Youngest children in class more likely to get ADHD medication, study says

The youngest children in class are more likely than their older classmates to receive medication for ADHD (attention deficit hpyeractivity disorder), a study has found.

The Wester Australian study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, has again raised concerns children are being misdiagnosed with the psychiatric disorder and medicated for what could simply be age-related immaturity.

As a new school year looms, the study has also added to the debate about the best age for a child to start kindergarten.

“Allowing parents to decide when their child is ready for school could prevent misdiagnosis,” lead researcher Martin Whitely said.

“Alternatively, the greater age range within a class that occurs when there is increased flexibility may increase the late birthdates effect. Unless we do the research we simply won’t know the answer to this important question.”

Researchers at Curtin University compared the proportion of WA children in the early and late months of a recommended school year intake who received at least one prescription for an ADHD medication in 2013.

Among the children aged 6-10, those born in June – the last month of a recommended school year-year intake – were about twice as likely to have received ADHD medication than those born the previous July.

For children aged 11-15, the effect was less marked “but still significant”.

“Similar differences were found when comparing children born in the first three (or six) months and the last three (or six) months of the school year intake,” the authors wrote.

Delayed school entry is much less common in WA than other Australian states but the results were consistent with four large-scale northern hemisphere studies, the study authors said.

“Similar findings in north America indicated that developmental immaturity is mislabelled as a mental disorder and unnecessarily treated with stimulant medication,” the authors wrote.

ADHD normally manifests itself in three ways – inattention, impulsivity and overactivity.

Nick Kowalenko from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said there was insufficient detail in the research, but there was cause for concern.

Prescribing antipsychotic drugs for children as young as six was always done with great care and after thorough discussions with the parents, he said.

“Because the guidelines are actually pretty tight most practitioners actually use them. There must be some maverick practitioners and rogue prescribers but they would be very few.”

Diagnosing ADHD can be complicated because it can mimic or co-occur with other conditions, including autism.

But the diagnosis criteria were very well refined, Kowalenko said. “The question is: does everybody follow them accurately?”

Youngest children in class more likely to get ADHD medication, study says

A Happy Meal Doesn’t Make You Happy: Are Convenient Meals Causing Depression & ADHD?

Are convenience meals causing ADHD & depression? We have all been there. We are running to a baseball game, and it appears easier to go through a drive-thru when your child is hungry, but have you ever really thought about what’s inside these “fast foods” targeted at kids? Move the free toy inside and take a deeper look. You will notice that the long list of neurotoxic ingredients in these “happy meals” cause everything from ADHD to depression to cancer.  It is a long and confusing jumble of neurotoxic chemicals and carcinogens. What effects are these foods are having on your child’s health? How do these ingredients contribute to the very disorders you then seek to medicate away like ADHD and depression.

What’s in this Stuff?

The majority of kid’s meals are made up of a hamburger and fries, which we have already identified as cancer causing foods. Burger King still offers soda with their kid’s meal, even though other chains have eliminated it. Have you seen the ingredient list in these meals? A cheeseburger contains 70 ingredients! That Happy Meal being marketed to your child is not something you should be happy about. To go line by line with every ingredient in a Happy Meal would take a long time, but you can review all of their ingredients on their website. What I found in my research were non-organic meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. All of these items contain harmful GMOs and pesticides. In a typical Happy Meal, you will find 540 calories, 18 grams of fat, 0.5 gram of trans fat, 790 mg of sodium, and 32 grams of sugar.

What about skipping the burger and fries and choosing chicken? Well, Chick-fil-A’s chicken contains MSG in their seasoning and breading. It’s also filled with GMOs, pesticides, and enriched flour, like nearly all of the foods on our list so far. McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets also contain the same things, although they don’t just come right out and say MSG. The natural flavors and seasoning are common ingredients where hidden MSG lies.

Better Alternative- Chipotle

This fast food chain’s motto is “food with integrity, ” and they are working to stand by this. Although their full menu is not organic or GMO-free yet, they do have a detailed ingredient list which labels what items on their menu are organic or contain GMOs.

