ADHD in the News 2018-10-04

Smaller Brain Regions Associated With ADHD, Conduct Disorder Symptoms in Adolescents

Smaller brain structures in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex may be associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or conduct disorder symptoms in adolescents, according to the results of a study published in Molecular Psychiatry.



Do Diet and Nutrition Affect ADHD? Facts and Clinical Considerations

This article examines the contributory role of diet on ADHD symptoms, including how the elimination of certain foods and additives, as well as the consumption of other foods or nutrients, may impact symptoms. The role of nutrient supplementation will be reviewed as well, including the potential mechanisms behind why nutrient supplementation may alleviate some symptoms of the disorder.



Issues Pertaining to Misuse of ADHD Prescription Medications

Although prescription stimulants are often highly effective in reducing ADHD symptoms in children, adolescents, and adults, the misuse (ie, non-medical) of prescription stimulants among adolescents, college students, and adults has become problematic in recent years. Estimates of prescription stimulant misuse vary among studies but meta-analyses report between 5% to 35% of college students in the US report misusing prescription stimulants and varying rates have been reported among military personnel, lawyers, medical, dental, and nursing students



Culturally Competent Approaches to ADHD: Issues in African-American Populations

There is no single African-American experience. Consider three different 8-year-old African-American boys, one each from the Mississippi delta, Chicago’s inner city and Prince George’s county’s affluent suburbs. Their cultures will have significant differences, and a cookbook cultural competency model would not serve them well. While consideration of these issues regarding ADHD in African-Americans is helpful, cultural humility is a must within each individual patient encounter.



Introduction: The Evolution of ADHD

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder commonly occurring in children and adolescents. However, it has recently become accepted that the symptoms of ADHD can often continue into adulthood with an estimated lifetime prevalence of ADHD in US adults of 8.1%.1 It is thought that the earliest accounts of inattention as a disorder, in children and adults, were recorded in a medical textbook by Melchior Adam Weikard in the early 1700s.



ADHD Symptom Aggression Not Mediated by Clinical Anxiety

These results do not support existing hypotheses on the role of anxiety as either an exacerbating or protective factor for ADHD-related aggression. These results do not support existing hypotheses on the role of anxiety as either an exacerbating or protective factor for ADHD-related aggression. Clinical anxiety does not appear to moderate aggression directly in patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to study results published in Psychiatry Research.



4 Barriers for People With ADHD, According to ADHD Specialists

Recently, a group of researchers interviewed 10 specialists who work with adults with ADHD, looking to find out more about the barriers that people with ADHD face. While the survey focused on specialists in South Africa, it raised points that will sound familiar to ADHDers and mental health professionals around the world. In the ten interviews, the researchers found four themes that ADHD specialists repeatedly brought up as far as obstacles that people with ADHD face.



Lower risk of stress fractures in young adults with ADHD under chronic treatment with methylphenidate

Investigators conducted this study to evaluate the association of methylphenidate (MP) use with the incidence of stress fractures (SF) in a cohort of healthy conscripts aged 18–25 years who served for = 12-months between 2008 and 2017.



Scientists use AI to develop better predictions of why children struggle at school

Scientists using machine learning -- a type of artificial intelligence -- with data from hundreds of children who struggle at school, identified clusters of learning difficulties which did not match the previous diagnosis the children had been given. The researchers from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge say this reinforces the need for children to receive detailed assessments of their cognitive skills to identify the best type of support.



ADHD in Preschoolers

October is known as ADHD Awareness Month. While it can be expected that preschoolers won’t sit still or pay to instructions well, it is possible for a preschooler to be diagnosed with ADHD. According to CHADD — the National Resource Center on ADHD — children can be diagnosed with ADHD starting at age 4. Some children may outgrow the ADHD and others may not.