Brain Studies Show ADHD Is Real Disease

[Dionysus]

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/heal...al-disease.htm

How can someone NOT believe it is real? I've never understood this. Have some people never known someone who has a TRUE case of this condition? On the other hand I don't see how it is possible, since around 5% of the population has ADHD.

[ForeverRoses]

quick- somebody let Tom Cruise know! (or is that Lisa Marie Presley) who is always on TV talking about how ADD and ADHD aren't "real" disorders and we are drugging our kids when we should just be giving them vitamin supplements

[squirrely girl]

ha! god i love research like this...

[OneTimeSBX]

i believe in it 100%...i do also feel it is over-diagnosed in certain situations, just because you have a restless, bored 8 year old boy doesnt mean hes got ADD/ADHD...he may be smarter than everyone else and need more stimulation!

[BigRedBeta]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

i believe in it 100%...i do also feel it is over-diagnosed in certain situations, just because you have a restless, bored 8 year old boy doesnt mean hes got ADD/ADHD...he may be smarter than everyone else and need more stimulation!

Bingo! The over-diagnosis is why there is such a controversy. I mean growing up, seems like half the kids in my junior high were on ritalin.

Don't know what the previous diagnostic criteria were, but I know that now there is an increased pressure on having to make the diagnosis very early on, by the age of 6 IIRC...(I suppose in another 10 weeks, when I've finished my pediatrics clinical clerkship I'll know that cold) which should help separate out the children who really do have a problem and those who are just fidgety.

[Drolefille]

The thing is, no studies have shown a trend toward overdiagnosis. There are certainly individual cases. Everyone knows the mom who wants her kid medicated because she just can't deal with him. But, having looked into this somewhat for a project, there just isn't anything out there showing that there's a bunch of young boys being drugged unnecessarily.

I do understand the push to diagnose early, although I don't think it will make any difference. I think it's more related to school performance, and the fact that to get special consideration at schools, you need that diagnosis and IEP.

I'd say maybe 3 kids of 27 in my grade school class were medicated. (Those were the ones who took a pill during school hours. There wasn't the long acting medication back then AFIAK so I'm guessing.

[AKA_Monet]

Just read the article... I think the thing is now they can do a genetic screen for children who have the variant dopamine 4 receptor. Although, I think that it is difficult to measure blood dopamine levels in these children, the regulation at the receptor and its variants is interesting understanding a mental illness like ADHD/ADD.

That means better treatment and pharmaceuticals...

Overdiagnosis is not necessarily and problem, especially if one cannot obtain effective therapeutic treatments...

[Drolefille]

However, having this gene doesn't mean you have ADD and not having it doesn't mean you don't. It is nice that they're getting closer to pinning down the cause though.

And this may explain why anti-depressants and anti-depressant-like medication (Strattera was a failed anti-depressant) works on ADD.

[Kevin]

I have it. As a child, I was a subject in many of the early studies.

I have found that for me, simply coping is the best thing to do. I'm not a fan of medication for ADD/ADHD -- at least, not in my case.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

And this may explain why anti-depressants and anti-depressant-like medication (Strattera was a failed anti-depressant) works on ADD.

Wellbutrin is another anti-depressant that is often prescribed for people showing symptoms of ADD. It seems like doctors these days are less willing to prescribe Ritalin and Adderall because of the potential for abuse.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Wellbutrin is another anti-depressant that is often prescribed for people showing symptoms of ADD. It seems like doctors these days are less willing to prescribe Ritalin and Adderall because of the potential for abuse.

I'm not sure what motivates doctors to perscribe the reuptake inhibtors vs. the stimulants. I think abuse is certainly part of it, but I wonder if they're also trying to medicate kids (and adults) less. I don't find the effects of Strattera to be as strong as my brother finds his Concerta.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I'm not sure what motivates doctors to perscribe the reuptake inhibtors vs. the stimulants. I think abuse is certainly part of it, but I wonder if they're also trying to medicate kids (and adults) less. I don't find the effects of Strattera to be as strong as my brother finds his Concerta.

I don't know that much about individual drugs, but it was explained to me (by an MD/PhD) that they would rather prescribe Wellbutrin vs. a regular anti-depressant AND an ADD medicine. Plus, doctors in colleges are much less likely to prescribe one of the traditional ADD meds, since the whole issue of students getting prescriptions and selling the pills is a problem.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I don't know that much about individual drugs, but it was explained to me (by an MD/PhD) that they would rather prescribe Wellbutrin vs. a regular anti-depressant AND an ADD medicine. Plus, doctors in colleges are much less likely to prescribe one of the traditional ADD meds, since the whole issue of students getting prescriptions and selling the pills is a problem.

You might think that, but apparently the Dr. at SLU was an easy hit for a Ritalin script. (Or Adderall or whatever, I'm not sure as I didn't try and get any)

It certainly makes sense that they'd rather treat depression and ADD with the same medication, but the two don't always go together. So what makes the difference... I do know that for adults the only two medications that can be prescribed on-label are Adderall XR and Strattera. Or at least that used to be the case, this may have changed. So if you prescribe an 18 year old Concerta, that's technically off-label use.

I have no idea how much all that matters.

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I have it. As a child, I was a subject in many of the early studies.

I have found that for me, simply coping is the best thing to do. I'm not a fan of medication for ADD/ADHD -- at least, not in my case.

I have to second that, the two most likely types of medication are speed and something else, i forget what it's called, but it's been shown to cause cancer

heart attack at age 35 or cancer 50, i can just cope, well, I cna't just cope, but I cope better by myself than when hopped up on pep pills

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

I have to second that, the two most likely types of medication are speed and something else, i forget what it's called, but it's been shown to cause cancer

heart attack at age 35 or cancer 50, i can just cope, well, I cna't just cope, but I cope better by myself than when hopped up on pep pills

Strattera doesn't cause cancer, and Ritalin (and other stims) are not speed though they shares similar qualities.

Methamphetamines can be used to treat ADD though I that's not exactly common.

ETA: it's actually Ritalin that had been linked to small incidences of cancer in animals, but the only source of info I could find was an Anti-ADD site. Sorry, but if you don't believe my disease exists, I don't believe that your numbers are real. In the real world, there hasn't been evidence of it, although there are some concerns. So it's both speed and a carcinogen if you're going to be picky...