Best Alternative- Skip the Fast Food

It may seem obvious, but because over 80% of the commercial feed for animals is GMO, it’s difficult to eat out and avoid GMOs. Fast food is usually higher in fat, calories, and sodium than food prepared in our homes. You have complete control over what foods go into your home cooking, unlike what is prepared at a fast food chain.

A Happy Meal Doesn’t Make You Happy: Are Convenient Meals Causing Depression & ADHD?

Prescriptions for Ritalin and other ADHD medication double in a decade

Nearly a million prescriptions for Ritalin and relevant drugs for consideration deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been dispensed last yr – more than double the quantity of a decade ago.

The figures have prompted a damning indictment of the method from authorities who declare that the operating down of mental well being companies has led to kids getting misdiagnosed and inappropriately prescribed drugs.

There have been 922,200 prescriptions last yr for methylphenidate hydrochloride, the chemical name for Ritalin, and equivalent merchandise. In 2010, 661,000 were dispensed compared with 359,a hundred in 2004. Tips from the National Institute for Wellness and Care Excellence suggest that the use of these medicines should only be a last resort. There have been repeated warnings from experts that clinicians were as well readily prescribing psychostimulants to youngsters when the evidence recommended there have been no long-term advantages. Animal research have also raised issues over the likely for harm.

Tony Lloyd, chief executive officer of the ADHD Foundation, which provides assistance for kids with the condition, mentioned children had been getting let down by a money-starved technique. NHS paying on children’s mental well being solutions in England has fallen by more than 6% in real terms because 2010.

“The tips are clear that medication need to be dispensed as a final resort. But that is clearly not what is happening,” stated Lloyd. “They are prescribing since kid mental wellness providers are overwhelmed. There are quite handful of services like ours.

“There has been a 41% improve in the number of kids beneath the age of sixteen in just the final 5 years, and so the little spending budget for psychological well being solutions is currently being targeted on that.”

ADHD, which is suffered by effectively-identified figures this kind of as the world champion racing driver Lewis Hamilton and the actor Emma Watson, has signs this kind of as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness more than a sustained period.

The psychostimulants prescribed by medical professionals are believed to stimulate a part of the brain that adjustments mental and behavioural reactions.

Kate Fallon, chief executive of the Association of Educational Psychologists, explained medicines were currently being prescribed by “harassed paediatricians”.

She additional: “These figures present an exponential development.

“We hear stories of teachers who had no notion that a single of their pupils had ADHD till Mum appears with Ritalin. Conversely, we hear of teachers telling dad and mom, ‘We cannot deal with this little one, so you must go to the doctor’.”

ADHD is generally diagnosed between the ages of three and seven. It is believed to impact close to 5% of schoolchildren in the Uk. The surge in prescriptions to treat the issue mirrors the scenario in the US, in which there was an 83% improve in revenue of the drug in between 2006 and 2010.

The use of Ritalin for a yr would be likely decrease a child’s development by three-quarters of an inch. There is also proof that it can precipitate self-harming behaviour.

Prescriptions for Ritalin and other ADHD medication double in a decade

How A Well-known Tv Doc Has Discovered To Clarify ADHD Basically

Which of the following statements is far more empowering?

“ADHD is a neurological disorder connected with a pattern of extreme inactivity in the frontal lobes of the brain. It is characterized by distractibility, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.”

The two statements are equally true, but I feel you’ll agree that a kid or grownup who may well have the situation (or a parent who believes their kid may have it) will see the condition far in a different way and be a lot more inclined to treat it soon after hearing the 2nd explanation, which is how a major psychiatrist and a common popular tv professional, Dr. Edward Hallowell, explained it to me.

Dr. Hallowell is a former faculty member of the Harvard Medical College and one of the foremost authorities in focus deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Hallowell’s approachable way of presenting the science behind ADHD has manufactured him a media go-to specialist. He has appeared on 60 minutes, Great Morning America, Oprah, Dr. Oz, amid other individuals. I caught up with Dr. Hallowell soon after this current appearance on the Katie Couric show. I needed to learn much more about how he explains complex science for individuals of us who don’t have healthcare degrees. The lessons Hallowell has realized from far more than 25 many years of television interviews apply to anybody who need to make complex topics understandable and available to a standard audience.

