A study by the UC Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute will test whether VR technology can help kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder reduce their sensitivity to distractions, according to a Tuesday press release.

Dear Mayo Clinic: As the mom of an elementary schoolboy, I hear a lot of talk about ADHD. But what is it exactly? How do you tell the difference between a kid who just has a ton of energy and one who has a problem that needs to be addressed? Are there things that put…

Dr. Buchanan: Most child psychiatrists, including myself, consider stimulants first-line. I view alpha-agonists as second-line, or sometimes I use them as augmenters to a stimulant, such as when we see only a partial response from a stimulant or when we are limited in dosing due to side effects. Agents such as Strattera (atomoxetine) and Wellbutrin…

“If you look at the peer-reviewed evidence, we cannot say sugar absolutely makes kids hyper; however, you can’t discount that sugar may have a slight effect” on behavior, said Kristi L. King, senior pediatric dietitian at Texas Children’s Hospital and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

A new study out of the University of Alberta has found that by the age of 5, children who spent two hours or more looking at a screen each day were 7.7 times more likely to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when compared to children who spent 30…

Before defaulting to medication as an ADHD treatment for you or your children, talk to your doctor. Decide together whether any of the following non-pharmaceutical treatments might work:

I know many ADHD students are allowed movement breaks as per their 504 or IEP. These students should be allowed to sit on exercise balls or fidget cushions, and use pedal desks, rubber bands on their chairs or fidget stools. There are a variety of options out there. Classrooms need to offer more for these…

A team of Chilean academics has produced a study, published by the journal Heliyon, that suggests “musical training produces lasting improvements to a cognitive mechanism that helps individuals be more attentive and less likely to be distracted by irrelevant stimuli while performing demanding tasks.” The study asserts that the more years of training a subject…

Raising a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) costs American families an estimated $5.8 billion every year—five times more than raising a child without ADHD—according to a new study by researchers at FIU’s Center for Children and Families. This is the first study to calculate children’s social, behavioral and academic difficulties into a family’s…

There is no substantial detrimental risk on child fine motor and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms after prenatal benzodiazepine/z-hypnotic exposure alone or in combination with opioids or antidepressants, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open.1

Concerta is a brand name for the drug methylphenidate in an extended-release formulation. This is the same drug in Ritalin, but Concerta releases the drug evenly over a prolonged period. The slow release is what sets it apart from other ADHD medications.

According to the authors of a 2018 meta-analysis, methylphenidate — the drug in Ritalin — is usually best for children or adolescents with ADHD. For adults with ADHD, the researchers concluded that amphetamines, such as Adderall, are generally best.