ADHD in the News 2017-04-20

Could food choices affect a child’s risk of having ADHD?

Studies suggest link to ADHD risk based on children's diets and the foods mothers eat during pregnancy...What are the implications of these food-ADHD associations? Could the meals parents provide to their child increase their risk of an ADHD diagnosis or exacerbate existing symptoms – or perhaps even improve their condition? What about foods consumed during pregnancy?"



Antidepressants not as harmful during pregnancy as previously thought, a new study shows

Women who take antidepressants early in pregnancy are not at a higher risk of having children who develop autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), contrary to earlier reports, a study published Tuesday found. The new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found only a slight increase in the risk of premature birth for infants of mothers who used antidepressants during the first trimester of their pregnancy.



Study finds children with ADHD have questions for their doctor but don’t ask them

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder want to ask their physicians about their condition and medications but often don't, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study could help doctors and parents leverage this interest to help children better manage their ADHD.



Brief screening tool for adult ADHD released

"The new scale is short, easily scored, and can detect the vast majority of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder cases in the general population with high sensitivity and specificity, discriminating well among patients presenting for evaluation and specialty treatment," the authors, led by Berk Ustun, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, write. The tool is described in an article published online April 5 in JAMA Psychiatry.



The Innovating, Creative Superpowers of ADHD

It is so common for self-employed people to have ADHD, the disorder could be renamed “the entrepreneur’s trait”...The list of red flags was long for serial entrepreneur Ryan McRae­—doesn’t pay attention in class, bored easily, works on too many projects at once. But it wasn’t until he was on the brink of adulthood when he first learned he had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Calling himself The ADHD Nerd, McRae has never viewed his diagnosis as a limitation. In fact, he’s used the disorder to his advantage.



Researchers disentangle relationship between autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and ADHD in children

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience internalizing and externalizing problems at higher rates than typically developing children, which could worsen social impairment, according to researchers with the Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research. The study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, compared social impairment scores in 57 children (3-17 years, 82.5 percent male) with ASD, either with or without heightened levels of internalizing (anxiety) or externalizing (attention deficit hyperactivity or ADHD) symptoms.