adhdresearch-blog

[adhdresearch-blog]

They get parents and teachers to help with the process in order to have an all around successful therapy treatment. 

Behavioral treatment for ADHD is important because it helps with issues such as:

problems doing well in school

behavior problems at school

problems with friendships with others their age

problems getting along with parents and with brothers and sisters

Behavioral treatments work by teaching new skills to parents, teachers and the children for handling problems.

Simply put this is one of the more safer alternatives to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. It helps balance the practices needed while maintain a long effect on reducing the symptoms. In the long run it is one of the best techniques available for people dealing with ADHD. IT is one of the more costlier but the pros out weigh the cons which is best. 

Personal Reflection:

Because I grew up around cousins who had ADHD I could see the difference in them when they took the medication. Not only where they unhappy they were dull and lifeless. That medication took away a person who made me happy and turned them into a boring, negative person who many people didn’t want to be around. I just wished that behavioral therapy was more of a push back then as it is today because they would have all turned out differently. 

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When used as prescribed, these drugs are not addictive. However, abuse is on the rise, and clinicians need to be able to identify the signs.’ Reflection: So beside’s tobacco and weed the most common teen drug abuse is in stimulant ADHD medication. “ According to the MTF, 6.4% of 10th-graders and 6.8% of 12th-graders used prescription amphetamines nonmedically in 2008. In the study, amphetamines ranked third among 12th-graders for past-year illicit drug use.” If so many teens are taking this medications why isn’t there a bigger regulator on the medication. These drugs are being sold on the drug market to target teens just like any other drug yet they are a minor offense. Teens are taking these drugs to do better on test. These are legal drugs that have similar effects on a regular person who doesn’t have ADHD as hallucinate drugs. “But when the drugs are crushed and then injected or snorted, they can produce a high with euphoric feelings and exaggerated self-confidence that can lead to dependence.” This dependence is ADDICTIVE which is similar to any other drug that parents don’t want their child to take. “Teens and young adults who take these drugs for their stimulatory properties are at risk for serious side effects, including dangerously high BP, irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, seizures and tremors, and mood disorders. At consistently high levels or with repeated use, stimulant-based ADHD drugs can cause stroke and such cognition changes as confusion, hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. “Reflection: All of these are similar to the effects that illegal drugs such as marijuana and heroine could possibly have yet they are on the drug market to be given to just about anyone who is hyper and sees it as a problem.

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Students who are in high pressure academic environments often look to ways to help maximize their time for studying and completing school work. As students feel more pressure to succeed academically, the notion of gaining an advantage to complete numerous projects and study for exams may appeal to some students. 

Reflection: though this article is about if they believe that using drugs is considered cheating, the study they did had phenomenal results. Though it was a small amount of students tested and anonmously questioned, I found the results quite difficult to understand. But after carefully rereading it again I figured out why it was so many statistics. 

“Results indicated that 18 percent admitted to misusing a prescription stimulant for an academic reason at least one time during college, and 24 percent of these students used these medications on at least eight times. College juniors reported the highest rate of stimulant misuse (24 percent). According to the results, 69 percent of those who misused stimulants used them to write a paper, 66 percent to study for an exam and 27 percent to take an exam.”

Reflection: if these numbers are so high I wonder what all would be the results of a national study. This means that many college students use them. 

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Cognitive and behavioral therapies that help young people reduce impulsivity and cultivate good study habits are costlier and take longer to administer, but may be more efficacious over time. 

This makes me wonder if it’s an investment that people lack. They don’t wish to invest the money and time to help themselves or their children. 

After training parents in stress management and giving them behavioral tools to help their children, psychologist Bill Pelham of Florida International University and his colleagues saw significant improvement in their children's ADHD-related behavior, such as the frequency of classroom disturbances.

Reflection:

So if kids are given the option between stimulant drugs and behavioral therapy, therapy is the most useful. It’s the best choice and in the long run provides a person with safe alternatives to medication, better study habits and better life habits. But it is ultimately up tot he parents to invest time and money in order to see their child succeed.

Cognitive therapies may also boost improvement: In a 2011 PLoS ONE paper,Julie Schweitzer and colleagues in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department and the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, showed that children with ADHD show extra activity in brain areas associated with "task-irrelevant" information during working memory tasks (those that depend on one's ability to hold and focus on information for immediate reasoning and recall), suggesting that they have less efficient cognitive control.  

Cognitive and behavioral therapy could possibly be the game changer that so many people will start to gravitate too especially since the effects of stimulants are so bad.