Use amazing analogies. Hallowell utilizes analogies extensively to deliver clarity to complexity. The “Ferrari brain” analogy is a single of his favorites since it is “morally neutral.” It avoids labeling the condition as a ‘disorder,’ since ADHD is more of a trait than a disability. You wouldn’t know that, of course, by studying the health care definition of ADHD. Hallowell extends the analogy by advising folks with ADHD to strengthen their “breaks” as quickly as achievable.

“We need to have to use a lot more analogies in this field,” Hallowell advised me. “With Add, a listing of symptoms does not display the energy of the traits these individuals have—they are imaginative and imaginative. We’re the folks who colonized this nation. Who would get on a boat in the 1600s and come over right here? You’d have to be a visionary, a pioneer, a dreamer, and a chance-taker. That’s why our gene pool is loaded with Include. I see it as the American edge.”

Grab their interest with offbeat stories. When Hallowell 1st appeared on the Right now present a producer informed him to remember that he’s competing for the viewer’s consideration. How do you get viewers to pay out attention when they are otherwise pre-occupied with children, chores, or laptop perform? Analogies support due to the fact they are brief, catchy, and memorable. “Telling an individual with Include to ‘try harder’ is like telling a person who’s nearsighted to squint harder,” Hallowell will tell a tv audience.

Hallowell has also discovered that absolutely nothing is as focus grabbing as revealing personal stories and experiences. Hallowell readily admits he has Include and dyslexia in every single conversation and doesn’t wait to be asked. “I’m all about transparency and personalizing a discussion. You truly grab individuals when you inform them about yourself, specifically if it’s some thing offbeat like ‘I have Add.’ I tell stories to connect with my audience. When they depart my lecture I want them to take away the factors, but I also want them to be hopeful and inspired.  That takes place by way of connection.”

Just say it. The issue with many scientific spokespeople is that their communication is filled with jargon, confusing phrases (“excessive inactivity”) and pointless words which strains to attain the point. “Spit it out,” Hallowell advises. He can answer even the most complex concerns in under thirty-seconds. “I get impatient listening to a long, laborious preamble. Tell me what the heck you want me to know. Give me the headline. Grab people…Most science wonks don’t have it. They are genuinely excellent at science, but not excellent communicators. It is nearly as if the health care journals are attempting to be unclear. God forbid they compose a straightforward, declarative sentence. They are afraid to just spit it out.” It assists that Dr. Hallowell took the uncommon route (for doctors) of majoring in English at Harvard, followed by a medical degree at Tulane. He combines science with classic storytelling units to uncover the magic formula.

Reinforce the crucial message with mind photographs. The human thoughts does not do effectively with abstractions. It have to “see” vivid, concrete, and tangible examples. In addition to analogies, Hallowell paints pictures that one particular can see in the minds eye. For example, when Hallowell is speaking he’ll say, “It’s a myth that people with Add and dyslexia can’t excel. I can fill this area with Nobel prize winners, Pulitzer prize winners, CEOs, very profitable entrepreneurs, and surgeons who pay out focus in the working area, but have problems undertaking the paperwork soon after the operation.” Now, rather of attempting to get my thoughts about a “disorder of excessive frontal lobe inactivity,” I can picture myself in the very same area surrounded by effective men and women who have learned to harness the power of this situation.

Make your topic your calling. I’ve never met an inspiring communicator who is not abundantly passionate about their function. You basically can not inspire except if you are inspired your self. Hallowell does not see his perform as a task. He sees his function as a calling, a mission. Pay attention to the way he describes his job: “I feel exceptionally blessed to have assisted hundreds of thousands of men and women. It’s really rewarding. I use the gifts that I’ve been given to earn a residing and to support people. I’ve spent a job loving my perform due to the fact I’ve seen people’s lives substantially modified for the far better.”

A single of the advantages of getting a journalist and communication coach is the chance to immerse myself in the review of specified subjects. When I was diagnosed with Include as an adult it explained a great deal. For example, it explains why I’ve been capable to compose and publish a guide each and every 15 months since 2005. From learning ADHD, I’ve also noticed how bad communication prospects to myths, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations. If left untreated, ADHD usually leads to disaster for the millions of men and women who have it. Communication issues since what you do not understand can hurt you.

