ADHD medication use increases over time, but variations exist

The prevalence of ADHD medication use has increased over time among adults and children between 2001 and 2015, according study data involving more than 154 million people from 14 countries published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The findings also showed that despite this increase, prescription rates vary by region and remain below diagnosis rates in many…

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Study examines harmful effects of some food additives on children

There are more than 10,000 chemicals allowed to be added to our food. Some of them are harmless; some we don’t know the effects of, and others have been studied and show they can cause serious health risks to children and adults. A report published in the journal Pediatrics looks into the effects of additives…

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Teens’ Rising Social Media Use Is Not All Bad News

Teenagers’ use of social media is skyrocketing. But educators should keep in mind that it’s not all bad news. That is the assessment of a new national survey of 13- to 17-year-olds by the nonprofit Common Sense Media and backed up by other experts, who caution educators not to take too simplistic a view of…

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Why School Is Often the First Place ADHD Symptoms Show Up

In my last post, I talked about how one of of the defining characteristics of ADHD is that symptoms show up in multiple environments – school, work, home, social settings and so on. Yet school is often the first place that ADHD symptoms make themselves known. If ADHD symptoms show up in all aspects of…

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ADHD affects 1 in 20 children and 1 million adults in South Africa

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects 1 in 20 children, and an estimated 1-million South African adults, yet it is a condition often misdiagnosed, and plagued by myths and misunderstandings, particularly with regard to treatment. When undiagnosed or not effectively treated, ADHD often sees children being unfairly labelled as naughty, delinquent, unteachable, and adults as lazy,…

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Researchers Say ADHD Increases Risk of Developing Parkinson’s Disease

Adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as adults who were prescribed psychostimulant medications for ADHD, have higher incidences of early-onset Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s-like diseases. That’s according to a study published this week in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

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