Adhd

Having trouble concentrating? Can't sit still? Are you disorganized and always late? If so, and if you've always been that way, it might not be a flaw in your personality but a genuine clinical disorder known as adult ADHD. Everyone's heard of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, but left undiagnosed and untreated, it can carry over into adulthood, says Dr. David W. Goodman, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland in Lutherville.

Age: 34 Salary: $120 per hour Years on job: Two How she got started: : After attending the University of Maryland, College Park for an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in human development with a specialization in early childhood development, Shreya Hessler went on to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology from Loyola College in Maryland. She completed her fellowship, specializing in pediatric psychology, at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Hospital by working with children who had chronic illnesses and behavioral disorders.

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Time to pick out a backpack, sneakers and a stimulant medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, which is marked by poor concentration, lack of self-control and/or hyperactivity. Besides time off from school, many kids with ADHD get a summer "vacation" from the prescription medications that help them focus in class. So August has become a prime time to market the idea that a change in drug for the new school year (Concerta to Adderall?

Having trouble concentrating? Can't sit still? Are you disorganized and always late? If so, and if you've always been that way, it might not be a flaw in your personality but a genuine clinical disorder known as adult ADHD. Everyone's heard of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, but left undiagnosed and untreated, it can carry over into adulthood, says Dr. David W. Goodman, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland in Lutherville.

I have a 7-year-old grandson with ADHD. He is very hyperactive and on medicine for it. Your column about how families can disagree over punishing a child with ADHD made me cry. I don't want to make my grandson miserable, but I do have to admit we have had many arguments about him. Can you say more about how to discipline a child with ADHD?The basic principles of discipline for children with ADHD -- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- are the same as for other children. They need lots of love; adults they can depend upon who are consistent in their expectations and rules; praise for the things they do right even if those are small; and short, reasonable punishment -- like timeout -- for important mistakes.

Like many young mothers, Sophie Currier is a busy woman. There's all the family stuff at the Brookline, Mass., home she shares with her partner, Jeremie Gallien, and their 7-month-old son, Theo. There's work - a teaching assistantship for a biochemistry course at Harvard University. And there's school. After majoring in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Currier got a doctorate in neuroscience from Harvard and is on track to get her medical degree in a year. The striking thing is that Currier does all this not only with severe dyslexia - she couldn't read until she was 8 - but with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well.

My 10-year-old granddaughter has ADHD. She has been prescribed Concerta and Ritalin and takes both pills every morning. At a family party, my wife and I noticed that our granddaughter's pants looked three sizes too large. She was constantly pulling them up. I asked my daughter about this. She said the medicines have affected the girl's appetite and are also causing sleeping problems. She just nibbles and picks at her food, so her mother gives her vitamins. She is short for her age and extremely thin.

Stanford researchers have found the first clear difference in brain functioning between children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and healthy children, a discovery that may lead to more objective ways to diagnose this mysterious brain malfunction.Researchers estimate that as many as 6 percent of school-aged children suffer from ADHD and require medication with Ritalin or other drugs to allow them to function properly. Critics, however, charge that the drugs are widely overprescribed and are routinely given to children who are merely exuberant, not hyperactive.

For most of her life, Kimberly Majerowicz knew there was something wrong in her brain -- but she couldn't tell what it was. As a teenager, she was distracted and angry. As a medical sales representative, she waited until the last minute to make her quotas. As a mother, she was depressed and tuned out, though she desperately wanted not to be. It wasn't until her oldest daughter, Danielle Dodaro, was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder at age 13 that Majero-wicz completed a "homework assignment" for parents -- a checklist that revealed she had the disorder, too. The Timonium woman, now 39, was relieved.

WASHINGTON -- A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel urged yesterday beefed-up warnings for drugs used to treat attention deficit disorder after hearing about hundreds of cases in which children using the medications experienced frightening hallucinations, often involving bugs and snakes. The panel, which focuses on pediatric issues, rejected the idea of calling for so-called black-box warnings - the strongest label warnings the FDA can impose - in part because of testimony by psychiatrists and other medical specialists that the drugs fill a critical need for treating mental health problems in children.

