ADHDFamilies

The American heart Association has released a recommendation to have children diagnosed with ADHD undergo a screening for heart problems before being prescribed stimulant based medication. According to the AHA, these drugs can lead to heart problems or cause severe symptoms in children who have existing heart problems.

The Association is not recommending that children be taken off medication, but they are concerned about the overall health of patients treated for long periods with stimulants, due to the strain it can place on the heart. Dr. Victoria Vetter, a pediatric cardiologist and head of the committee that made the recommendation…

It would seem that there is more than one Ratey floating around in the world of ADHD. As a matter of fact, Nancy Ratey is the wife of Dr. John Ratey, who I discussed in my last post on this topic.

Both Dr. and Mrs. Ratey are experts on the subject of ADHD. While her husband focuses on the medical side of the issue, Mrs. Ratey is an educator and life coach who focuses on teaching adults with ADHD how to better manage their time and resources.

Mrs Ratey is also the author of The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD…

A study published in the March 3rd Online Issue of the American journal of Psychiatry gives results that may not be too favored by proponents of a drug-free treatment regimen for ADHD. The study analyzed data on 112 young men who had been diagnosed 10 years earlier, when they were 6 to 17 years old. Almost 3/4 of the group had been treated with stimulants and 22 were still taking stimulants to control ADHD symptoms at the time of the study.

The findings were that it was no more likely for people that have been treated with these medications to…

On February 28th 2008 Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that children from the ages of 6 to 18 may be taught only by credentialed teachers in public or private schools - or by parents at home if, and only if, those parents are accredited instructors.

Judge Croskey cited a California state law which goes back to the 1950’s in his decision.

The ruling has enraged many parents, home school advocacy groups and notable politicians, such as California State Superintendent of instruction Jack O’Connell and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom are calling…

The North Carolina company Play Attention claims that the have created a game that will help persons affected by ADHD have better attention spans. These “feedback driven educational systems” utilize a bicycle-like helmet that measures brainwave activities and allows the wearer to control video games with their thoughts.

the official description of the syste, from the developer’s website is:

Play Attention can be used in the comfort of your home. It is powerful learning system that uses a high-tech helmet to read brain signals indicative of focus or concentration. These brain signals control our computer games. Your mind becomes the mouse…

Alicia Sparks of Mental Health Notes has awarded what she calls the A.S.S. Award (for Mental Health Notes’ Abusive Supporter of Stigma).  Miss Sparks is granting this award based on an article published by TMZ.com titled Are Dairy and Milk Making Brit Split?, in which the author makes more than one rather provocative and supposedly cute “quips” about bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in connection with claims from PETA that certain cases of the condition may be worsened by the consumption of meat and dairy products.

Regardless of whether the research from PETA is valid or whether I agree with their…

There was quite a bit of discussion following the post titled Life coach wonders if ADHD is contagious, both from readers and from the original author of that post.  This is to be expected when the issues being discussed are as controversial as the topics covered here.  There are two very distinct and equally passionate schools of thought on the subject of ADHD. (Bipolar disorder is more cut-and-dried, if you will, as the symptoms are pretty globally recognized.) While I encourage discussion, I feel that tempers may have flared in this instance and I would like to focus on what…

10 year old Declan Leaves of Rhymney Valley Whales has curbed some o the issues of ADHD by playing drums in the local jazz band and at home.  This story was reported at icWales.co.uk, and I think it shows some of the more positive aspects of ADHD.  Declan is obviously creative, and what could be considered a better trait for a drummer than boundless energy?!?

The fact that keeping his mind occupied is helping him cope with what sounds to be a pretty severe case of ADHD is a good indicator to parents as well.  Encourage your kids to find…

Malatonin has been talked about in ADHD circles for quite some time.  Eventually every parent of an ADHD child will hear that melatonin can help their child go to sleep more easily and in some cases it will even help the child sleep through the night.  doctors will tell you that melatonin is a dietary supplement and as such has not been tested or approved for use with the other medications that your child may be taking.  In our case the doctor also suggested that we try it, but to keep a close eye on our son during the first…

ADHD may not be on the front page of your local news in today’s world, but it’ll be mentioned in the market watch.

The Houston Chronicle reports that sales of the Britain based Shire Pharmaceuticals suffered mixed trading due to a lack of patients switching to their new ADHD medication Vyvanse from Shire’s older medication, Adderall.

I don’t know about you kiddies, but my worry is that new medications simply exist to replace the “old” medications, without any real benefit, just to satisfy the needs of a few parents who are still searching for that “magic bullet”.

Depressing?  Maybe not. …