This week's ADHD Solution is: Watch your body clock.

ADHD is inconsistent. Sometimes we can do things easily, and other times, the exact same task is nearly impossible. It’s unpredictable. But sometimes you can find a pattern when you look at your body rhythms. Are you a night owl? Usually sleepy after lunch? Unstoppable right after your morning coffee kicks in?

Identifying your most productive time of day will help you make the best use of your time. Tackle your most difficult, important work when you’re at your best. You’ll be more likely to complete it, and complete it well. Conversely, it may be counterproductive to work on mission critical tasks when your energy is low.

I used to work late at night after my son went to bed. It seemed like a great way to juggle the demands of motherhood and career. But more often than not, when I reviewed my work the next morning, it was incoherent, full of mistakes, and had to be redone. After a while I made the connection. I don’t work late at night any more.

When are you at your best? How can you restructure your work accordingly?

www.adhdsolutions.net

Consider ADHD starting at age four: doctor group

By REUTERS
Published: Oct 16, 2011 10:22 Updated: Oct 16, 2011 10:22

NEW YORK: The American Academy of Pediatrics this weekend expanded its guidelines for diagnosing and treating kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, recommending that doctors evaluate all patients aged four to 18 who show signs of the condition.

The new guidelines update decade-old recommendations that focused on diagnosing and managing ADHD in kids aged six to 12. But behavior problems, over-activity and trouble paying attention can show up earlier, researchers said, and ADHD often persists into adolescence or even adulthood.

Pediatricians should also look out for learning disabilities, anxiety and other issues that can go hand-in-hand with ADHD. And, they should tailor treatment with behavior therapy and medication based on kids’ age and severity of symptoms, says a statement published in Pediatrics.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between six and nine percent of kids and teens have ADHD, with rates higher in adolescents than younger kids.

“I’m glad to see the guidelines now recognize ADHD can occur both in younger children and older adolescents as well,” said Aude Henin, from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Child Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program. “I think those are things that have been ignored in the past.”

Drafted by a 14-member committee, the new recommendations say pediatricians should consult with parents, teachers and other adults in the community about kids’ behavior or school-related problems to help them make an accurate diagnosis — because affected children may not always show symptoms in the doctor’s office.

If kids are diagnosed with ADHD, those adults will also play an important role in treatment strategies, especially in young kids.

To treat four- and five-year olds, the authors recommend that parents are trained in techniques to help manage behavior, including positive reinforcement and ignoring or punishing certain behaviors when necessary.

Only when that doesn’t work, and moderate or severe ADHD persists, should young kids be put on medication.

J. Russell Ramsay, who studies ADHD at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, said that many young children are overactive or have trouble focusing at times, but that for ADHD to be diagnosed, that behavior must “cause life impairments” in multiple environments — at home, at school and in relationships with peers.

“The diagnosis is a process,” he told Reuters Health. “There may be symptoms that are screened for in the preschool population, but (ADHD) should be tracked over time and reassessed to see if it is persisting.”

In school-aged kids, teachers or parents can give behavior therapy using similar strategies as in preschoolers. Some may need special education plans, including less homework if it takes them a long time to complete, Ramsay said.

Stimulant medications such as Vyvanse, Ritalin and Concerta have also been shown to be effective alone or alongside therapy in this age group.

Those drugs may have side effects, the report notes, including appetite loss, sleep problems and stomach pain. Youngsters with some signs of ADHD, but not a full diagnosis, shouldn’t be medicated, the report says.

Some of the guideline authors disclose consulting relationships with companies that sell ADHD medications in the paper’s conflict of interest section.

“Medication certainly has a stronger effect on the core behavior symptoms of ADHD, but it’s a matter of what the family’s preference is (and) what services are available for them,” said Dr. Mark Wolraich of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, the guidelines’ lead author.

“Where at all possible for school-aged kids and adolescents, trying to implement both (medication and therapy) is probably going to be most effective.”

Medication and individual behavior therapy are recommended for teens with ADHD. The authors emphasize that doctors need to keep their eyes open for any signs of drug or alcohol abuse in this group — and if those problems exist, they should be a treatment priority.

Ramsay, who was not part of the guidelines committee, added that car accidents, unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are all more common in teens with ADHD than without.