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ADHD is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without thinking about what the result will be), and in some cases, are overly active. Reflection: These statistics are not only alarming but crazy; Why is there more people diagnose than being treated? Probably because of the effects the stimulants  have on a developing child. I like the fact that the CDC gives the economic cost of ADHD.  “The total excess cost of ADHD in the US in 2000 was $31.6 billion. Of this total, $1.6 billion was for the treatment of patients, $12.1 billion was for all other health care costs of persons with ADHD, $14.2 billion was for all other health care costs of family members with ADHD, and $3.7 billion was for the work loss cost of adults with ADHD and adult family members of persons with ADHD.”  That is crazy and a lot of money. People really have to pay a lot for ADHD medication which would be terrible especially if the child was falsely diagnosed because of the current trend of over diagnosing.  

“More US children were receiving ADHD treatment in 2011 compared to 2007; however, as many as 17.5% of children with current ADHD were not receiving either medication for ADHD or mental health counseling in 2011.”

This makes me think that many parents have switched there treatments to natural treatments. 

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"Are ADHD rates truly climbing at such an alarming rate? Possibly. But many experts believe that's unlikely."

Initial: 

So I have read in other articles that there is an increase in ADHD in mainly children. I'm not sure about an increase in adults though. I was wondering if it was on the bases of adults pushing for there children to act better, children really having ADHD or doctors who are just diagnosing? 

Like is it possible for a doctor to diagnose it just because parents are tired of their children being children? Some children clearly have more energy than others and it's due to their surroundings; something that many parents and adults don't come to realize. But when this article says understanding the rise does it mean that they back up doctors diagnosing more?

After Thoughts:

I hadn't really seen the statistics past 2010ish so I am astonished that it's risen way more than I thought "To say that a tenth of all children have a biologic condition that affects their life enough to call it a disorder just does not make sense." Also, "If that's the case, then a significant proportion of these children may also be mistreated with medications that they don't need." 

Also, "pediatricians and the family practitioner are being asked to sort out a complex situation in an inadequate amount of time without access to data from psychological assessments they need to make these fine distinctions," says Barbaresi. "So it's a set-up for inappropriate decisions to be made."

This makes so much sense, and is extremely logical and backs up the article about the French secrets to ADHD.

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"some studies suggest that stimulants might slow down the growth of cartilage tissue, affecting growth of bones"

My Thoughts: 

This statement alone somewhat backs up the hesitation of so many parents. The fact that there are many speculations scares me. That's extremely scary seeing that cartilage is so important!

"While follow-up by family physicians should include monitoring growth of children taking stimulants for ADHD, the rate of height loss seems relatively small and is likely reversible with withdrawal of treatment. Clinical presentation and academic achievements should be the key to determining the drug, the preparation, and the dose used."

My Thoughts:

So if you withdraw the treatment what are the effects on the symptoms. This logically means that you have to choose between risking a height loss or increasing the symptoms of the child. If both are the cases it's like why should you even think about using that particular stimulant. Even if you don't see the effects on height until like 7 years later wouldn't it be hard to withdraw the symptoms it may have already permanently affected the growth. 

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"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, is one of the most common mental disorders that develop in children. Children with ADHD have impaired functioning in multiple settings,"

The National Institute of Mental health helps break down some of the believed causes of ADHD. This website gives a broad overview of different natural methods to help provide the reader with alternatives. . I will also use the National Institute of Mental Health to give me the different side-effects and safety behind the numerous stimulants and non-stimulants prescribed to both children and adults.

They give the symptoms in different categories and listing the symptoms of each difference which I think is cool. 

Ex. 

"Children who have symptoms of inattention may:

Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another

Have difficulty focusing on one thing

Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something enjoyable

Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new

Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities

Not seem to listen when spoken to

Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly

Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others

Struggle to follow instructions.

Children who have symptoms of hyperactivity may:

Fidget and squirm in their seats

Talk nonstop

Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight

Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time

Be constantly in motion

Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.

Children who have symptoms of impulsivity may:

Be very impatient

Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences

Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games

Often interrupt conversations or others' activities."

I feel that this government run website gives more information than any other website I have used in both cases.

[adhdresearch-blog]

This is extremely bias toward American parents and people as a whole. But there is much truth in what they are saying.

"They believe that it's hard for a doctor to really diagnose a person with ADHD when:

Social circumstances, emotional traumas and food allergies may be dismissed as “chemical imbalances”.

American doctors largely ignore dietary factors.

ADHD is commonly treated with psycho-stimulant medication alone, or in combination with behavior modification therapy (with low success rates).

In a 5-7 minute office visit it is hard to assess all the factors.

