 10-week clinical trial will start enrolling patients in September. Researchers hope to recruit 144 children ages 5 to 13 who have both autism and symptoms of ADHD. Source: MediLexicon News

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A study of Attention Deficit Disorder among Finnish children reinforces the idea that children outgrow some of their symptoms, but also raised some questions about the long-term effectiveness of medications as a treatment for the condition.

Dr. Susan Smalley, of the University of California/Los Angeles, used data from a longitudinal Finnish study begun in 1986. Researchers from Finland's University of Oulu and Imperial College in London collected information on 9,432 children from the time of their mothers' pregnancies until adolescence. About 457 of the children were evaluated for ADHD and other psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Smalley found that symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity decreased as the children grew older, but symptoms of inattention continued into adolescence. Only about half the adolescents diagnosed with ADHD had cognitive deficits in working memory, inhibition, etc that are commonly associated with ADHD. Those with cognitive defects did not show increased levels of inattention or hyperactivity compared to others with ADHD.

Youth in Finland rarely take medications for ADHD. Dr. Smalley found that when she compared children with ADHD in Finland who did not take drugs to those in the United States who did, she could conclude that prevalence, symptoms, psychiatric comorbidity and cognition was equivalent for both groups.

"We know medication is very effective in the short-term, but the study raises important questions concerning the efficacy of ADHD treatment," she said.

Two genes labeled DBH and DRD2 that regulate dopamine were associated with ADHD in the Finnish population of adolescents.

This study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Though it's relatively easy to find information on how to treat ADHD, information for making an accurate diagnosis is harder to come by. To that end, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has launched what's being called an "unprecedented" study to find causes and early warning signs of ADHD among pre-school age children.

"ADHD is frequently diagnosed but little is known about the causes, despite all the published research. Today there are no diagnostic criteria for ADHD in children under 6 years of age. The ADHD study intends to address many unanswered questions around the causes of this condition."

What makes the study unique is that researchers have access fetal and early infancy biological information, including blood samples from both parents and the child's umbilical cord. The samples will allow for testing of both genetic and environmental links to ADHD. Read more at MediLexicon.com.

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A team of French researchers has discovered a possible link between iron deficiencies and ADHD. Lead researcher Eric Konofal, MD, PhD was curious about iron and its role in ADHD after several other studies found correlations between it and general restlessness and inattentiveness.

"...Konofal and colleagues measured blood levels of the protein ferritin in 53 children with ADHD and 27 children without ADHD but who had a mild reading disability. Ferritin allows the body to store iron and is used as a measure of iron levels. Eighty-four percent of children with ADHD appeared to have abnormally low ferritin levels, compared with 18% of children without ADHD."

Konofal says that, while the link between iron deficiency and ADHD symptoms is clear, it's too soon to recommend that kids with ADHD start taking iron supplements. The reason for the deficiency has yet to be determined.

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More teachers and school administrators should familiarize themselves with Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD), an anxiety-causing disease that affects between 1% and 2% of all children.

Dr. Kathleen Rupertus, a specialist in OCD, spoke before the OCD National Conference this week in Dallas, Texas. She said that the disease is often not diagnosed until adulthood. Persons with the disorder often wash their hands hundreds of times a day, chant to themselves, count things, and otherwise engage in repetitive behaviors. Unless a parent informs his child's teacher about the condition, it usually goes undetected and causes the child undue suffering. For example, children with OCD may constantly rearrange their pens or do their homework thirty times over. They usually have trouble making friends.

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A new study from the National Institute of Health suggests that treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder can help youngsters, but doctors need to monitor them from time to time.

Researchers assigned 600 children ages 6 to 9 years randomly to one of four treatment groups. The first group received medications from ADHD specialists. The second received medications and behavioral therapy. The third group received drugs from their family doctors, and finally the last group received only therapy. After fourteen months, the first two groups improved the most. However, three years later, all four groups showed similar improvements and the advantages of medications waned.

"Many kids do better over time," said Peter Jensen, director of Columbia University's Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health. "They should start drugs and stop as needed."

This study appears in the August issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatric researcher at Children's Hospital in Seattle, recently conducted a study on the effects of television on young children. He found that children between the ages of 1 and 3 who watch an hour of TV per day are 10% more likely to develop attention problems by the time they're 7-years-old.

"Children's programmers use a technique called the 'orienting reflex', known as OR, to capture and keep a child's attention. OR works this way: If we see or hear something the brain doesn't recognize as the correct sequence or a typical life event - such as a dancing alphabet or quick zooms and pans, we focus on it until the brain recognizes that it doesn't pose a threat. The problem with watching too many programs that rely on OR is that real life becomes slow and boring by comparison."

Continued exposure to this type of input conditions causes the mind to expect it all the time. When a child's mind has been conditioned in this way, but doesn't receive the high-intensity input, the child becomes bored and inattentive. Read more at MSNBC.MNS.com.

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Labels: research, studies, tv_watching

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Samar Rahha is an MD at Riley Hospital in Indiana who's recently discovered an unusual trend among children being treated for ADHD; they're shorter. Nearly 25% of young patients who were seen by a pediatrician because of slow growth were also on some type of ADHD medication.

"Children on ADHD medications may grow slowly, but most of them eventually experience catch up growth and reach normal adult heights. Strikingly, this study finds that short children medicated for ADHD were just as likely as those who are not on these medications to have other hormonal disorders contributing to their short stature."

What does this mean? Dr. Rahhal believes her findings call for further study, but she also wants to reassure parents that if their children are taking ADHD medication and aren't growing quickly, that the slow growth may not be a side effect of the medication. Read more at EMaxHealth.com.

