http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/page.cfm?pagecode=PMAMADLN
ADHD
This page contains a summary of selected international news items taken from
mental health organisations, online news agencies and specialist health news
providers.
Please note that inclusion of an item on this page does not necessarily imply
endorsement by the Mental Health Foundation.
2 September: Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
experience learning difficulties because it affects the brain's ability to
organise and memorise, new research confirms. The findings countered beliefs
that children with ADHD were simply badly behaved, an education expert said.
Between four and eight per cent of the student population suffer from ADHD and
experience difficulties with schooling. Head of Education at WA's Curtin
University, Associate Professor Heather Jenkins and her team looked at the
difference in performance between 55 children - 26 with ADHD and 29 without the
disorder - in maths. The study found ADHD restricts the brain's ability to
organise, memorise, manage time and prioritise, she said. "Children with ADHD
have difficulties learning because the disorder is neurologically based,
restricting and impairing cognitive functions like memory, motivation and
speech, not because of bad behaviour," she said. Source: AAP, 29/8/2003
18 August: Ritalin prescriptions for children now over 250,000: The drug is
increasingly popular among parents whose children are being diagnosed with ADHD
or the related ADD (attention-deficit disorder), conditions that account for
more than half of all referrals to child or adolescent psychiatry services.
Latest figures show that over the past five years, the number of prescriptions
for Ritalin written out for children has rocketed by 102 per cent to 254,000
items. In the past year alone, statistics gleaned by the Liberal Democrats from
parliamentary written answers show that, from 2001 to 2002, prescription rates
rose by 22 per cent. Source: The Guardian Online, 10/8/2003
4 August: Increase in ADHD patients “due to better access to healthcareâ€:
According to US researchers, the increasing number of children treated for
attention hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD) is a result of better access to
treatment and increased acceptance of medication, rather than a rise in the
prevalence of this condition. The team says there was a nearly fourfold
increase in the number of children treated as outpatients for attention
hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD) between 1987 and 1997. Source: Health
Newswatch, 1/8/2003
21 July: Doubt cast on behaviour diagnosis: Evidence suggests that hundreds of
thousands of children prescribed Ritalin for hyperactivity might simply be the
victims of lax parenting. Behavioural expert Warwick Dyer, founder of the
Behaviour Change Consultancy, says parents need to accept more responsibility
for their children's "disorders" rather than expect to be able to use the
"chemical cosh". He believes a rigid system of rewards and sanctions for good
and bad behaviour, coupled with an insistence on politeness towards parents,
and the demand that mothers and fathers control their tempers as well, are
crucial. Source: The Independent Online 21/07/03
20 July: Sharp rise in children's Ritalin use: The number of children taking
the controversial drug Ritalin has jumped sharply, official figures reveal.
According to the Department, the number of prescriptions for the drug increased
by 22% last year. The number of children taking the drug now tops 254,000,
double what it was five years ago. Ritalin is prescribed to children with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Source: BBC News Online,
19/6/2003
4 June: Prenatal smoking linked to ADHD: Exposure to tobacco smoke during
pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, according to an
international study. The findings were based on a systematic literature search
on the evidence linking common lifestyle factors during pregnancy, such as
tobacco, alcohol and caffeine use, maternal psychological stress, and the
development of ADHD. Source: Health Newswire, 3/6/2003
18 May: US may withdraw federal funds from schools that exclude ADHD children
for not taking treatment: Members of the US House of Representatives Committee
on Education and the Workforce said that they would take up a new measure
intended to prevent schools from requiring children who may have attention
deficit disorder and other related behavioural problems from being treated as a
precondition for attending. The law was prompted by parents who have said that
schools have threatened to remove their children from class unless they began
taking behaviour modifying stimulant drugs. Source: British Medical Journal,
17/5/2003
30 April: Fear of social stigma, lack of knowledge, and fear of over-diagnosis
probably inhibit many African American and Hispanic parents from seeking
diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for
their children. A recent survey compared the experiences, attitudes and levels
of knowledge of African American and Hispanic parents with other American
parents. The survey found significant differences between them. The results
strongly suggest that parental fear of social stigma ("being labeled"😉, fear of
over diagnosis and a general lack of knowledge are more likely to inhibit the
diagnosis and treatment of minority children with ADHD than of other children.
Source: PR Newswire, 29/4/2003