In France they diagnose a person with ADHD by:

Diagnosis is explored using CFTMEA criteria (Classification Française des Troubles Mentaux de L’Enfant et de L’Adolescent).

CFTMEA first looks at underlying social issues that may be causing ADHD behaviors and symptoms.

Doctors help patients identify, understand and work through psychological disruption that may surface as ADHD symptoms.

Dietary factors are explored and addressed by doctors.

Using a holistic approach to treating ADHD, the French dramatically reduce the amount of psycho-stimulant medications given to children"

Dietary Factors is something extreme big and understandable. You are what you eat. Simple as that. Your diet controls a lot of things: your energy levels, your mood, even how much sleep you get. 

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The study is...

 "This study examined prospectively the relationship of childhood stimulant treatment to academic functioning during adolescence. Children (n = 169) were initially recruited and diagnosed with ADHD when they were 7–11 years old. A subsample of those with childhood ADHD (n=90) was reevaluated on average 9.13 (SD=1.5) years later. Probands who did and did not receive treatment with stimulant medication were compared to each other and to a never-ADHD comparison group (n=80) on three subtests from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II (WIAT-II), as well as high school grade point average (GPA) and number of retentions in school as derived from school records."

 The results were…

“Analyses of covariance controlling for severity of childhood ADHD symptoms indicated that probands treated with psychostimulant medication achieved better academic outcomes, as measured by WIAT-II subtests and high school GPA, than those not treated with psychostimulants (p < .05). However, treated probands did not fare as well as the never-ADHD comparison group. Psychostimulant treatment for children with ADHD may benefit long-term adolescent academic performance, although the extent of improvement is likely to vary as a function of multiple factors.”

 This is a very scholarly report. I believe they truly looked at the experiment done on the sample of students. The results were somewhat predictable for the fact that many people have always chosen to prescribe their children with medicine. It’s not until recently that I heard about the new natural remedies and the harmful effects of the stimulants.

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Recess = natural fix for ADHD. 

by Christine Gross-Loh

Intial:

For a while now I've known that nap time in kindergarten is a thing of the past. Kids that are currently in kindergarten no longer have the sweet, much needed rest time. I recently had asked two kindergartners who came to my job at Skyzone do they miss taking naps. Before they responded, I knew whatever they were going to say would be a shocker to me. I remember how some days I HATED having to take a nap and other days I loved that good old rest time on my designated cot. The kindergartners told me that they really miss taking a nap and that they wished they still could. They also told me that they only get recess on certain days of the week which puzzled me. From when I was there age I remembered how I LOVED recess and how we'd be outside for close to an hour and a half then go inside and finish up the last lesson of the day. So I could sort of understand what Christine was saying in her article. 

After:

Why would they cut out tradition? Recess is so important especially because of all the processed and fake sugars that all the kids are doped up on. They need somewhere to release all of their natural energy plus the added energy from the foods they eat. It makes since that they wouldn't want to pay attention in class because they need to have physical activities to release their energy. When your physically good, you're mentally good. With all the obesity in the US it would make since to increase kids' recess time. Logically they are increases obesity as well as increasing the diagnoses of ADHD because of one simple thing. I remember when our class would get in trouble and recess would be taken away from us. Our entire class would be rowdy and upset just because we couldn't get any fresh air and let out all of the energy we had. Instead of learning more things our teacher would have to deal with the outbursts and inattentiveness of majority of the kids. Even back then we could tell how important recess was to not only the kids but the teachers. 

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"ADHD Medications Do Not Cause Genetic Damage in Children." NIH News Release. 19 Nov. 2008: n.p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

-Pros to some research done back in 2008 rebutting the common thought that ADHD medications causes genetic damage.

Initial:

How does a medicine that is supposedly helping with ADHD lead to genetic damage? Why are people thinking that? Are the drugs really that harmful? That is extremely scary to think that drugs can cause Genetic Damaging? What other drugs could possibly do that? Has any cases came up?

After:

Doctors seem legit about their research.It was legit. But it did have some shaky areas. Like, the fact that it had to be a public upheaval for their to be some research. It makes me think how could parents let their children be given medicine that they know nothing about. Always do research if not for anyone, do it for your child. The scare and thought that there could be possible genetic damage makes me think that no one does their research on the possible side effects. The amount of research done is good but more people should do a study for it just to be sure because it’s such a big discussion. But at the same time testing so many people could be relevant and correct. Very good research though. “The researchers found no significant differences between the two groups of children with regard to age, gender, race, body weight, height, or ADHD subtype. The groups also showed very similar ADHD symptom levels at initial screening and children in both groups responded equally well to the medication.”

