New Study Finds ADHD Rates on Rise

Posted by on January 25th, 2013 | No Comments

The study, published in Monday’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics, examined health records from California and found that rates of ADHD have jumped by 24% since 2001.

“That is a very significant increase,” says Darios Getahun, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group who conducted the study.

Many experts theorize that the rise in diagnoses can possibly be attributed by growing awareness of the condition. If one were cynical, one could also point out the increased rate of marketing for ADHD medications. Let’s not be blind; ADHD is a multi-billion dollar business to the pharmaceutical industry.

Kaiser Permanente reviewed the health records of more than 840,000 children, ages 5-11, and also found that boys were three times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. The cynic might say that boys are more boisterous than girls. They display greater signs of hyperactivity.

“I don’t agree with the language about ‘epidemic’ proportions [in the study] and ‘dramatic’ increases,” says Paul Hammerness, an ADHD expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. “It is my impression that absolute rates are fairly stable over time, from country to country as well.”

One must always question whether we are allowing children to be children or trying to mold them through medication.

Suggested reading: The Last Normal Child: Essays on the Intersection of Kids, Culture, and Psychiatric Drugs (Childhood in America) [Lawrence H. Diller M.D.] on Amazon.com.

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ADHD Girls & Suicide

Posted by on August 22nd, 2012 | No Comments

Girls, Suicide, and ADHD
A new study finds some alarming relationships

A new study published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology reveals that girls diagnosed with ADHD are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide as young women.

The researchers recruited a heterogeneous group of 228 girls ranging in age from 6 to 12. The wide racial mixture of 53 percent white, 27 percent black, 11 percent Hispanic and 9 percent Asian-American makes this a true cross-sectional view of US society.

The study was undertaken by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. The researchers not only found an increased likelihood of suicide as young women, but also found that young girls — especially those with early signs of impulsivity, were two to three times more likely to hurt themselves later in life. Furthermore, these girls also were more likely to continue to have ADHD symptoms and make much greater use of psychological services.

“ADHD can signal future psychological problems for girls as they are entering adulthood,” study author Stephen Hinshaw, a psychology professor at Berkeley, said in a journal news release. “Our findings reinforce the idea that ADHD in girls is particularly severe, and can have serious public-health implications.”

The researchers performed initial assessment and found 140 of the girls had ADHD. The girls diagnosed with ADHD were broken into categories: 47 were considered ADHD-inattentive. This type of ADHD means the girls had a hard time paying attention but they could sit quietly. The remaining 93 girls had ADHD-combined type. Combined type means these girls had a combination of hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive symptoms. The group that did not have ADHD was used as a control.

The core of this research is the longitudinal follow-up after the initial assessment. The researchers followed up with the girls five and 10 years later. Ninety-five percent of the girls were still involved in the study after 10 years. After the 10 year mark, they ranged in age between 17 and 24 years old.

The researchers performed extensive analysis of the girls’ lives including information about substance abuse, depression, general life problems, self-injury, suicide attempts, academic performance/achievement, and neuropsychological functioning.

The results:

  •   22 percent of the girls with ADHD-combined attempted suicide at least once in the 10 years after they were diagnosed.
  •  8 percent of the girls with ADHD-inattentive and 6 percent of the girls who did not have ADHD did the same.
  •  The researchers fount no differences in substance abuse across the three groups of girls.
  •  Girls in the ADHD-combined group also were much more likely attempt self-injury. 51 percent of the ADHD girls said they scratched, cut, burned or hit themselves. In comparison, only 19 percent of the girls without ADHD and 29 percent of those with ADHD-inattentive injured themselves.

“ADHD in girls and women carries a particularly high risk of internalizing, even self-harmful behavior patterns,” Hinshaw said. “We know that girls with ADHD-combined are more likely to be impulsive and have less control over their actions, which could help explain these distressing findings.”

While the study provides data regarding the relationship between ADHD and self-injury or suicide, it does not determine a cause-effect relationship. It does, however, indicate a warning need be heeded by parents of girls with ADHD.

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Do We Outgrow ADHD?

