Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) News and Research

Latest Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) News and Research

ADHD stimulant drug therapy helps improve long-term school outcomes

In an 18-year-study on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mayo Clinic researchers found that treatment with prescription stimulants is associated with improved long-term academic success of children with ADHD.

18 Sep 2007

Women more depressed and men more impulsive with reduced serotonin functioning

Women and men appear to respond differently to the same biochemical manipulation.

18 Sep 2007

Largest study ever to look at possible heart risks with ADHD medications

Two U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies will collaborate in the most comprehensive study to date of prescription medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the potential for increased risk of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems.

18 Sep 2007

Link shown between ADHD, food colourings and additives

Suspicions about a link between food colourings and additives and hyperactivity have been established as a fact by British researchers.

9 Sep 2007

ADHD and preschoolers

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is no longer diagnosed just in schoolchildren.

5 Sep 2007

Bipolar disorder a growing health issue

The estimated number of youth with office visits with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder substantially increased between 1994 and 2003, while adult visits with a bipolar disorder diagnoses appeared to almost double, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

8.7 percent of US children age 8 to 15 meet criteria for having ADHD

An estimated 8.7 percent of U.S. children age 8 to 15 meet diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but fewer than half receive treatment, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

4 Sep 2007

Detailed picture of prevalence of ADHD in U.S.

Most children in the United States who meet the medically accepted definition of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have not been diagnosed by a physician, and are not consistently treated with medications, according to the first national ADHD prevalence study in children based on the "gold standard" of diagnostic criteria, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

4 Sep 2007

Restless legs syndrome common and troublesome in children and adolescents

Restless legs syndrome is a common problem in children 8 years of age and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to a new report from an international team of researchers.

24 Aug 2007

Non-medicinal interventions for young children with ADHD

Non-medicinal interventions are highly effective in preventing the behavioral and academic problems associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a five-year study led by researchers at Lehigh University's College of Education.

22 Aug 2007

Variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with ADHD

A variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and with thinner tissue in areas of the brain that handle attention, but also appears associated with better clinical outcomes among individuals with the disorder, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007

Brain areas that control attention thinnest in children with ADHD

Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

7 Aug 2007

ADHD linked to depressed dopamine activity in the brain

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a blunted response to the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin), which increases brain dopamine levels, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007

Methylphenidate improves vigilance performance of ADHD children with poor sleep

WESTCHESTER, Ill. -- In the first known study of its kind, an article published in the August 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and whose sleep efficiency is poor, experience significant improvement on some measures of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) if they are treated with methylphenidate (MPH).

2 Aug 2007

Link between increased white matter and poor motor skills in children with autism

A study published in the August issue of the journal Brain demonstrates, for the first time, an association between increased white matter volume and functional impairment in children with autism.

1 Aug 2007

Severe trauma affect kid's brain function

The first study to examine brain activity patterns in severely traumatized children showed their brains function differently than those of healthy children, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

30 Jul 2007

ADHD drug given to toddlers

Reports in the UK suggest that almost 400,000 youngsters aged between 5 and 19 are being treated with Ritalin and similar drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, regardless of fears about the drugs' serious side-effects such as cardiovascular disorders, hallucinations and even suicidal thoughts.

30 Jul 2007

Severe trauma affects kids' brain function

27 Jul 2007

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters brain activity in the frontal-striatal areas

Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure does not always lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); sometimes it can lead to cognitive and behavioral deficits in the absence of craniofacial features needed to make an FAS diagnosis.

25 Jul 2007