The up coming time you’re trying to make the complicated understandable, feel about Holloway’s suggestions and use vivid communication to replace abstractions and jargon. It may bring your topic into emphasis.

Carmine Gallo is a communication coach, keynote speaker and author of a number of books including the Wall Street Journal hits The Presentation Strategies of Steve Jobs, The Apple Apple Knowledge, and his most current Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Tricks Of The World’s Best Minds. 

How A Well-known Tv Doc Has Discovered To Clarify ADHD Basically

Does Misuse Of ADHD Medications By Students Constitute Cheating?

College students who are in high stress academic environments usually appear to techniques to help maximize their time for learning and completing school perform. As students really feel much more strain to be successful academically, the notion of gaining an benefit to full numerous tasks and study for exams may possibly appeal to some college students. Aside from the health care risks from using this kind of stimulants for those with no ADHD, the wish to compete and perform has some students taking probabilities in purchase to enhance their academic performance.

So, does casual use of ADHD meds by university college students who study for exams and compose papers constitute cheating?

According to a review presented May three at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) yearly meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, near to 20 percent of college students at an Ivy League university reported misusing a prescription stimulant while studying, and one-third of students did not view this kind of misuse as cheating.

Stimulants this kind of as Adderrall, Straterra and Ritalin are typically prescribed to treat focus-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, recent research signifies that college students not diagnosed with ADHD are misusing these medicines in buy to sharpen their concentrate and psychological stamina and enhance their academic performance.

The present study evaluated the prevalence of medicine misuse at a properly regarded ivy league college and no matter whether college students felt that misuse of ADHD prescription drugs constituted cheating.

Investigators evaluated responses from an anonymous online questionnaire in December 2012 from from 616 sophomores, juniors and seniors without ADHD.

Final results indicated that 18 % admitted to misusing a prescription stimulant for an academic reason at least one particular time for the duration of college, and 24 % of these college students utilised these drugs on at least eight occasions. School juniors reported the highest charge of stimulant misuse (24 %).
In accordance to the benefits, 69 % of people who misused stimulants utilised them to publish a paper, 66 % to study for an exam and 27 % to consider an examination.

It turns out that a higher amount who played a varsity sport and were portion of the Greek program reported stimulant misuse compared to college students affiliated with only a single or neither. In addition, a third of college students did not believe that misusing stimulants for academic functions constituted cheating. 41 % thought it was cheating and 25 % were unsure.

“While many colleges tackle alcohol and illicit drug abuse in their wellness and wellness campaigns, most have not addressed prescription stimulant misuse for academic purposes,” said senior investigator Andrew Adesman, MD, FAAP, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven &amp Alexandra Cohen Children’s Healthcare Center of New York. “Because several students are misusing prescription stimulants for academic, not recreational functions, colleges should develop certain plans to tackle this concern.”

Stimulant misuse can also lead to health-related problems which includes resulting nervousness and withdrawal in these who do not have ADHD right after they stop utilizing the medicines, but could also set off cardiac arrhythmias this kind of as SVT, atrial fibrillation or atrial tachyarrhythmias in those at risk– as effectively as trigger harmful complications in those with congenital unknown underlying arrhythmias such as Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). Pediatricians want to be mindful of these underlying risks, discussing this with parents and assessing ADHD sufferers who might match a profile for stimulant abuse.

“To the extent that some substantial school and university college students have reported feigning ADHD symptoms to acquire stimulant medicine, must doctors turn out to be far more cautious or conservative when newly diagnosing ADHD in teenagers? In addition, ought to pediatricians do much more to educate their ADHD patients about the wellness consequences of misuse and the legal consequences that could arise if they promote or give away their stimulant medication?”, explained Adesman.

In accordance to Natalie Colaneri, principal investigator for the research, and study assistant at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, it is crucial to comprehend the moral as well as ethical implications of stimulant misuse not only in university, but also in higher college in which this trend may have its roots.

“It is our hope that this review will improve greater awareness and prompt broader discussion about misuse of medicines like Ritalin or Adderall for academic purposes,” explained Colaneri. “It is crucial that this concern be approached from an interdisciplinary point of view: as an concern relevant to the practice of medication, to larger schooling and to ethics in present day-day society.”