“It’s something else that needs to be factored into the dialogue,” he said.

Finally, because ADHD can persist for so long, the guidelines point out that communication between families, schools and doctors over the long run will be necessary to help manage the condition.

Doctors “need to have an ongoing relationship with the family,” Wolraich told Reuters Health. “The demands and the needs are going to change over time.”

(arabnews.com)

Second-hand smoke tied to children’s behavior problems

By REUTERS
Published: Jul 14, 2011 23:41 Updated: Jul 14, 2011 23:41

WASHINGTON: Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home may be more likely to have learning and behavioral problems, according to a US study.

Of more than 55,000 US children younger than 12 years, 6 percent lived with a smoker — and those children were more likely to have ADHD compared to children in smoke-free homes, the study, published in Pediatrics, found. Even after accounting for a number of possible explanations, such as parents’ income and education levels, secondhand smoke was still tied to a higher risk of behavioral problems, said Hillel Alpert at the Harvard School of Public Health, one of the researchers. The findings don’t prove a smoke-filled home is to blame, because there are other factors that the study didn’t look at that may also be to blame — but it may give parents yet another reason to keep their homes smoke-free.

(arabnews.com)

The Worst Foods for ADHD

How Food Can Affect Your Child's ADHD

The latest scientific findings show that certain foods might play a role in worsening ADHD symptoms. Here's what you need to know to create a better ADHD diet.
By Wyatt Myers - Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

For years, doctors have speculated that certain foods may play a role in ADHD. Although much research has been done on the subject, it’s still not believed that food actually causes ADHD. What diet does seem do, however, is worsen ADHD symptoms or trigger symptoms that mimic the signs of ADHD in children. “Excessive caffeine and excessive use of fast foods and other foods of poor nutritional value can cause kids to display behavior that might be confused with ADHD,” says Frank Barnhill, MD, an expert on ADHD and the author of Mistaken for ADHD. The following foods in particular have been implicated in ADHD in one way or another.


Candy
Candy is loaded with sugar and artificial colors, which is a bad combination when it comes to children with ADHD who often need to follow an ADHD diet. Both of these components have been shown to promote ADHD symptoms in studies. “With the high content of sugar and artificial coloring, candy is a huge contributor to ADHD,” says Howard Peiper, author of The ADD and ADHD Diet.

Soda
If you have ADHD, consider eliminating soda. These sweet drinks often have many of the same sugars and sweeteners that make candy a bad idea for kids on the ADHD diet. Soda also has other ingredients that can help worsen ADHD symptoms, such as high-fructose corn syrup and caffeine. “Excessive sugar and caffeine intake both cause symptoms of hyperactivity and easy distractibility,” says Dr. Barnhill.

Cake Mixes and Frostings
Cake mix and frosting contain the high amounts of sugar and artificial colors that can lead to hyperactivity and other ADHD symptoms. Naheed Ali, MD, ADHD expert and the author of Diabetes and You: A Comprehensive, Holistic Approach, adds that these products are often also loaded with several artificial sweeteners. “When frosting and cake mix contain artificial sweeteners, they increase the risk of ADHD symptoms more than natural sweeteners would,” he says.

Energy Drinks
Energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular among kids, especially teens. Unfortunately, they also have a veritable treasure trove of ingredients that can worsen ADHD symptoms: sugar, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, caffeine, and other stimulants. “Energy drinks are high on the list of things that cause teens to display behaviors mimicking ADHD,” says Barnhill. They have no place in a healthy ADHD diet.

Frozen Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and vegetables are healthy choices for an ADHD diet, but some frozen varieties can contain artificial colors, so check all labels carefully. Barnhill says these can cause ADHD symptoms for another reason as well. “Foods treated with organophosphates for insect control have been shown to cause neurologic-based behavioral problems that mimic ADHD and many other behavior problems,” he says.

Fish and Other Seafood
Dr. Ali says that eating fish and other seafood with trace amounts of mercury can cause ADHD symptoms in the long term. Some of the worst culprits are shark, king mackerel, swordfish, and tilefish. “Mercury, like cellulose, is extremely hard to digest and can accumulate in the brain over time,” explains Ali. “This can lead to hyperactivity.” Talk to your doctor or ADHD nutritionist about the best types of fish to include in your ADHD diet.