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Labels: medications, research, growth

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A group of researchers from Australia have conducted a breakthrough study that may help explain what causes things like ADHD and schizophrenia. The study was published today in Science and shows that there are complex interactions taking place between two areas of the brain when an object catches the eye.

"It seems that a high part of the brain... stimulates activity in a lower area responsible for processing visual information... This interaction between the two areas helps to select those signals from the visual world which should be processed further..."

The research team hope this is a first step toward better understanding how different parts of the brain work together to influence attention. Read more at News.com.au.

Outdoor programs and outdoor therapy can help kids struggling with behavioral problems. Learn more about ways you can help your child have a productive summer at Wilderness-Programs-Info.com.

Labels: research, brain_chemistry, stimulants

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Researchers at the University of California, Irvine think they've found an unexpected treatment for cognitive disorders associated with things like Alzheimer's and ADHD: nicotine.

"The compounds target receptors in the brain that are activated by nicotine. They impart the beneficial effects of nicotine - specifically enhanced cognition - without the numerous health threats associated with smoking."

The three-year study focused mainly on treating schizophrenia and was conducted using rodents. Further animal work will be done before the compounds are testing on humans. Read more at ScienceDaily.com.

If your child has been diganosed with a non-verbal learning disorder, a boarding school or summer camp may help. Learn more about schools for children with non-verbal learning disorder at CedarsAcademy.com and TalismanCamps.com.

Labels: research, treatment, cognitive_disorders

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University of Illinois researchers will be conducting a 10-week study on two of the most popular stimulant medications used to treat ADHD. The study will focus on the medications effects on sleep and overall mood.

"According to [Dr. Mark] Stein, short-term studies have found that ADHD patients often experience success with stimulant medications, but they discontinue treatment prematurely, perhaps due to common side effects that include sleep problems, decreased appetite and mood swings."

Patients in the study will range from ages 10 to 17, and will be monitored on a weekly basis. Some patients will receive medication, while others will receive placebos. Read more at News-Medical.com.

New Leaf Academy is private boarding schools for girls ages ten to fourteen with ADHD, non-verbal learning disorder, and emotional or behavioral issues.

Labels: medications, research, stimulants

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Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered that one part of the brain "pays attention" and another part of the brain "gets distracted" at the same time.

Their research has implications for helping people with Attention Deficit Disorder.

"The ability to willfully focus your attention is physically separate in the brain from distracting things grabbing your attention," Earl Miller, the neuroscientist who led the study, said.

Miller's team trained monkeys to pick out red triangles on a video screen in return for a treat. However, sometimes the monkeys were deliberately distracted from their task by flashing bright rectangles. During times of concentration, the executive centers of the monkeys' brains in their prefrontal cortexes were in charge. However, when they were distracted, their parietal cortexes near the back of their brains took over. This study is the first time that scientists got a good look at how these regions of the brain work.

Miller said that it is their hope to find treatments to boost attention. This study appears in the March 30, 2007 edition of Science.

Labels: research, focus, concentration

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The use of drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has more than tripled worldwide since 1993, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. And spending on such drugs rose nine-fold between 1993 and 2003, the team at the University of California, Berkeley reported. Read more online.

Labels: medications, research, studies

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Doctors routinely prescribe drugs to hospitalized children that have not been tested on children, according to a new study by the U.S. Pharmacopeia. About 12% of the children taking such medications suffer harmful effects.

Researchers with Pharmacopeia, an agency that sets drug industry standards, reviewed records of 11,000 medical errors from 500 hospitals between 1998 and 2005. The errors involved 700 different drugs, causing 165 harmful effects  including the death of one child.

In another study of 31 children's hospitals for the year 2004, 79% of the hospitalized children received "off label" drugs or those that had not been tested on pediatric patients.

Only a small number of drugs are tested on children, because it is not required by law. Children with bi-polar disorder, conduct disorder, autism and other conditions routinely take "off label" drugs.

Labels: medications, research, hospitals

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The use of ADHD medications is growing worldwide, which dispels the idea that it's a condition unique to Americans. Currently, usage rates are increasing faster in countries like France and Japan.

"A lot of people are saying this is an American problem and that medications are over prescribed in this country. This (study) shows other countries are finding they have the same problems."

The study looked at the use of psycho-stimulant medications globally and found that the number of countries using these medications increased from 31 to fifty-five.

Read more online.

Labels: medications, research, studies

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A new study out of Michigan State University found that a wide range of barriers are preventing minority children with ADHD from getting adequate treatment. The study’s researchers believe schools and health professionals in areas with higher concentrations of minorities need to do a better job raising awareness.

“The barriers preventing minorities from seeking and using these treatments include a lack of culturally competent health-care providers, financial hurdles and little dissemination of information about treatments that work.” [Source: PsychCentral]

Treatment programs that combine medication and behavior therapy have been shown to dramatically improve attention and overall behavior in kids with ADHD. MSU researchers hope their study will compel people in minority-dense areas to act.

 

Labels: research, treatment

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A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, appears to confirm previous research that found a connection between pesticides and ADHD. Brenda Eskenazi, a UC Berkeley epidemiologist, studied over 300 Mexican Americans for several years.

Eskenazi and her team tested for levels of pesticide metabolites in urine in the [pregnant] mothers twice during their pregnancies and several times in the children after birth.

They then tested the children at ages 3 ½ years and 5 years for attention disorders and ADHD… they found that each tenfold increase in pesticide levels in the mothers’ urine was associated with a fivefold increase in attention problems. [Source: San Francisco Chronicle]

Just three months ago, a Harvard study found similar results, even with lower pesticides levels. In a statement accompanying the study results, Eskenazi recommended that parents buy organic foods when possible, and wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before they’re eaten.

 

Labels: causes, research

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