Almost 40 years ago, artificial food dyes had their moment in the sun. In 1969, Soviet scientists announced that Red Dye #2 caused cancer in rats. Seven years later, the Food and Drug Administration agreed, and banned the ubiquitous coloring from U.S. food - creating a cultural icon for a generation that used "Red Dye #2" as shorthand for anything toxic. Now, synthetic dyes are getting a second run. New research indicates the chemicals can disrupt some children's behavior, and activists and consumer groups are asking for bans or limits on the dyes.

The brains of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder develop more slowly than those of other children but eventually catch up, according to a government study published this week that suggests ADHD might be a transient condition, at least for some people. Using advanced imaging techniques, scientists found that the cortices of children with ADHD reach peak thickness an average of three years later than children without the disorder. The cortex is involved in decision-making and supports the ability to focus attention, remember things moment to moment and suppress inappropriate actions - functions often deficient in children with ADHD.

The first meeting of the Howard County CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Parent Support Group will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Norbel School, 6135 Old Washington Road, Elkridge. Meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month and will feature a speaker discussing information of use to parents of children with ADHD, such as special-education law, adolescent behavior, social issues, the transition to college, self-advocacy skills and other topics.

Assuring parents that that current medications are safe and effective, two major psychiatric organizations issued yesterday detailed treatment guidelines for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - a condition that affects up to 4 million children nationwide. Authors said the guidelines - including tips on spotting symptoms, a list of treatment options and details of medication side effects - are designed to dispel myths about the disorder and to help parents make sure that their children get the best available treatments.

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Time to pick out a backpack, sneakers and a stimulant medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, which is marked by poor concentration, lack of self-control and/or hyperactivity. Besides time off from school, many kids with ADHD get a summer "vacation" from the prescription medications that help them focus in class. So August has become a prime time to market the idea that a change in drug for the new school year (Concerta to Adderall?

6th-graders donate quilts to neonatal unit Inspired by a teacher whose personal experience led to the project, eight classes of sixth-graders at Central Middle School donated 100 quilts Wednesday to Anne Arundel Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Erin Szachnowicz created the project after her nephew spent time in the unit three years ago. She saw the quilts that brightened the unit and thought that with the use of the school's sewing lab, students could help ailing babies.

Almost 40 years ago, artificial food dyes had their moment in the sun. In 1969, Soviet scientists announced that Red Dye #2 caused cancer in rats. Seven years later, the Food and Drug Administration agreed, and banned the ubiquitous coloring from U.S. food - creating a cultural icon for a generation that used "Red Dye #2" as shorthand for anything toxic. Now, synthetic dyes are getting a second run. New research indicates the chemicals can disrupt some children's behavior, and activists and consumer groups are asking for bans or limits on the dyes.

The brains of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder develop more slowly than those of other children but eventually catch up, according to a government study published this week that suggests ADHD might be a transient condition, at least for some people. Using advanced imaging techniques, scientists found that the cortices of children with ADHD reach peak thickness an average of three years later than children without the disorder. The cortex is involved in decision-making and supports the ability to focus attention, remember things moment to moment and suppress inappropriate actions - functions often deficient in children with ADHD.

ELLEN KINGSLEY, 55 TV reporter, ADHD advocate Ellen Kingsley, 55, an Emmy-winning former television medical and consumer affairs reporter and founder of a magazine dedicated to the problem of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, died of breast cancer March 8 in Houston. The New York City native began her career in the late 1970s at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, where her colleagues included a young Oprah Winfrey, and worked in the 1980s at WUSA-TV in Washington. In 1986, she produced Portrait of Hope, a documentary about her fight with breast cancer, first diagnosed more than 20 years ago. Ms. Kingsley moved to Houston with her family in the early 1990s.

WASHINGTON -- Makers of Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera and other drugs that treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were advised by the government yesterday to give patients and their parents an additional warning that those medicines can cause serious psychiatric and heart problems, including sudden death. Patients would receive two-page "medication guides" upon picking up a prescription. The guides warn about possible side effects and urge patients to notify doctors immediately after any sign of heart or psychiatric problems, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting or hallucinations.