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Short-term and long-term effects of ADHD. . “30percent of college kids and 10 percent of high school students now reportedly use ADHD drugs for recreation or classroom performance enhancement,” (Frances). The short-term effects of ADHD medication can be “anxiety, insomnia, reduced appetite, weight loss, stunted growth, and increased blood pressure” (Allen Frances).

After: Why does it have so many disadvantages and effects? I understand why so many people are abusing the drugs. But they don’t have to. It’s really common in high school and college. I know someone who used it before the ACT to do better and know people who take them now and don’t need them… I wonder if they know these side effects? Do doctors realize they are contributing to this drug market? Do they sell the drugs to students?

In the past 20 years, the rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses has tripled--11 percent of all kids in this country now have a diagnosis of ADHD, and 6 percent are on daily medication for it. The situation is particularly extreme among teenage boys--one in five diagnosed, one in 10 medicated. Diagnoses of developmental disorders and childhood bipolar disorder have increased 40-fold over the same time period.

 We are turning childhood into a disease.

That's a very vivid statement and very controversial. It captures the reader and also confuses the reader. They want to know how.

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Initial: I wonder how it affects adults rather than children. Are there any adults who have documented their experiences? How many people are taking these drugs? How does it feel to some to have to depend on medication in order to be attentive?

  After: Increase in stimulants. (Clemmitt 671-673). “prescriptions for Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall and other stimulants” (Marcia Clemmitt 671). Doctors fear for the abuse of the drugs. Doctors know “stimulant drugs can be addictive and may carry cardiovascular risks if used over a long period” (Clemmitt 673). Many people feel that the illegal drug market has easier access to drugs because of the over prescription of ADHD stimulant drugs.

Marcia herself has ADHD and has kids with ADHD. She has found herself forgetting to pick the kids up without her medication. That’s extremely serious. So I see how dependent and needed the medication is for some. It really serves good and helps her function and do certain responsibilities. Without the medication she said, she probably would be in a bad situation. But she too feels there is a need to better diagnose others with ADHD. She knows the side effects and everything of ADHD. But knows that she needs to take it which is a deeper perspective and a very different perspective than most.

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First Thoughts: Why are more than 11,000 toddlers on ADHD medicine? Why would parents really allow their 2 or 3 year old children to be put on such strong medicines that alter their personality and mood? Though that’s biased of me… it raises the question of is it the parent or child? Should we only put children with some of the worse symptoms of ADHD on medicine and those who don’t have too many symptoms we try to find an alternative method such as a life altering change. Clearly the mind does not want to be in a routine shouldn’t we just learn to switch up or alter the child’s life in order to get rid of the symptoms? According to the newspaper it does help to seemingly make the symptoms disappear when the life is alter for example the man who started his own business.

Notes:  “ The rates of both diagnosis and treatment have increased so much in the past decade that you may wonder whether something that affects so many people can really be a disease.” “Recent neuroscience research shows that people with A.D.H.D. are actually hard-wired for novelty-seeking--a trait that had, until relatively recently, a distinct evolutionary advantage. Compared with the rest of us, they have sluggish and underfed brain reward circuits, so much of everyday life feels routine and understimulating.” “In short, people with A.D.H.D. may not have a disease, so much as a set of behavioral traits that don't match the expectations of our contemporary culture.” “The adults with A.D.H.D. had significantly fewer D2 and D3 receptors (two specific subtypes of dopamine receptors) in their reward circuits than did healthy controls. Furthermore, the lower the level of dopamine receptors was, the greater the subjects' symptoms of inattention.” “These findings suggest that people with A.D.H.D are walking around with reward circuits that are less sensitive at baseline than those of the rest of us. Having a sluggish reward circuit makes normally interesting activities seem dull and would explain, in part, why people with A.D.H.D. find repetitive and routine tasks unrewarding and even painfully boring.” “My patient "treated" his A.D.H.D simply by changing the conditions of his work environment from one that was highly routine to one that was varied and unpredictable. All of a sudden, his greatest liabilities--his impatience, short attention span and restlessness--became assets. And this, I think, gets to the heart of what is happening in A.D.H.D.” “Most alarmingly, more than 10,000 toddlers at ages 2 and 3 were found to be taking these drugs, far outside any established pediatric guidelines.” “the increasingly stark contrast between the regimented and demanding school environment and the highly stimulating digital world, where young people spend their time outside school.

Second Thoughts: This is a very unbiased newspaper article and full of information that opposes my previous thoughts with medical research that makes sense. The simple fact that most people with ADHD are not easily excited by routine things and other experiences makes sense. They say it’s because they have less dopamine receptors, which is in par with their level of excitement.