With every published study that comes out, we develop a deeper understanding of ADHD and find new ways to treat or diagnose this mysterious disorder. Two new studies on “mirror movements” reveals some interesting clues about childhood ADHD symptoms that may pave the way for a new way of testing for ADHD.
To most parents of kids with ADHD, the disorder can be nothing but a constant source of frustration. When their kids have a hard time making friends or staying out of trouble in school, it’s difficult to find the silver lining of this condition. Yet there is an upside to ADHD that was recently confirmed by a new study – ADHD makes people more creative.
Exciting news for parents who want their kids to try an ADHD diet! A new study confirms once more that ADHD symptoms can be reduced by eliminating foods that trigger them. The study on the restricted elimination diet (RED) was recently published in The Lancet, with very promising results.
Many parents I’ve spoken to make the same observation about their ADHD children’s sleep habits: they have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up in the morning. When they don’t get enough sleep the previous night, they spend the rest of the day in an ADHD funk with their symptoms in overdrive. These observations are hardly surprising – sleep problems and ADHD are closely related because the regions of the brain responsible for attention also regulate sleep. While there’s not much you can do to change your child’s biology, there are a few things that can be done to help your child get enough sleep.
Next to questions about ADHD treatment, many parents turn to me for advice on how to discipline ADHD children effectively. Although natural treatments will help reduce behavioral problems in the long run, parents have to contend with their children’s stubbornness, hyperactive tendencies, and other misbehaviors today. Parenting an ADHD child is no easy task. Even the most patient parents end up dropping their compassionate approach for a cycle of nagging, yelling, and punishing, which only seems to make their children misbehave even more.
So how do you get an ADHD child to behave? As with ADHD treatments, there is no magic bullet or formula to better discipline; each child responds to different techniques. There are a few general guidelines you can follow to keep your child’s misdeeds in check.
A colleague once remarked that in his experience working with families and children with ADHD, fathers rarely participate in behavior modification programs. This phenomenon has more to do with cultural forces than anything else; generally speaking, topics covered in these programs fall under the mother’s domain (time management, organization, and self-control). Such traditional parenting programs seem more relevant to mothers than fathers. However, the success of a holistic ADHD treatment program requires the involvement and active participation of both parents. Fathers have just as much influence as mothers when it comes to a child’s academic achievement and self-esteem.
Getting your child to give up favorite foods for an ADHD diet is tricky, and the holiday season might make it more difficult. The last few weeks of the year will be filled with dinner parties, family reunions, and other types of gatherings centered on food. Your child might feel left out when cousins enjoy forbidden holiday treats, and relatives won’t understand why he or she can’t have just one tiny cookie. It may not be a good idea to take a break from your child’s diet and start from scratch after a few weeks, but here are some tips that will make eating a fun occasion for your child during the holidays.
As a parent of a child with ADHD, you’ve probably noticed something I observe among my patients: kids with ADHD don’t do well in the winter. As fall turns to winter and a blanket of snow covers the streets, kids with ADHD tend to:
Does this sound like your child?
Last week, I talked about how the number of children diagnosed with ADHD has skyrocketed over the last few years, and posited some possible explanations for this phenomenon. While some might argue that ADHD awareness and overeager doctors contributed to this increase, a new study published in the journal Pediatrics finds that diet and lifestyle parallels the high rate of childhood ADHD cases today.
It’s hardly surprising to learn that more children receive the ADHD diagnosis today. A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered that the number of ADHD diagnosis among children in the United States went up 22% in four years – from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007. These findings are certainly consistent with other research on the rapid rise of the ADHD diagnosis around the world. However, I’m more interested in finding out why this is happening. What could be causing this so-called ADHD epidemic? Here, I posit four possible reasons.