Valley-Based Center Offers Innovative, Drug-Free Treatment Options For ADD ADHD, Learning Disorders
The Center for Attention Deficit and Learning Disorders announces today that it has added Hemoencephalography (HEG) to its list of treatment options for patients with ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, mood disorders and other conditions. HEG utilizes infrared light to measure blood flow and oxygenation levels in the brain during a Neurofeedback session. "The use of HEG in our Neurofeedback training sessions allows us to better target the areas of the brain that are not functioning at normal levels, " said Dr. Sanford J. Silverman, Ph.D., founder of the Center. "The goal of Neurofeedback is to exercise the brain in a specific way, and create new connections between neurons that carry information to other areas of the brain.
What Is Tourette Syndrome? What Causes Tourette Syndrome?
Tourette syndrome, also known as Tourette's syndrome, GTS, Tourette's, TS, Tourette's disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome, is an inherited tic disorder characterized by multiple motor (physical) tics and at least one vocal tic. Experts believe it is closely linked to damage or abnormalities to the basal ganglia of the brain. In this text, a tic is an unusual movement or sound over which the person may have little or no control. This may include eye blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, facial movements, head movements, or limb movements. A tic may also include the utterance of unusual sounds, which may include inappropriate and sometimes offensive words (verbal ticks).
Rates Of Common Mental Disorders Among American Youth Tracked By National Survey
Only about half of American children and teenagers who have certain mental disorders receive professional services, according to a nationally representative survey funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The survey also provides a comprehensive look at the prevalence of common mental disorders. The results are part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a collaboration between NIMH and the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey conducted from 2001 to 2004 had 3, 042 participants. These most recent results include data from children and adolescents ages 8 to 15, and were published online ahead of print December 14, 2009, in the journal Pediatrics.
Association Between Tobacco Smoke And Bahavioral Problems In Children Confirmed By Study
Children who are exposed to tobacco smoke during their early development can develop abnormal behavioral symptoms by the age of ten years. This association was discovered using data from the GINI-plus study by scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum Mà nchen in collaboration with colleagues of Ludwig-Maximilians-Università t Munich, Technische Università t Mà nchen and Marienhospital Wesel. The scientists observed that the impact of tobacco smoke was especially detrimental during gestation. The results of the study have been published in the current online issue of the renowned journal Environmental Health Perspectives. "We were able to show that children who are exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally and during the first years of life have a higher risk of developing abnormal behavioral symptoms when they are of school age, " said Dr.
Startled Flies May Provide Insight Into ADHD
It seems obvious that naturally waking up from sleep and being startled by something in the environment are two very different emotional states. However, the neuroscience that underlies these different forms of arousal has, for the most part, remained a mystery. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the November 25 issue of the journal Neuron demonstrates that there are at least two completely separate and independent forms of arousal in fruit flies. The study answers critical questions about how the nervous system processes arousal and may even shed some light on the neurobiology of human affective disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ).
Exposure To Tobacco And Lead Linked To ADHD In Children
Researchers in the US found that exposure to tobacco in the womb and to lead during childhood was linked to a particularly high risk for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) in children, suggesting that while we tend to focus on treatment for ADHD, eliminating such exposures might prevent the condition in many hundreds of thousands of children. The study was the work of senior author Dr Robert Kahn, a physician and researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, and colleagues, and was published online on 23 November in the journal Pediatrics. Kahn and colleagues estimated that up to 35 per cent of cases of ADHD in youngsters aged between 8 and 15 could be reduced by getting rid of both prenatal exposure to tobacco and childhood exposure to lead: in numbers this figure represents some 800, 000 children in the US population.
Prenatal Tobacco And Lead Exposure Linked To ADHD
Children exposed to tobacco in utero and to lead during childhood are eight times more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ), according to the first study to examine the combined effects of these exposures in U.S. children. The study, "Association of Tobacco and Lead Exposures with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, " published in the December issue of Pediatrics (appearing online Nov. 23), examined records of prenatal tobacco and childhood lead exposure in the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of U.S. children ages 8 to 15. Prenatal tobacco exposure was measured by report of maternal cigarette use during pregnancy, and lead exposure was assessed by current blood lead levels.
Adult Working Memory May Be Impaired By Amphetamine Use In Adolescence
Rats exposed to high doses of amphetamines at an age that corresponds to the later years of human adolescence display significant memory deficits as adults - long after the exposure ends, researchers report. The declines in short-term or "working" memory are most pronounced when the rats are exposed during adolescence, rather than as adults, the researchers found. "Animals that were given the amphetamine during the adolescent time period were worse at tasks requiring working memory than adult animals that were given the same amount of amphetamine as adults, " said psychology professor Joshua Gulley, who led the study with graduate student Jessica Stanis.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Problems Associated With Low Folate Levels In Pregnant Women
It has long been suggested that healthy folate (the natural form of folic acid) levels in expectant mothers goes hand in hand with healthy nervous system development in their children. A study published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry finds that low maternal folate levels is linked to the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems in children at age seven to nine years. Researcher Dr. Wolff Schlotz points out, "Our findings further support the hypothesis that maternal nutrition contributes to an individuals' development, with potential consequences for their behavior later in life." The long term effects of poor maternal nutrition may even branch out to the child's ability to interact with peers or form social bonds.
Mozart And Others Had ADHD - Has It Always Been A Disorder? Or Has The Modern Classification Of It Made It A Disorder?
A Canadian researcher working in the U.K. says doctors, authors and educators are doing hyperactive children a disservice by claiming that hyperactivity as we understand it today has always existed. Matthew Smith says not only is that notion wrong, it misleads patients, their parents and their physicians. Smith, who is from Edmonton, is finishing up his PhD at the Centre for Medical History at the University of Exeter. Hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is currently the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder, says Smith, and millions of children are prescribed drugs such as Ritalin to treat it. Yet prior to the 1950s, it was clinically and culturally insignificant.