BrainBlog

A discussion about ADHD and medication was held today as a Private Members' Debate at Westminster. Set by Pat McFadden MP (pictured above), the debate includes response by the Minister of State, Department of Health. Available for streaming at Parliament TV Go to the 25th of October, Westminster Hall at advance to 1330 hrs. Background resource: The 2008 NICE guideline about ADHD .

ADHD: Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents American Academy of Pediatrics pdf download Upon release, the new guideline resulted in a good deal of commentary, analysis, and media coverage. Here is an example, from the Pharmalot blog: Read the blog entry here .

A press release from the NIH: Prescribed stimulant use for ADHD continues to rise steadily NIH and AHRQ study finds pace of the rise has slowed in recent years "The prescribed use of stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose slowly but steadily from 1996 to 2008, according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study was published online ahead of print Sept. 28, 2011, in the American Journal of Psychiatry . "ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders, and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). The condition is frequently treated with stimulants such as methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin), amphetamines (e.g., Adderall) or other types of medications. Behavioral therapies can also be effective. "During...

Dr. Leon Eisenberg, Pioneer in Autism Studies, Dies at 87 By BENEDICT CAREY Published: September 24, 2009 "Dr. Eisenberg conducted some of the first rigorous studies of autism, attention deficit disorder and learning delays." [snip] “Leon took a very courageous stand and denounced the way psychiatry treated children, this whole system in which we had a few rich kids and their parents getting psychoanalysis five days a week and still not being cured,” said C. Keith Conners, a professor emeritus in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. “No one even knew what a cure looked like. He had this conviction that nothing was being done for the bulk of children who needed help, and that we had very little scientific data to guide us.” [snip] Read the full article

Reimer B, D'Ambrosio LA, Coughlin JF, Fried R, & Biederman J. Task-induced fatigue and collisions in adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Traffic Inj Prev. 2007 Sep; 8(3): 290-299. AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Objective. This study compares collision involvement between adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and control participants in a simulation experiment designed to enhance the effects of fatigue. Because the effects of ADHD include difficulties in maintaining attention, drivers with ADHD were hypothesized to be more susceptible to the effects of fatigue while driving. Methods. Data are drawn from a validated driving simulation study, portions of which were focused on enhancing the effects of fatigue. The simulator data are supplemented with written questionnaire data. Drivers with ADHD were compared with controls. Results. The self-report data indicated that drivers with...

Polanczyk G, de Lima MS, Horta BL, Biederman J, & Rohde LA. The Worldwide Prevalence of ADHD: A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis . American Journal of Psychiatry. 2007 Jun; 164(6): 942-948. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 90035-003. OBJECTIVE: The worldwide prevalence estimates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)/hyperkinetic disorder (HD) are highly heterogeneous. Presently, the reasons for this discrepancy remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the possible causes of the varied worldwide estimates of the disorder and to compute its worldwide-pooled prevalence. METHOD: The authors searched MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases from January 1978 to December 2005 and reviewed textbooks and reference lists of the studies selected. Authors of relevant articles from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the M...