Other Food Sensitivities
According to a recent study, many children with food sensitivities can exhibit ADHD symptoms after they are exposed to certain foods. Based on the results of the research, some of the common foods that can cause ADHD reactions include milk, chocolate, soy, wheat, eggs, beans, corn, tomatoes, grapes, and oranges. If you suspect a food sensitivity may be contributing to your child’s ADHD symptoms, talk to your doctor about the possibility of trying an elimination diet.

(everydayhealth.com)

Adult ADHD Sufferers Are More Creative

A collaboration of experts from the University of Michigan and Eckerd College recently established that young adult individuals suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are considerably more creative than their peers who do not suffer from the condition.

For the new investigation, experts used standardized creativity tests, in an experiment that replicated a 2006 surveyed carried out by other investigators. The reason the previous study was reiterated was because it used laboratory measures of creativity, rather than standard tests.

The lead author of the two studies was Eckerd assistant professor of psychology Holly White, who worked closely together with colleague and UM associate professor Priti Shah.

“We knew that ADHD individuals did better at laboratory measures of divergent thinking, but we didn't know if that would translate to real-life achievement. The current study suggests that it does,” Shah explains. The concept of divergent thinking refers to finding several solutions to a single problem.

Children are the best divergent thinkers out there. They can associate concepts in a manner that is no longer available in adults, due to education and other forms of training. Apparently, ADHD patients can still retain some of their creativity despite these adversities.

In the new study, 60 students (30 of which were diagnosed with ADHD) filled out a questionnaire that sought to assess their level of creativity in 10 areas, including visual arts, music, humor, culinary arts, writing and invention.

The researchers say that people with the condition ranked consistently higher than their healthy peers on all the assessments. ADHD diminishes a person's ability to adjust academically and socially.

Scientists also wanted to know about the creative style of each individual in the test, so they developed another questionnaire. Participants could select from four types of styles leading to creativity.

In the tests, clarifiers were those who defined an issue, while ideators were those in charge of developing ideas. Developers were defined as people who refined ideators' ideas, whereas implementers were those who made the idea happen in real-life.

Overall, ADHD patients selected ideator as their preferred creativity style, whereas healthy individuals indicated that they preferred to be clarifiers and developers.

Full details of the new research appear in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences.

(news.softpedia.com)

Health Problems That Go Hand in Hand With ADHD - 9 Biggest Coexisting Conditions in ADHD Kids

ADHD is common in children, and so are a slew of other health issues - from depression to dyslexia - that tend to accompany the attention disorder. Could your kid be affected by one of these often underdiagnosed concerns?
By Stephanie Delman

About 12 percent of children have ADHD - a chronic condition that’s associated with hyperactive behavior, attention problems, and impulsivity. While ADHD is usually easily treatable with a combination of behavioral therapy and medication, many affected children also have a number of coexisting conditions that may be underdiagnosed, in part because parents and doctors aren’t looking for them.

That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics called for doctors to assess such common health issues - which range from depression to learning disabilities - in its latest guidelines for diagnosing and treating ADHD, the first update in 10 years.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, be sure to look out for these other health concerns and discuss them with your child’s pediatrician.

Sleep Disorders

Several of the most visible symptoms of ADHD - nervous energy, lack of focus, fidgeting - can affect children’s sleeping patterns. A recent Australian study found that nearly three out of four children with ADHD also deal with sleep troubles. Children with ADHD may experience greater difficulty with self-regulating techniques such as calming and focusing, which affect their ability to fall (and remain) asleep. Stimulant medications for ADHD can contribute to insomnia as well.

If you’re concerned about your child’s sleeping troubles - which can also include sleep apnea, bed-wetting, and nightmares - talk to his doctor. Kids who don’t get enough sleep (quality or quantity) are more likely to have problems in school and will have poorer control over their ADHD symptoms, creating a vicious cycle.

Depression

Approximately 18 percent of children with ADHD will suffer from depression in adolescence, recent research reports. Some experts believe there may be an underlying genetic link between ADHD and depression, making kids who are prone to one condition more vulnerable to the other. Adolescents may be especially vulnerable, as the challenges they may face socially or academically can contribute to their depression risk.

