{"id":2471,"date":"2021-10-10T14:43:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T08:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/?p=2471"},"modified":"2021-10-10T14:43:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T08:58:41","slug":"attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-some-common-questions-and-their-reliable-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/?p=2471","title":{"rendered":"Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder Some common questions and their reliable answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cNot all children are intentionally mischievous, always naughty, or display certain behaviors on experiencing incompetent parenting. Those could be the symptoms of Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for which they need help and timely treatment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are the answers to some of the commonly asked questions about the \u2018disorder\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What really is Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder?<\/strong>
\nAttention-Deficit\/ Hyperactivity Disorder is a common neuro-developmental condition with a childhood onset. It is important to understand that ADHD is essentially a set of behaviors that interferes with children\u2019s development and functioning in various aspects of life. The causes of ADHD are abnormalities in the structure, function, and neurochemicals in the brain that impacts normal brain development, and there is delay in the normal maturation process of brain by three to five years.<\/p>\n

This abnormality in brain development results in:
\n\u2022 poor self-control and need for instant gratification
\n\u2022 difficulty in sustained attention, forward thinking, planning, and organization
\n\u2022 poor sense of time
\n\u2022 difficulty in managing one\u2019s emotions, and poor motivation<\/p>\n

The above set of difficulties results in significant negative impact on a child\u2019s daily functioning. Environmental risk factors for ADHD are smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy, stress during pregnancy, excess exposure to paint, lead poisoning, deficiency in vitamin B12, iodine, and iron, and in some cases, child abuse and neglect, parenting style, and extreme psychosocial deprivation.<\/p>\n

How common is it?<\/strong>
\nAround five percent of children and three percent of adults are diagnosed to have ADHD. It is more common in boys than girls. There is no biological test for ADHD, yet. There are many celebrities with ADHD, but they are doing exceptionally well in their field of work. Michael Phelps, swimmer and athlete who has won 22 Olympic medals, was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 9. Justin Timberlake, Grammy winning singer and actor also has ADHD.<\/p>\n

What are the symptoms of ADHD?<\/strong>
\nIt can present with symptoms of inattention or hyperactivity\/impulsivity, or both.
\n\u2022 inattention
\n\u2022 inability to concentrate
\n\u2022 tendency to be distracted easily
\n\u2022 difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities (e.g. during lectures, conversations, or lengthy reading)
\n\u2022 failing to complete tasks (e.g. starts tasks but quickly loses focus and is easily side tracked)
\n\u2022 appears not to listen even in the absence of distraction
\n\u2022 forgetful in daily activities and school materials (pencils, books, paperwork, keys, wallet)
\n\u2022 difficulty organizing tasks and activities (e.g. messy, disorganized work, fails to meet deadlines, poor time management)
\n\u2022 Hyperactivity and impulsivity
\n\u2022 fidgety and unable to sit still (e.g. leaves his or her seat in classroom or office where sitting is required)
\n\u2022 running and climbing where it is not appropriate
\n\u2022 as if driven by an engine and always on the go (e.g. unable to be still for extended time as in restaurants, programs, meetings)
\n\u2022 acting without thinking
\n\u2022 trouble waiting his or her turn (e.g. while waiting in line)
\n\u2022 often answers before a question has been completed (e.g. completes people\u2019s sentences; cannot wait for turn in conversation)<\/p>\n

Children are normally active, playful and fidgety, then why ADHD?<\/strong>
\nChildren display hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity quite commonly and do not necessarily have ADHD, but if they are showing excessive levels of these behaviors, you start to think, \u201cmaybe this is ADHD.\u201d ADHD is observable typically around the age of seven to eight at a point where demands of the school environment are starting to really make an impression on the child and when formal education begins.
\nNot all children or adults with these behaviors have ADHD, but if these behaviors interfere in everyday functioning and result in negative impact, for instance, on the child\u2019s school performance, social relationships, peer interactions, and on relationships within the family, then it is a concern for which help should be sought. In addition, the behaviors have to be present across situations, so not just at home, at school, not just in context of relationship with one person, like someone\u2019s father, but also with friends.<\/p>\n

Do children grow out of it?<\/strong>
\nNot really; it tends to continue in middle childhood, adolescence, and then also in adulthood. As children grow, hyperactivity and impulsivity tend to decline, so it is often inattention that causes the most problems. However, the persistence of hyperactive\/impulsive symptoms and impatience when waiting can be particularly impairing for some adults with ADHD. This disorder can continue in adulthood, but the inattention is often experienced as excessive mind wandering and internal mental distractibility, which could interfere with tasks such as reading, watching movies, or following conversations.
\nChildren as well as adults also experience difficulties in emotional regulation, which means they often get easily irritable, frustrated, or angry, and they can also show marked mood swings throughout the day. In adults, it is commonly associated with suicidal tendencies, mood disorders, use of drugs, and frequent road traffic accidents.<\/p>\n

What are the treatment options?<\/strong>
\nFirst of all, we must understand that ADHD is completely treatable with different treatment options. Depending on its severity, treatment options are:
\n\u2022 medications
\n\u2022 environmental modifications with behavior therapy or a combination of both
\n\u2022 In children with mild variety of ADHD, medications would not be indicated; however, for moderate to severe symptoms, medication is always the first choice of treatment.
\n\u2022 Treatment should be strictly followed up under the supervision of child psychiatrist, psychiatrist, and a clinical psychologist.<\/p>\n

What about the role of diet?<\/strong>
\nThe role of diet in ADHD is a very controversial topic. There is insufficient evidence for role of diet in reduction of ADHD symptoms. However, in some children, there could be a small reduction in their symptoms, especially who have been tested for food intolerance for sugar, food colorings, food additives, and preservatives. In such instances, consultation with one\u2019s pediatrician and dietician would be beneficial.<\/p>\n

Lastly, ADHD is a very common problem in children with many treatment options, but if not treated , can lead to significant negative impact in a child\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNot all children are intentionally mischievous, always naughty, or display certain behaviors on experiencing incompetent parenting. Those could be the symptoms of Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for which they need help and timely treatment.\u201d Here are the answers to some of the commonly asked questions about the \u2018disorder\u2019. What really is Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder? Attention-Deficit\/ Hyperactivity Disorder …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":2468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-disease"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/medicosnext.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/asian-kid-is-playing-jenga-wood-blocks-tower-game.jpg?fit=900%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}