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Author:
Dennis Driscoll

Information on ADHD Can Help You Diagnose Your Child

Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD) are widely over diagnosed, there are many children and adults who suffer from this debilitating neurological disorder. By gathering as much information on ADHD as possible, you can learn the best methods for treatment and diagnosis of yourself or your child if you think either is stricken with this neurological disease.

The symptoms in the adult and the child version are both very different and certain traits that one might think of as normal behavior may actually be contributing to the ADHD problem. From information on ADHD, the most common symptom in both adults and children suffering with the disease is inattentiveness. Time and time again, people with ADHD are unable to focus their minds on the task at hand. This leads them to feel like they have inadequate time management and organizational skills if they are an adult or restlessness if they are a child.

Furthermore, a much more serious problem can arise from both adults and children with ADHD. Information on ADHD has told the neurological sciences that there is another type of ADHD present in both adults and children. This stems from a part of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which makes a person impulsive. Due to this impulsiveness, a person with ADHD is much more likely to rush into things and take more risks than a normal person. This will usually end up with the ADHD patient getting injured physically or mentally after an accident.

Since ADHD is such a broad illness, the information on ADHD does not really describe a set possible cause of the disorder. People have suggested that ADHD has its roots in the genes or could be caused by some sort of bacterial or viral infection. Some scientists have also cited possible nutritional deficiencies as culprits for the onset of ADHD. However, in light of much of the information on ADHD Nutrition, possible causes have wholly been constricted to either genetic inheritability, smoking during pregnancy or lack of nutrition.

As with most things in the human body, the genetic explanation seems to be the most valid. With information on ADHD stemming from a genetic explanation, the genes for ADHD Disorder are passed down to the children by the mother and father. This can be partially proven by the high rate of incidence between identical twins. If one twin has ADHD, there is a ninety two percent chance that the other will have it as well.

Another probable theory is that smoking during pregnancy can cause ADHD among children. Since nicotine is known to inhibit oxygen from reaching all of the necessary parts of the body, smoking can result in the baby not getting enough oxygen to stimulate full brain development. Alternatively, not all children who have ADHD have mothers that smoke, making the information on ADHD about smoking mothers scarce.

Finally, information on ADHD has shown that children and adults with the disorder lack the amounts of zinc found in a healthy individual. It turns out that some chemicals in their body actually break down zinc if they are exposed to certain elements found in food colorings.

For More Information on ADHD Or ADD please visit this author's website.

| Article Keywords: ADHD News

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to ADHD News... ADHD: The Process of Diagnosis Many people are curious about how ADHD is diagnosed. How do doctors know it's really ADHD and not just normal behavior? ADHD diagnosis is a complicated procedure. First, the physician, psychologist or social worker will look for other causes of the child's behavior, besides ADHD. These causes can include: - A sudden change in the child's life, such as a death in the family, parents' divorce, or parent's job loss - Undetected seizures - A middle ear infection that causes intermittent hearing problems - Learning disability causing underachievement - Anxiety or depression The practitioner will take into account school and medical records that show ADHD-like behavior and other information, and will try to determine whether the home and/or school environments are chaotic and causing stress. The specialist will ask the parents and teachers to fill out a special ADHD rating scale which helps with diagnosis, and may interview teachers and others close to the child. In most cases, the possibly ADHD child will be screened for general mental health and social adjustment, and will probably have tests of intelligence and learning achievement to screen for learning disabilities. What the specialist is doing is piecing together a jigsaw puzzle that is the child's behavior. Which ADHD-like behaviors listed in the most recent DSM-IV does the child show? How often? In what situations? How long has the ADHD-possible child been exhibiting these behaviors? How old was the child when the ADHD-like behaviors started? Are the behavior problems relatively chronic or periodic in nature? Are the behaviors seriously interfering with the child's life? Does the child have any other related problems? The answers to all of these questions will figure into a diagnosis of ADHD (or...