Anxiety

It’s not surprising that ADHD and anxiety go hand in hand, and it’s common for the conditions to be mistaken for one another. Some studies suggest that as many as 25 percent of children with ADHD also have anxiety disorders, and vice versa. Kids with anxiety issues may be shy and fearful, as can children with ADHD whose difficulty focusing or impulsivity can lead to problems relating to other kids. In addition, the medications used to treat ADHD can make kids more jittery and anxious. If you suspect your ADHD child may also have anxiety issues, let your doctor know. According to the NYU Child Study Center, children with both ADHD and anxiety may require different treatment (including medication and/or therapy) than those with either of the conditions alone.

Bipolar Disorder

While children can have both bipolar disorder and ADHD, these conditions are also likely to be mistaken for one another, with ADHD being overdiagnosed and bipolar disorder being underdiagnosed in kids. ADHD and bipolar disorder have many traits in common, including impulsivity and hyperactivity. However, differences between ADHD and bipolar disorder may be subtle - for example, a child in a depressive phase of bipolar disorder may have a problem paying attention due to a lack of interest or desire in participating in everyday activities, whereas a child with ADHD lacks the inability to focus for long periods of time.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

About 40 percent of children with ADHD also experience oppositional defiant disorder, according to ADDitude magazine. ODD includes bouts of aggression, outbursts, and extreme stubbornness; about half of young children who are diagnosed with ODD will outgrow it by age 8. Children with ADHD may struggle to communicate, which can lead to feelings of anger. In addition, their hyperactivity could be construed as disobedience. Sticking to recommended ADHD treatment can often help manage ODD symptoms as well.

Learning Disabilities

While ADHD isn’t technically considered a learning disability, about 20 to 30 percent of kids with ADHD have such common learning difficulties as dyslexia. And the hallmark traits of ADHD, including difficulty concentrating and impulsivity, can contribute to behavioral issues in the classroom and challenges with homework and test taking. If a child has a specific learning disability, it needs to be distinguished from the behavioral and attention aspects of ADHD so that it can be addressed, child psychiatrist Richard L. Rubin, MD, adjunct associate professor at Dartmouth Medical College, tells Everyday Health.

Substance Abuse

Abuse of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs unfortunately seems to be linked to ADHD in adolescents and teens. One recent Harvard Medical School study, which followed 268 kids diagnosed with ADHD for a decade, found that nearly one-third developed a substance abuse problem over the course of the study - a 50 percent greater risk than in kids without ADHD. The good news is that other research has found that successful treatment of adolescents with ADHD reduces their likelihood of substance abuse.

Another factor to consider, per the new AAP guidelines: Some tweens and teens who present with ADHD symptoms for the first time may actually have substance abuse problems instead. In fact, some may even fake ADHD symptoms to get prescriptions for stimulant medication that’s typically prescribed to treat ADHD. The AAP recommends that doctors assess adolescents who are newly diagnosed with ADHD for signs of drug and alcohol use before attempting to treat ADHD symptoms.

Epilepsy

Some studies suggest that as many as 12 to 17 percent of children with epilepsy - a chronic seizure disorder — also have ADHD, according to a recent British population study. However, incidences of epilepsy in kids diagnosed with ADHD are much lower, although doctors don’t know whether kids with ADHD face a greater risk of epilepsy too. According to a recent study by the New York University Langone Medical Center, the very nature of seizure activity can lead to attention problems, due the effects on brain activity of both the seizures and the antiepileptic drugs used to treat them.

Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS), a neurological disorder characterized by physical and vocal tics, is rare - it affects less than 1 percent of the population. Most people with Tourette syndrome have been diagnosed with other health issues as well, and ADHD is a common one. According to government data, 64 percent of patients with Tourette syndrome have also been diagnosed with ADHD. Most Tourette patients start experiencing the telltale tics between 5 and 10 years old; in many cases the tics decrease during adolescence and can even disappear entirely into adulthood.

(everydayhealth.com)

ADHD Inspirational Quotes

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life thinking it’s stupid.” - Albert Einstein

“But mom, my brain told me to do it”

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” - Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” - Mark Twain

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.” - Michael Pritchard

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left from those who hustle. - Abraham Lincoln

Intelligence does not always come with common sense, BUT common sense always comes with intelligence. 

