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ADHD Articles:
According to centers of disease control and prevention, there was a report released stating that approximately 1.6 million school children have been diagnosed with ADHD.
Most of us might have seen advertisements claiming the alternative therapies; these are easy to find in magazines
The anti social activities related to the ADHD individuals are really common.
If a child shows six or more symptoms of ADHD then ADHD is diagnosed in the child.
Another drug that is being used to treat ADHD and is approved by the FDA is clonidine.
In order to help families to ensure their children the most efficient treatment scheme,the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provides them several works regarding ADHD treatment,and gave birth to the most accurate study of treatment evaluation,commonly known as Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA).
A clinical trial for children between 3 and 5.5 years of age is at this precise moment being conducted by the NIMH ,trial also known as Treatment of ADHD in Preschool-Age Children.
The Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
The subjects chosen by the MTA to be included in their study were in number of 579 boys and girls in elementary school,included randomly in one of the four schemes of treatment:(1) only medication management,(2) treatment of behavior only,(3) a combination of the two,(4)routine community care. Every study site included a 14 months specified protocol for three groups,while the other group,the fourth,was submitted to a treatment chosen by the parents,but all the children involved were reassessed with regularity during the period of study. The collaboration of parents and school teachers ,which rated the symptoms of the children and their social behavior was extremely important.
For two groups,the physician had discussions with the parents ,sought input from the teachers on a monthly basis,and also had meetings with the children in question ,in order to clarify any misunderstanding regarding the medication or the problems caused by ADHD. Thus,The children were visited once a month for half an hour,during every medication visit. The role of the physician was to provide advice to the concerned parents,not to sustain the therapy of behavior.
A special 8 week summer treatment , their was imposed by the therapy to children in order to improve their social,intellectual and sportive abilities,and to get intensive therapy regarding behavior. The therapist had about 35 encounters with the parents,as group sessions and discussed also with their teachers to make sure that each child gets special attention. Meanwhile,the children in combined therapy had simultaneously the benefits of ,these medical assistance and therapy of behavior.
The routine community care ,the doctor that was assigned to deal with the children's problems was chosen by their parents. This doctor visited the children one-two times in a year,for short periods,and he had no access to their teachers.
The results of the treatment were almost even: combined treatment proved itself superior in some sections,referable to anxiety,intellectual performance, oppositionality, social and family relationships,using smaller doses of medicine,by comparison to medication-only group,which proved itself superior in intensive treatment of behavior and that of routine community.
The number of children(3 to 5) affected by ADHD before school age makes the awareness of the safe and most efficient treatment very important,which determined the NIMH to sponsor a multilateral study, "Preschool ADHD Treatment Study" ,generically known as PATS.,which has as main purpose the examination of the safety and efficiency of methylphenidate at this early age. The design used by PATS was randomly chosen,placebo-controlled and double-blind.
The research conducted at New York State Psychiatric Institute, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of California at Irvine,which included 165 children,and its main purpose was the replacement of the medication with behavioral therapy ,in order to avoid medication at this early age;it will only be applied to children who don't positively respond to the first one.
As it has different symptoms,ADHD has also different in treatment from one case to another. What appears to be the best solution of treatment for one patient doesn't necessarily match the case of another. There may appear secondary effects to certain medication,which makes it unsuitable for that specific case. For example,for a child affected by anxiety or depression ,the best solution seems to be combined therapy,between medication and behavioral therapy,considering the needs of the child in question as well as his record.
There are medication that have the desired effects for some patients,while others obtain the same effect from a different treatment. It is necessary to follow the instructions of the physician regarding the type and doses of the medication. Stimulants have on a category of people the effect of decrease of hyperactivity and impulsivity,improving their capacity to pay attention,assimilate new information and work. Physical coordination in sport or handwriting was definitely improved by these medications which proved their effect over decades.
Under strict medical supervision,what is known as stimulating drugs becomes safe and useful,because they don't have the commonly known effect, altough some children pretended to feel funny or different;these changes are not a significant matter.
The fear most parent feel for their child to become dependent of the substance has no real foundation. When used to fight against ADHD,they don't cause addiction or abuse. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, performed long-term studies about stimulants and got to the conclusion that there are more chances for young people with ADHD that haven't been on medication for a long time to become addicted,than for the ones that had.
Following the doctor's indications regarding treatment,the latest discoveries referable to long and short term stimulant pills can be administered before school by the parents,to avoid the situation in which the child should go every day to the school nurse for the pill. According to the child's needs,the pill will be taken either during school or after it.
In case the treatment has not a clear supremacy over the symptoms,a more careful dosage should be given by the doctor. In case there is no effect at this point,the child should change treatment,as it may happen to one of ten children. In case stimulants have no effect,or they interfere to another treatment for other disease,antidepressants or other medication can take over,to control the situation.
There are cases in which medicines usually used at later ages,procedure known as "off label".Because their efficiency was not proved or studied on children,many good medication are provided that way. The statement that accompanies this medication is:"safety and efficacy have not been established in pediatric patients."
The usual side effects produced by stimulants are due to dosage-mostly to over-dosage-and are mostly represented by a decrease of appetite,bigger anxiety,irritability or insomnia,and, in some cases mild stomach or headaches. The fluctuations of appetite ,most frequently reduced at noon and closer to normality by supper time,increases the necessity for appropriate quantity and kinds of food ,considering also the phases of their appetite.
Insomnia generated by the stimulant can be dealt with by the reducing of the dose in the morning,and a discontinuity in the later dosage,or by using a back-up medication that reduces anxiety and depression (clonidine). There where also cases of tics appearing,as a consequence to the treatment. The change of dosage also represents a solution to this problem. In case the child has tolerance zero to stimulants,they have to be replaced with an antidepressant.
There are cases in which .parents and other people close to the child have the tendency to attribute any improvement exclusively to the drug,ignoring the fact that medication does not provide a cure, but only keeps the symptoms stable. Medication is able to help improving ones' qualities,not to develop others,or increase knowledge.
The children affected by ADHD are constantly and currently helped by all kinds of therapies mentioned above to deal with daily problems and have more self-confidence.
Behavioral therapy, emotional counseling, and practical support will help ADHD children cope with everyday problems and feel better about themselves.
Because most probably such child will have to follow a treatment based on a mood stabilizer like lithium or Depakote®, for bipolar disorder,only the doctor can have an opinion on the effects of ADHD medication on the child,and on the usually lower doses.
ADHD medication generated more specialty literature than most of the other treatments in America,also because of its long-term usage. The safety of that kind of medication depends in great measure on the accurate activity of the physician,that should constantly supervise its patients and the evolution of the treatment proportional to the involution of the symptoms,following guidelines and monitoring each step.Click Here to Read More
Stimulants have effect on the way the brain controls impulses and regulates behavior and attention. They influence the availability of certain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, in the brain.Click Here to Read More