Strollerderby : ADD

They Say: Our Kids Are Developing a (Legal) Drug Habit

JeanneSager — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:35:00 GMT

Either kids are getting sicker or doctors are pill happy. A study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Pediatrics says prescriptions for kids with chronic health problems jumped by more than one hundred percent over a three-year period.

Kids aged five through nineteen who suffer from type two diabetes (so-called adult onset diabetes) took one hundred three percent more medications in 2005 than they did in 2002. Prescriptions for kids in the same agre group went up by forty-six and a half percent for kids with asthma, forty percent for ADD and ADHD and fifteen percent for cholesterol treatments. Although the latter number isn't nearly as high as that of the diabetes jump, both stand out for their mere presence in the younger population. Until childhood obesity became buzzwords in pediatric circles, type two diabetes and cholesterol issues were highly regarded as "adult" issues.

The study's author says behavior modifications can have a major impact on most of the chronic diseases studied, but whether doctors are counseling their patients on making the changes - and whether kids are listening - will make the difference in kids' health. Do you feel like your pediatrician's become a drug pusher? Or are kids just getting diagnosed better?

Source: Los Angeles Times

Image: More4Kids

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MLB Overrun With Hyper Players

Amy S.F. Lutz — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:34:00 GMT

With the steroid scandal rocking the major leagues, it seems hardly newsworthy to mention the less dramatic, though also performance-enhancing drug that many players are using - legally.

Although amphetamines are prohibited by MLB rules, players can take other stimulants, such as ritalin or adderall, if they can prove the need for a "therapeutic-use exemption" due to ADD. Stimulants boost athletic performance because they "mask pain and increase energy and reaction time."

And what do you know? According to Slate, over the course of one year, player claims of ADD jumped from 28 to 103. That's significantly above the rate of ADD seen in the general population, although that rate is also increasing.

Of course, to be fair, I suppose we need to consider the possibility that boys with ADD are disproportionately drawn to baseball over other sports. Baseball, the slowest moving of all the major sports, the only one in which players spend half the games sitting in a dugout and . . . chewing.

I'm doubtful. I've got no statistics to back me up on this, but I'm doubtful.

Kids' Diagnosis Can Shed New Light on Parents

Amy Kuras — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:04:00 GMT

With the numbers of kids who carry a diagnosis of a psychiatric or developmental disorder skyrocketing, more and more parents are looking for answers when their kid seems a little out of step.

And in the process, they may uncover some new insights about themselves.

A story over the weekend in the New York Times talked about the phenomenon of parents who find, when their child is diagnosed with a disorder such as Asperger's or attention deficit disorder, that it sheds new light on their own peculiarities and struggles –and sometimes even that of their parents or grandparents.

One mom, Susan Shanfield, quoted in the article described it as saying "Well, that's us; our family is like that" when teachers began complaining that her son was slouching, not interactive and unusual in school. Turns out the boy had a neuro-lingual disorder and is now getting help.

Shanfield began looking at her own life, and talking to her father as well. Through that lens, many of the difficulties they had each faced growing up began to make sense, and they became closer as a result.

Of course, it’s risky business for a parent to self-diagnose. Often, in a sense of solidarity with their child, they may overemphasize certain of their own traits to be more in line with their child's diagnosis. On a positive note, parents can find themselves serving as translator and champion for their child, because they are able to understand them on a deep level.

This hits home for me because I am seeing plenty of my own ADD traits replicated in my own daughter. I'm glad she's growing up now, when it's understood you don't need to be a boy or especially overactive to have ADD, and when kids with all kinds of issues who once were written off as "just weird" now have a diagnosis and a way to get help. I think these parents from the article might agree.

Non-Drug Alternatives for ADHD Preschoolers

Karen Murphy — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:39:00 GMT

As far as I'm concerned, practically every kid under the age of six exhibits some traits commonly associated with ADD and ADHD. You know what I'm talking about: the inattention, the constant activity, the selective hearing. But when is a kid being a kid, albeit an annoying one, and when is there a deeper issue?

It's important to differentiate normal behavior from when there's truly a problem that requires attention and intervention (being kicked out of preschool can be an indicator and would certainly get my attention as a parent). Professionals are really wary of overdiagnosing this all-too-common acronym, estimated to affect 1-4% of preschool-age kids. But how to attend to these often disturbing symptoms? I know I would be reluctant to medicate my preschooler, and many ADHD medications come with disturbing side effects when given to little kids (stunting their growth, for instance, which could cause additional behavioral and emotional difficulties).

So I'm pleased to see that people are looking into non-drug alternatives, like using a simple kitchen to help deal with transitions. A five-year study was made of preschool kids with ADHD and their families who explored individualized non-drug behavioral-only techniques and parenting classes to help deal with issues arising from the ADHD behaviors. After a year of this, it was found that aggressive behavior and other difficulties dropped, and learning improved.

I don't actually find any of the solutions discussed in this article to be anything different from what a reasonably aware parent would do naturally, so I have to wonder about the number of ADHD diagnoses. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it's likely that in a lot of those cases it simply takes a different kind of interaction to move the "difficult" child, even a highly problematic child, into a space of understanding that eventually manifests as a reduction in that problematic behavior. I don't suggest that this is easy, but I find it good to know that it appears that professionals seem to be moving away from throwing prescriptions at kids to make them more tractable and instead seem to be focusing on the real issues, which in turn will lead to a crop of confident, happy kids instead of kids too numbed by medication to act out anymore.

Kids of Divorce Prescribed More Ritalin

Karen Murphy — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:52:00 GMT

A sobering finding came from a recent Canadian study of kids from divorced families: the rate at which they were prescribed Ritalin was double that of kids from "intact" families. While I'm skeptical about interpretations of statistical information that confuse causation with correlation, as the parent of divorced kids myself, I've got to pay attention and investigate when it's suggested that my kids may have issues that can be traced to the stress and transition pains they're going through as a result of divorce.

Ritalin is often prescribed, and many would say over-prescribed, to kids evidencing symptoms of ADHD and purportedly provides a calming effect. But kids going through divorce or any kind of stress may have the same symptoms; does it work for them and is medicating the symptom really helping? I'd much rather provide support and understanding to my kid, or even therapy, than go with medication for what is likely a temporary situation. That's not to say that some kids don't benefit from Ritalin, but the fact that more kids of divorce are taking it doesn't tell me that they need it. In fact, it tells me that it's likely that their real problems are being swept under the rug.

TV: It's The Devil, Apparently

Patti — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:10:00 GMT

The Scotsman has a pretty comprehensive article on the many ills of television: autism, obesity, myopia, ADD and more--all the fault of television. What makes this scare article a little different from the others is that it zooms in on the production of melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating sleep and also linked to the onset of puberty. Melatonin production can be suppressed by too much exposure to bright lights, and television may just be a bright enough light to affect it. Exposure to anything that affects melatonin production may not only cause erratic sleep, but might affect the immune system, the body's ability to ward off cancer-causing cell mutations, and could affect a child's natural timeframe for puberty. There are also significant links to excessive television watching and a person's metabolism, as well as links to Alzheimer's Disease.

And I wish that were the gist of it, but there's oh, so much more. Dole out the television judiciously, won't you?