Shire Announces Sixth Annual Scholarship for Individuals With ADHD

The scholarship program is for legal residents of the United States who are under the care of a licensed health care professional for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are accepted to or enrolled in undergraduate programs at accredited colleges, universities, trade schools, technical schools, or vocational schools located in the US. The Michael Yasick ADHD Scholarship…

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How Teen Drug Use Is Changing for Better and Worse

Each year since 1975, a survey called Monitoring the Future (MTF) has peeked into the lives of U.S. youth to see what they really think about drugs and alcohol and, more crucially, what they’re doing with them…According to the 2015 survey, which queried close to 45,000 students in eighth, 10th and12th grades, drug use is…

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Evaluating ADHD medicines to reduce highway crashes

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers are determining whether an extended-release medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can improve highway safety and help prevent accidents – especially during the hours when drivers’ risk of crashing is greatest.”

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Pediatric ADHD: What the primary care physician should know

In 2011, approximately 6.4 million children and adolescents aged 4 to 17 years had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to the CDC, which predicts that number will continue to rise in the coming years. Here, Healio.com/Family Medicine presents the latest news and research on ADHD that primary care clinicians should know about.

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ADHD Meds May Raise Risk for Psychotic Side Effects in Some Kids: Study

Stimulant medications, such as those used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may raise the risk for psychotic side effects among young patients who have a parent with a history of serious mental illness, new research suggests…These side effects included hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices, and/or perceptual disturbances, the researchers said…The study findings were published online Dec.…

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Psychotic Symptoms in Children on Stimulants. What are the Implications for the Clinician?

Stimulant medications have been previously reported as the cause of adverse psychiatric symptoms in children, including mania and psychosis.1 New work by MacKenzie et al. in this month’s Pediatrics ( 10.1542/peds.2015-2486) provides new insight into a subpopulation apparently at very high risk for this concerning side effect. Children diagnosed with ADHD and treated with stimulants,…

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Study finds no increased risk of autism, ADHD with prenatal antidepressant exposure

An analysis of medical records data from three Massachusetts health care systems finds no evidence that prenatal exposure to antidepressants increases the risk for autism and related disorders or for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ..the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research team finds evidence that any increased incidence of autism or ADHD found in previous studies…

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Techniques for working with ADD team members

In my last post, we discussed identifying and helping those of your team members who may have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) ADHD. While understanding why that person is hard to manage is one thing, are there specific steps you can take to make meetings less painful and the day-to-day job…

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10 Ways to Make the Most of a Child’s IEP Meeting

Do you attend IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) or Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings for your child? Parents attend these meetings to plan for children if they have a learning disability, speech or language impairment, other health impairment (OHI), Autism, intellectual disability, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, or orthopedic impairment. This article details some…

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FTC Hits Lumosity With Fine for Deceptive Brain Health Ads

You’ve probably seen or heard ads for the brain training app Lumosity boasting that its games were designed by neuroscientists and were scientifically proven to help stave off Alzheimer’s as well as improve real-world cognitive performance. Well, you won’t be seeing those ads anymore. Lumosity maker Lumo Labs are now banned from making such claims…

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Rethinking Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased substantially over the past 20 years: by some estimates, as much as 30%.1 Much like the rise in autism prevalence, the reasons for this are likely multifactorial, including an actual rise in incidence as well as increased recognition and diagnosis.

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Neuroimaging Study Hunts for Connectivity Clues to ADHD Diagnosis

Interactions between three attention-related brain networks are weaker in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. In fact, the weaker the connections, the more severe the symptoms of inattention.

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