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Attention Deficit Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorders - ADD ADHD
Attention Deficit Disorder / Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
- ADD ADHD - belong to a spectrum of neurological disorders with
no known physiological basis or so it was thought now we know the
physiological cause.
The spectrum goes from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention
Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) through Learning Disabilities,
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Tourette's Syndrome, to Pervasive
Developmental Disorders and Autism.
To read case studies detailing ADD & ADHD click
here
The neurological mechanisms involved in all the ADD and ADHD disorders
are very similar and indeed there is increased co-morbidity which
means the 50% of ADHD patients will have OCD and 50% of patients
with Tourette's Syndrome will have ADHD. It is this co-morbidity
that makes the whole spectrum of learning disabilities, including
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia so difficult to diagnose. However, armed
with this knowledge it becomes easier to identify the unique characteristics
of an individual childs' learning and developmental problems.
No one child is 100% dyslexic but presents his/her unique pattern
of co-morbidity which constitutes their particular developmental
delay. Therefore, the child diagnosed with ADHD may in fact present
with 30% ADHD, 30% Dyspraxia, 20% Dyslexia, 10% addictive tendencies
and 10% OCD.
ADHD per se is characterised by behavioural problems in reacting
to an average situation and the diagnosis based on the history of
the manifestation of three types of behaviour:
- Inability to perform everyday tasks / distractability
- Impairment to control impulses / impulsivivty
- Restlessness / hyperactivity
ADHD is caused by a problem with the reticular activating system
- the attention centre of the brain - itself due to the immaturity
of certain areas of the brain. This late development and resulting
under functioning may be in the cerebellum, pre-frontal lobes or
more diffuse effecting the right or left cerebral hemisphere. In
c. 98% of boys it is the right cerebral hemisphere that is at fault.
Under functioning may be caused by two principal factors - the
level of stimulation of the brain or the biochemical substrates
to the brain. In essence this means that these children have great
difficulty gathering and/or processing the information from the
environment and then trying to make sense of it.
Ritalin is not a cure for ADHD as this medication neither corrects
the disorder nor addresses the patients' unique problems and may
in fact fuel any addictive tendencies the child may already have.
Fortunately, with greater knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms
at work new treatments are now available to tackle the problem without
the use of potentially harmful drugs. Computer generated treatments
can go right to the heart of the problem addressing brainstem, cerebellar
or pre-frontal lobe dis-ease rather than treating/masking symptoms.
So how can we help? Click
here
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