“They say a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind. What then is an empty desk a sign of?” - Albert Einstein

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself,” - George Bernard Shaw.

“I prefer to distinguish ADD as attention abundance disorder. Everything is just so interesting . . . remarkably at the same time.” — Frank Coppola, MA, ODC, ACG

Never, Never, Never give up. - Winston Churchill

Fall seven times, get up eight - japanese proverb

Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time. - Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger

“Do what you can where you are with what you have.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Why try to fit in when you were born to stand out. - Dr Suess

“There ain’t no rules around here. We’re trying to accomplish something.” - Thomas Edison

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” - attributed to George Eliot

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Einstein

ADHD medication is great for focus, but ADHD Coaching is needed to know what to focus on. - Jason B Bour, CLC

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” - Rosalia de Castro

“I’m sorry…I wasn’t paying attention to what I was thinking” - Shelley Curtiss

Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it.

It is not bad parenting that causes physiatric disorders, but it takes excellent parenting to make it better

Sometimes when people are angry at me, it means I’m doing something right.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going” - Winston Churchill

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent. - Vincent Van Gogh

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” - Albert Camus

“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.” - A.A. Milne

“If they try to rush me, I always say, ‘I’ve only got one other speed and it’s slower.” - Glenn Ford

“The only problem with the world is a lot of people DON’T have ADD” - Andy Pakula

“Be kinder than necessary for everyone is fighting their own battle”

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” - Douglas Adams

“His study was a total mess, like the results of an explosion in a public library.” - Douglas Adams

“When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it. What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.” - Epictetus

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” - Samuel Beckett in “Worstward Ho” (1983)

“I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” - Marilyn Monroe

ADHD is a neuralogical condition…it’s neither a mindset you can “snap out of” nor a behaviour you can “slap out of” anyone. - Denise Roos (Living ADDventure (LADD®) Coach South Africa)

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” - Henry Ford

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” - Frank Zappa

AD/HD = A Dynamo, Highly-Driven - Joan Brennan, St. Louis, MO

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” - Thomas Edison

“A woman is like a teabag.  You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

“Creativity takes courage.” - Henri Matisse

(ADDConnect)

Lack of Sleep Boosts ADHD Symptoms

A new investigation shows that children who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at even higher risk than their peers to experience negative symptoms from not getting enough sleep every night.

While losing sleep hours has been proven to be detrimental for all age group, those with ADHD may exhibit even less attention than normal if they lose as little as one hour of sleep every night for a week.

Scientists in charge of the new investigation say that losing even these moderate amounts of sleep for six consecutive days causes noticeable changes in the brain of children with ADHD, as well as their neurobehavioral functioning.

In a paper detailing the findings, which appears in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Sleep, it has been proven that this has a direct negative impact on academic performances.

The study, which was carried out on children with ADHD and healthy peers, demonstrated that those who lost 55 minutes of sleep per night for six days exhibited deteriorating performances at the end of the trials.

The test participants reported more instances of inattention, omission and depressed reaction time than they would normally have, say the investigators, quoted by PsychCentral.

Findings such as these are very worrying, considering the ADHD is one of the most common childhood problems. The US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) counts inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity among the most often encountered symptoms.

“Moderate sleep restriction leads to a detectable negative impact on the neurobehavioral functioning of children with ADHD and healthy controls, leading to a clinical level of impairment in children with ADHD,” explains scientist Reut Gruber, PhD.

She was the principal investigator on the new research, and also the lead author of the journal entry.

The new study was carried out on 43 children with an average age of 9. Eleven of them had been previously diagnosed with the condition, whereas 32 acted as healthy control subjects.

“The reduction in sleep duration in our study was modest and similar to the sleep deprivation that might occur in daily life,” Gruber says.

“Thus, even small changes in dinner time, computer time, or staying up to do homework could result in poorer neurobehavioral functioning the following day and affect sustained attention and vigilance, which are essential for optimal academic performance,” she adds.

“An important implication of the present study is that investments in programs that aim to decrease sleep deprivation may lead to improvements in neurobehavioral functioning and academic performance,” the expert concludes.

(news.softpedia.com)