10 holiday tips for families of kids with special health needs

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” warble the lyrics heard everywhere through the holiday season. But for kids with special health needs, the flashing lights, blaring music, crowded malls, social events and schedule changes can be overwhelming. Children with mental health issues or developmental and physical challenges such as autism, ADHD, sensory issues,…

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ADHD and Fatigue

Have you ever read a description of people with ADHD as having “high energy levels” and thought “if only”? You’re not alone. The stereotype goes something like this: ADHD equals hyperactivity and hyperactivity equals Energizer Bunny, right? The keen skeptic will notice, however, that this is not exactly the most scientific reasoning…

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The Kaleidoscope Society Is Smashing ADHD Stigma for Women and Girls

Anyone with ADHD knows there’s a stigma around it, but if you’re a girl with ADHD, that stigma is even worse. Since symptoms of ADHD manifest differently in girls and boys, Broadly points out the disorder often goes undiagnosed in girls because the classic hyperactivity that is typically associated with ADHD is missing. Worse, though,…

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Lowering the Bar: Assessing Risk vs Benefit

To examine benefits and harms, Wilson, the Yale researcher, conducted a biostatistic analysis…focusing on drugs used to treat lack of interest in sex among women, low testosterone in men, overactive bladder, and adult ADHD. Wilson started with the number-needed-to-treat (NNT), a cornerstone of clinical decision-making, which is used to calculate benefit. NNT is typically balanced…

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Why Parents and Doctors Should Think About A.D.H.D. in Preschool

In 2011, when the American Academy of Pediatrics began including preschoolers in its guidelines for diagnosing and treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, some media reports blasted the idea. Were we planning to medicate toddlers? Would A.D.H.D. diagnoses surge once pediatricians started looking for it in preschoolers?

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Working out the genetic risk for ADHD

Genetics play a strong part in the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the path from a gene to risk for the disorder has remained a black box to researchers.. A new study suggests how the risk gene ADGRL3 (LPHN3) might work. ADGRL3 encodes the protein latrophilin 3, which regulates communication between brain cells. According…

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Data scientists find causal relation in characteristics of ADHD

Hyperactivity seems to be the result of not being able to focus one’s attention rather than the other way around. This was proposed in an article in PLOS ONE, written by researchers at Radboud university medical center and Radboud University. It seems to suggest that more attention should be given to the AD than to…

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College Board Makes it Easier for Students With Disabilities to Get Accommodations

The College Board announced on Thursday that it would make it easier for students with disabilities to request test accommodations, and that it would provide, for the first time, testing supports to some English-language learners who take the SAT. The College Board and its competitor, ACT Inc., have increasingly faced criticism—and questions from the U.S.…

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Treating ADHD in Children: It’s Not All About Medication

Hi. I am Dr Hansa Bhargava, a practicing pediatrician and medical editor with Medscape. Have you ever had a parent of a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ask about ways to treat it without medication? I seem to be getting this question more and more.

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Is It ADHD or Something Else? It Could Be Both!

People with ADHD don’t always know how to do things in moderation. Maybe that explains why so many ADHDers aren’t content with just one mental health condition and have other “comorbid” conditions such as depression or anxiety on top of ADHD.”

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These sexy fidgeting tools are designed with queer women in mind

Fidgeting is something we all do, but it’s especially helpful for people with ADD, ADHD and autism. A new line of luxury devices from the Didget Babes, a design duo, goes beyond simply normalizing the action — it destroys stigma by making fidgeting liberating, productive and, yes, even sexy.

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