Posted by on August 20th, 2012 | No Comments

Does ADHD Affect People Over Age 60?
Surprising results of Dutch research

It’s estimated that ADHD affects 5 to 10 percent of the child population in the US. Recent studies suggest that it may be a simple developmental delay. However, a new Dutch study finds ADHD does not disappear with age; it follows us from childhood to adulthood.

According to the first study of its kind, ADHD also affects around 3% of people over age 60. This casts significant doubt on the popular belief that many children grow out of the condition. The Dutch study was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry and examined 231 Dutch adults aged 60 to 94.

Lead researcher of the Dutch study, Marieke Michielsen said in a press  release:  “ADHD affects 3-7% of school-aged children, and about 4.4% of  adults. However, little is known about ADHD in old age and this is the first epidemiological study on ADHD in older people.”

The study reveals what most adults with ADHD already know — they work below their intellectual level, cannot maintain relationships, often express anti-social behavior, lack organizational skills, and have higher rates of accidents than adults without ADHD.

The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam had 1,494 participants between the ages of 60 and 94. All completed a questionnaire to screen for ADHD. The number that showed the greatest symptoms was 231. They participated in a longer, structured diagnostic interview.

What could account for the discrepancy between the higher diagnosis of children and the lower incidence in adults? Several explanations are possible:

  • It is possible that symptoms diminish with increasing age.
  • ADHD may be over-diagnosed in children.
  • ADHD adults may learn coping skills that mitigate their symptoms.
  • Most diagnostic tools were developed for children and may not be sensitive enough to detect ADHD in older people.

ADHD is often diagnosed 4 to 1 boys to girls in the US. Previous studies confirm that it’s more prevalent in boys than girls. However, this study reveals that both men and women reported similar amounts of ADHD symptoms.

Regardless, it’s evident from this study that many people don’t outgrow ADHD and it’s necessary to develop the skills to make us happy and successful. Call 800-788-6786 to find out how.

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The ADHD link to social dynamics

Posted by on June 21st, 2010 | Comments off

If I told you that women who received only basic education were 130 % more likely to have a child on ADHD medication than women with university degrees, you’d see a link, wouldn’t you?

Well, that’s what a  study published this month in Acta Paediatrica found.  That implies that nearly half of the serious cases of ADHD  in children are closely tied to social factors. The study reveals that factors like single parenting and poor maternal education were directly tied to ADHD medication use.

While we know that a genetic propensity likely exists, the human brain develops based on a complex interplay between nature and nurture; between genetic endowment (nature) and environment/social factors (nurture). Epigenetic theory tries to explain this relationship.

Curiously, few large-scale studies have tried to determine the impact of social and family influences on ADHD. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden assessed data on 1.16 million school children and examined the health histories of nearly 8,000 Swedish-born kids, aged six to 19, who had taken ADHD medication.

“We tracked their record through other registers … to determine a number of other factors,” said lead author Anders Hjern.

Here’s what the researchers found:

  • Living in a single parent family increased the chances of being on ADHD medication by more than 50 percent.
  • A family on welfare upped the odds of medication use by 135%.
  • Boys were three times more likely to be on medication than girls.
  • Social dynamics affected both sexes equally.

“Almost half of the cases could be explained by the socioeconomic factors included in our analysis, clearly demonstrating that these are potent predictors of ADHD-medication in Swedish school children,” Hjern said.

It’s clear that this study found a link between socioeconomic factors and ADHD medication use/diagnosis. Other US studies have found that minority children and children of low socioeconomic status were more likely to receive ADHD medication.

Factors like low income and diminished quality time are more common in single-parent families. These typically lead to stressors like family conflict and a lack of social support, Hjern said.

While more research must be done, one has to ask, is medication the answer to social stressors like lack of time and money? Sounds too silly to ask, but it seems that our answer, ridiculously, is a resounding, YES!

We are the masters of our lives. We can make significant personal changes, but we must have the tools to do so. That’s why I began Play Attention (www.playattention.com) years ago.

