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ADHD Revealed

Brenda - posted on 11/12/2010 ( 6 moms have responded )

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So, for those of you who have to deal with this or know someone that does, I have learned some very interesting things in my course on childhood disorders this week.

First, if you've ever wondered why they give a stimulant like Ritalin to a child who is already hyperactive, here you go: A child with ADHD actually has a brain that is understimulated, therefore they seek out stimulation from external factors such as excessive activity. So drugs that treat ADHD do so by making more dopamine and neurephinephrine available which allows more stimulation in the brain occur.

Second, some facts about how kids get it. ADHD is hereditary for one, but babies who have mothers that smoked, used cocaine, or used any stimulant during pregnancy have a much higher liklihood of being ADHD. The reason is because in the prenatal time, the brain was overstimulated and once they are born, they no longer have the drug induced stimulation but their brains have learned to depend on it, so they are then understimulated.

Third, this fits with recent research showing that CIO leads to higher rates of ADHD. Stress hormones such as cortisol and adreneline stimulate the brain, therefore overstimulation during the first six months during that intregal period of brain development causes the brain to fail to make enough of the chemicals dopamine and neurepinephrine later on. So yeah.

:) I thought it was pretty cool. I also saw an article coorelating ADHD with vaccines, which I call BS on it because of the fact vaccines, no matter what you believe do not cause stimulation, and the above research shows that ADHD is related to early and prenatal overstimulation of the brain leading to a lack of those chemicals later in life. And well, never base anything solely on a correlational study. (Murder and Ice cream consumption have a strong correlation, after all, but it doesn't mean ice cream causes murder, it means that summer heat causes both to increase). Anyway, my little tidbit that supports our attachment parenting style, especially more reason to NOT CIO. :)

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Brenda - posted on 11/18/2010

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Oh yeah, there are lots of kids with Asperger's out there who do just fine. :)

Here is what they will look for:

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

(from http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disord...)

Alicia - posted on 11/17/2010

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Wow, thanks Brenda! Our pediatrician refuses to diagnose Asperger's, we're going through a 6 week diagnostic clinic with psychologists, occupational & physical therapists. I really hope it's not ADHD or Asperger's (or both for that matter) but on the other hand Asperger's is high functioning autism and even then he's pretty mild so I'll be thankful. So many parents have to go through so much more.

Brenda - posted on 11/17/2010

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I would imagine if the fetus was under stress, it might lead to some problems. I guess it would affect the baby if medical stress, it would make sense since overstimulation from chemicals and from after the birth causes the increasein stress hormones.

However, Asperger's is less understood as far as the causes. It has a different mechanic.

But as far as doctors, if you are dealing with possible asperger's, don't talk to your pediatrician. You need to either find a psychologist or a psychatrist. A regular pediatrician only has a single turn on the psych ward during training and is NOT really qualified to render proper diagnosis of a diagnosis like Aspergers. A lot of people go first to their pediatrician and they are probably the least trained and least able to diagnose Asperger's, or even stuff like ADHD and Learning disabilities. In schools, the school psychologist is qualified to render diangnosis for such things. I might start a thread on recommendations for this stuff for everyone, as I've very interested in some of the stuff I've found out recently.

Alicia - posted on 11/16/2010

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That's exactly what I was thinking Aleksandra; I've had anxiety disorder my whole life.

So stress in the 1st 6 months makes a difference but what about durig pregnancy Brenda? Jonah was a twin, which I lost early on. I had a blood clot around my uterus which they thought would keep growing which would result in the fetus being suffocated, after that resolved my kidneys started to fail. I was on strict bed rest for 23 hrs/day. I was ALWAYS worried that I would lose him too like they kept saying would happen (if it had it would've been my 4th miscarriage). Anyways, things went WAY wrong during the delivery; he went into fetal distress and was black when he was pulled out, his apgar was 1. He spent a week in the NICU, had colic until he was a year old, acid reflux, milk allergy, sensory sensitivity, you name it. Now he's 5 and is being tested for Asperger's Syndrome. What do you think?
Sorry, I just find this fascinating. I've tried for 3 years to get doctors to listen to me, and now they finally agree that something is infact wrong. Thanks!

Brenda - posted on 11/15/2010

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I don't think so, because the chemicals in the mom's brain that are naturally occuring wouldn't pass the blood brain barrier and enter the bloodstream. Basically, if it is in the blood it gets passed to the baby, but neurochemicals in the maternal brain would not be able to pass.

Aleks - posted on 11/14/2010

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hmmmm...
So what would happen if the mother was suffering from an anxiety disorder while pregnant?
Would that then increase the chances that her child would develop ADHD?

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