ShareThisUp to 7 percent of American students suffer from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About half are prescribed medications.
Stimulants such as Ritalin are the most widely used medications, but they don't work for everyone. Oklahoma City doctor and researcher Louise Thurman is studying the effectiveness of combining stimulants with a blood-pressure medication called guanfacine. Ritalin is considered a stimulant because it is used to stimulate certain parts of the brain that are not acting at normal levels.
Q: What is ADHD?
A: ADHD is a type of brain disorder that causes difficulty with attention and concentration and also can cause problems with being compulsive or having a hard time sitting still, which is the hyperactivity part of it. People with ADHD may get bored really easily or lose things a lot. They have trouble with irritability sometimes because they get edgy and anxious. They blurt out things in conversations.
Q: Is onset usually in childhood?
A: It varies quite a bit. Kids may be struggling with some of these issues, but maybe the symptoms are milder, so they are getting through school. You go from elementary school, where you are maybe in one classroom or two, to junior high, where you are moving from class to class to class. Sometimes, that's the time things disintegrate because there is less structure and more reliance on you being organized. Some people don't get diagnosed until adulthood.
Q: Is early diagnosis important?
A: The nice thing about catching it early and treating it early is that kids are more likely to be able to live to their full potential. It's not just a school-based disorder. It can cause a lot of trouble with family and also with peers.
Q: What are the biological causes of this brain disorder?
A: It appears to have a highly genetic nature. Often, there are others in the family that also will have it. It seems to be due to imbalance of brain chemicals. Medications can help bring chemicals back into balance.
Q: Do some people still think ADHD isn't real?
A: There are so many studies out there that show that it's real. Kids with ADHD actually have different-functioning brains. We have lots of evidence to believe this is a real disorder.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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ADHD
Studies indicate it's real albeit with no pathology -- as much as ‘experts’ try to insist, according to the NIH, no pathology exists to identify ADHD; no specific part of the brain can be identified where ADHD can be located.
It is most likely a trait genetically passed on. Perhaps the most damaging thing we've done is label it a mental illness or mental disorder. Ridiculous. Yes, it's obvious their brains function differently, but does that constitute a mental illness? I don't think so.
Ed Hallowell, MD and Peter Jensen, MD, in their latest collaborative effort (Superparenting for ADD)have said it’s a trait --like being left or right handed. One of the greatest limits we place on human beings is the label mentally ill. But ADHD is not a mental illness. That’s total rubbish.
As a PhD myself, and former educator with a child who has the ADHD trait, we’ve used cognitive skill building techniques (Play Attention — http://www.playattention.com) and ADHD Nanny (www.adhdnanny.com). We modified our parenting techniques as well. Low and behold, we’ve made incredible significant improvement for our son, Alex. Would I call these techniques and strategies ‘cures?’ No. Are they strategies that improve his quality of life? Yes. Is he mentally ill? He was never more mentally ill than someone who was born left handed or with crooked teeth. You don’t cure a trait. You can work with it to make vast improvements. That’s a fact. It’s neuroplasticity. Calling someone with the ADHD trait mentally ill is not only ridiculous (Dr. Hallowell is labeled ADHD — I doubt he considers himself mentally ill), it’s also enervates the person labeled. It’s more than past time to stop this label.