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ADHD & Fetal Development

Posted by on October 15th, 2009 | Comments off

 

Obviously, being pregnant can be stressful in itself, but current research shows that stress can affect fetal development which may lead to long-term problems including ADHD.

Dr. Vivette Glover of Imperial College London, surveyed pregnant women at her hospital. Of these, nearly one quarter felt anxious and depressed due to stressors including work, money, arguing with spouse, and moving to accommodate a larger family. When compared to their non-stressed counterparts in this research, the babies of the stressed mother had lower birth weight, lower IQ, slower cognitive development, and more anxiety. Lower birth weight has been an indicator for coronary heart disease in later life.

In 2007, research in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry indicated that being stressed during pregnancy is as detrimental for the baby’s development as smoking or being obese. Glover’s research reveals why and how this happens: stress produces the hormone cortisol. An abundance of stress can actually diminish the barrier enzyme that inhibits cortisol from reaching the fetus. Costisol impacts fetal brain development.

According to Glover, “People used to think that if something was congenital, apparent at birth, it had to be genetic. In fact it can be an in-vitro reaction of genes and environment.”

Glover also contends that her research shows stress greatly increases the likelihood of a child having ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), cognitive delay, autism , anxiety and depression. 

Glover’s research reinforces previous data from the UK where stress was shown to increase the risk for development of ADHD. In that research, the women who experienced the most stress doubled the chances of developing ADHD.

“The organs are forming during the first trimester of pregnancy, but the brain is developing all the way through,” Glover explains. “The organs are sensitive while they are forming and, once formed, they are harder to change.”

“In evolutionary terms, stress perhaps prepares the child for survival in a stressful environment. If a child is anxious and has attention deficiency, it will be very alert to danger. This may once have been adaptive, beneficial for the child, but it isn’t any more,” Glover says.

Significantly, Glover’s research implies that the changes may be on a genetic level so that it may be passed on generation to generation.

Therefore, it’s important to realize that taking care oshutterstock_3753070f ourselves during pregnancy is more important now than ever. Small efforts like seeking health services early, meditating, eating a balanced diet, taking pre-natal vitamins, and laughing are good practices.

Minimizing stress by maintaining a consistent schedule both at work and at home is a good idea.

 

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Women with ADHD affected more?

Posted by on April 12th, 2008 | Comments off

In most clinical settings, boys are treated for ADHD at least 4 to 1 over girls. Boys, it is thought, tend to present symptoms outwardly more than girls resulting in physical behaviors that are easily noticeable (hyperactivity).

In an article reported in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, February 2008, author of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and his colleagues find that the roles are reversed in adults; females seem to be more impacted than men.

“We found that adult women with ADHD frequently have high levels of emotional symptoms as well as the cognitive problems found in ADHD,” Dr. Frederick W. Reimherr told Reuters Health.

Reimherr’s conclusions were drawn from analysis of data from two clinical trials of Strattera. Strattera is a non-stimulant medication for ADHD produced by Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical giant.

ADHD symptom data were collected ADHD on 515 individuals. Approximately one third of this population were women. Seventy-five percent of the women in this population had a combined-type ADHD as opposed to only 62% of the male population represented in this study.

Women also presented more problems with sleep than did males in the study. Women had higher scores measuring both anxiety and depression than did their male counterparts.

Women presented poor temper control, mood volatility, and emotional over-reactivity than did their male counterparts (37 % in women as opposed to 29 % of males).

In an interview with Reuter’s Health correspondents, Reimherr cites that, “these symptoms – depression, temper control problems, feelings of tension, and over-reacting to life stresses – might cause a doctor to miss the diagnosis of ADHD … We feel that this will lead to problems in treatment for such women.”

Such studies are limited to the initial data collected by the original researchers at Lilly. Therefore, one is not able to draw positive conclusions regarding the origins of the differences cited by Reimherr. For example, do hormones, age differences, economic statuses, education, or marital statuses, affect the data? We cannot know due to the limitations of the data in this study.