Does Misuse Of ADHD Medications By Students Constitute Cheating?

ADHD "not a actual disease", neuroscientist claims

Prescriptions for the medicines, this kind of as Ritalin, have risen from 420,000 in 2007 to 657,000 in 2012 – an improve of 56 per cent.

ADHD “is best considered of as a description,” he mentioned. “If you look at how you end up with that label, it is impressive due to the fact any 1 of us at any given time would fit at least a couple of people criteria.”

Dr Perry’s operate on the effects of neglect on children’s brains has previously been highlighted by Mr Duncan Smith, who claimed in 2010 that kids brought up in broken homes could create smaller sized brains.

But the scientists claimed the then-Conservative social policy tsar had “significantly misrepresented” and “distorted” his work, which focused on youngsters suffering from extreme varieties of abuse.

ADHD "not a actual disease", neuroscientist claims

Acetaminophen In the course of Pregnancy May Be Linked To ADHD In Youngsters

Acetaminophen has been accumulating some evidence towards its regimen use in current many years, and now there could be much more: The drug, if utilised during pregnancy, may raise the threat of habits difficulties in the children years later on. The authors of the new study, out in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, say it’s as well early to make any new suggestions for the public just however. But given that the final results do propose that prenatal use could as significantly as double the threat of habits problems in the child, pregnant women might want to get the study into consideration, or speak with their medical doctors.

The research followed more than 64,000 households in the Danish Nationwide Birth Cohort. The mothers filled out questionnaires relating to the frequency of their acetaminophen use in the course of pregnancy, and answered inquiries about a variety of aspects of their children’s conduct. Official diagnoses of hyperkinetic disorder (HKD), a significant kind of ADHD, had been tracked, as effectively as the quantity of prescriptions for ADHD medications (e.g. Ritalin).

Just more than half the girls taking element in the examine utilized acetaminophen in the course of pregnancy.

Use of the drug was strongly linked to enhanced risk for ADHD in the young children in the 1st 7 years of lifestyle, an improve of as a lot as 30%. Acetaminophen was also linked to a 37% higher threat for having an HKD diagnosis. And the more typically the pregnant mothers utilised the drug, the greater their children’s chance of behavioral difficulties.

“When women reported possessing utilised acetaminophen for 20 or a lot more weeks throughout pregnancy, the risk for HKD diagnosis in kids almost doubled,” the authors compose. And the odds of the kids getting prescribed an ADHD medicine rose by 50%.

The final results held up even when elements like maternal mental overall health, inflammation, and infection during pregnancy had been accounted for.

Acetaminophen can cross the placenta, generating its way to the  fetus and its delicate building nervous technique. The drug is a acknowledged endocrine (hormone) disrupter, and has previously been linked to undescended testes in male infants. Because the maternal hormone setting plays a crucial role in the growth of the fetus, the authors say that it is “possible that acetaminophen may interrupt brain development by interfering with maternal hormones or by means of neurotoxicity this kind of as the induction of oxidative tension that can cause neuronal death.”

All this mentioned, causation cannot be established from the recent research – there is only a correlation between a mother’s acetaminophen use and behavioral/focus problems in the youngster. So there could be one more factor or multiple elements at perform, which haven’t been teased apart however. And behavioral and focus difficulties are very likely to have several leads to, the two genetic and environmental. For these causes, the authors say that it is too early to make any specific recommendations for pregnant girls just yet.

But, they include, if causation ought to some day be demonstrated, then “acetaminophen ought to no longer be regarded a protected drug for use in pregnancy.”

The authors of an accompanying editorial also level out that the outcomes “underline the importance of not taking a drug’s security in the course of pregnancy for granted.” Far more study, they urge, will definitely be necessary to handle the remaining inquiries.

In the meantime, if you’re concerned, it may possibly be smart to reduce down on acetaminophen if you’re pregnant – it undoubtedly shouldn’t be employed routinely or for long intervals. But speak with your doctor if you have questions about this, or any medicines, you’re taking.

Comply with me @alicewalton or uncover me on Facebook.

Acetaminophen In the course of Pregnancy May Be Linked To ADHD In Youngsters