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Girls With ADHD and ADD Are Often Overlooked

Posted by on September 8th, 2005 | Comments off

Girls With ADHD Are Often Overlooked

HealthNewsDigest.com – August 29, 2005 (HealthNewsDigest.com) reports that ADHD likely affects 3% to 7% of the entire child population in the US. However, girls are frequently overlooked because they often do not display hyperactive symptoms.

When teaching at the elementary level, I found this particularly true. Girls with ADHD often were simply daydreamers with poor time management skills. While some did display the outward social and behavioral problems that their male peers did, it was not very frequent.

HealthNewsDigest.com is published by the American Psychological Association. I’ve cited bits of this report and am alarmed by its look and feel. It reads like an endorsement and advertisement for Adderall XR.

Their report, edited down:

The federal Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) recent nod to ADDERALL XR for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents aged 13 to 17 spotlights an underidentified and under treated population with this disorder, experts tell Health NewsDigest.com.

If left untreated, the symptoms of ADHD can have a profound effect on a child’s life, both inside and outside of a classroom setting.

For Janice Lowder, a quiet, well-behaved child, learning was always stressful.

“My husband and I hired a one-on-one tutor to help Janice with her studies. We also tried to help her, and all dreaded the nightly battle of completing a homework assignment. Janice would get so frustrated with her homework and the fact that she didn’t ‘get it,’ that she would cry,” said her mother Beth Lowder.

“By the time Janice reached the seventh grade, a nurse at her school suggested we talk to a doctor. Janice was diagnosed with ADHD and was started on treatment,” Beth explained.

“I knew my daughter just needed the right help,” said Beth.

By the tenth grade, Janice had improved from a C to a B student but homework was still challenging. In addition, she had low self-esteem and was embarrassed to take her medication at school. Her psychiatrist prescribed Adderall XR®, an extended-release formulation that enabled Janice to take her medication once a day at home.

With continued tutoring and medication, her grades improved.

“She came home from school one day and said, ‘Mom, I’m smart,’” said her mother.

A recent study presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting showed that girls with ADHD demonstrated significant improvement in both behavior and attention with Adderall XR.

“The study suggests that girls with ADHD can benefit from Adderall XR and that this treatment will help them control symptoms all day while they are in the classroom, during after-school activities or doing homework with relatively few side effects,” said Joseph Biederman, M.D., professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Chief of Pediatric Psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “While ADHD in girls is becoming more recognizable it is still often overlooked, and there is a need for safe and effective treatments that will allow girls to interact more effectively with other children and adults, to concentrate in school and to focus on finishing tasks.”

I’d expect to find a more diluted version in Parents Magazine or Family Journal as an outright advertisement. Makes one wonder who wrote this? Shire Pharmaceuticals?

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Grief Changes Brain Chemistry In Women

Posted by on April 5th, 2005 | Comments off

Arif Najib, MD, with the University of Tübingen Medical Center in Tübingen, Germany used MRI scans to view brain changes of women after ending a romantic relationship. Najib’s findings indicate that grief produces considerable changes in the MRIs. His study appears in the December 2004 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Najib thinks that depression may cause the brain to malfunction – especially the areas of normal circuitry for handling sadness, separation, and grief.

“In this current study, Najib and colleagues chose 11 female volunteers who were in the throes of grief over a recent breakup of a romantic relationship. Many were having trouble getting it out of their minds – a risk factor for major depression.

Najib’s researchers looked at brain scans while grieving women focused on sad thoughts about their romantic relationship. Then they performed brain imaging scans while women had neutral thoughts of a different person they had known for an equally long time.

During the study, the women were still having difficulty getting the loss out of their minds, but most had resolved their depressive symptoms.

Women still grieving over the romantic relationship had the greatest brain changes, he reports. Although there was increased brain activity in many regions associated with sadness, they also had much less activity in the brain region associated with emotion, motivation, and attention – the amygdala.”

This process has been viewed before in persons subjected to severe trauma. Researchers noted that the hippocampus, the center of memory, emotion, and learning, seemed to substantially decrease in these persons perhaps to avoid remembering the trauma. While we know that positive challenges shape the brain by increasing neural connections, we also know now that negative influences shape the brain negatively.

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