Firms Lose Money With Hyperactive Employees

Research shows that employees who are diagnosed with ADHD do one month less work in a year then a non-ADHD counterpart. The article goes on to suggest that a cost effect approach is to screen for ADHD and provide treatment. Medical plans providing comprehensive mental health plans, that sounds like a novel idea. Secondly, can you see lawsuits coming after one of these employees is fired???? I sure can.

The results showed that people with ADHD spent 22.1 more days not doing work than other workers per year. This included 8.4 days when they were unable to work or carry out their normal activities, 21.7 days of reduced work quantity and 13.6 days of reduced work quality, according to the researchers, who are part of a WHO research grouping at Harvard Medical School.

ADHD Medications and Heart Tests

Before you let a teacher or school counselor bully you and your child into starting a medication for ADHD. Be aware, a new recommendation from the American Heart Association is recommending all children on stimulants or being considered for stimulants need heart tests. The test is not invasive, a simple EKG or ECG, will determine whether your child is free from cardiac complications related to the stimulant medication.

Studies have shown that stimulant medications like those used to treat ADHD can increase heart rate and blood pressure. These side effects are insignificant for most children with ADHD; however, they’re an important consideration for children who have a heart condition. Certain heart conditions increase the risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD), which occurs when the heart rhythm becomes erratic and doesn’t pump blood through the body.

The Future of Students And Bad Behavior

The New York Times published an article that suggests early childhood behaviors do not predict the future of these students. I think the key point in this article is that these children have been identified early and early intervention can then make the difference. I believe the study did not go past the fifth grade. I wonder if middle and high school success will be tracked?

Experts say the findings of the two studies, being published today in separate journals, could change the way scientists, teachers and parents understand and manage children who are disruptive or emotionally withdrawn in the early years of school. The studies might even prompt a reassessment of the possible causes of disruptive behavior in some children.

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Chronic health conditions on the rise

Chronic health conditions among this country’s children is raising. This is according to report issued by the Journal of American Medical Association. The report states that right now, 6.5 million children and adolescents have a chronic condition. The top three conditions are obesity, asthma and ADHD.

If children with chronic conditions not severe enough to be disabling are counted, chronic conditions affect about 18% of American teens and children in all, Perrin says.

Prenatal cocaine exposure

Adding to the evidence that maternal drug use can have lasting effects, a new study finds that young schoolchildren of cocaine-using moms scored more poorly on attention tests.

ADHD patch

The pharmaceutical companies have been developing new forms of medication administration for years. First it was orally disintegrating tablets, now it is patches. The latest and greatest patch being pushed is called Daytrana. It is a patch that is used for ADHD. The pharmaceutical company is pushing the medications positives (of course), which include “duration of consistency”, reduced potential of abuse, reduced chance of toxicity and reduced chance of tampering. Tampering is what I am having a problem with. I have had a limited number of patients on Daytrana, but at least 3 or 4 of them have ‘fooled around’ with the patch. This basically included the adolescent taking off the patch. In one circumstance the child took off the patch and let another student in the class wear it!! Shire Pharmaceuticals reports this poses no threat as the patch can not be reused. You be the judge.

“Kids have no difficulty using the patch,” he added, and it has been formulated so it can’t be re-used. “That way, they can’t stick it on a buddy” when they’re horsing around, he added.

I once had a pharmaceutical reps tell me that Risperdal and Zyprexa don’t cause weight gain. LOL…

Alcohol, ADHD and Strattera

I have a hard time trusting news posted by pharmaceutical companies on their web sites. But this did catch my eye. This quote is directly from the Lilly web site.

“ADHD is present in at least one-quarter of adults with alcohol abuse or dependence. Treating ADHD in adults with co-occurring alcohol abuse can be challenging, and up until now, no data have been available to help us know how to treat these patients. Often the first course of action is to treat the alcohol problem first, then later the ADHD,” said study author Timothy E. Wilens, M.D., director of substance abuse services in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Clinics at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “While additional studies are needed, this study is encouraging because it is the first to show that ADHD can be treated safely and effectively with Strattera in patients with ADHD and very recent alcohol abuse.”

Prevalence of Alcohol Abuse Among ADHD Patients Nearly Triple That of General Population, Affecting Approximately 1 Million People.

Follow the Lilly press release with this link.

Bullying among children with both autism and ADHD

Seems as if I have run across the autistic news tonight.  This article is from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“This is the first nationally representative study of bullying
behaviors among children with autism. The majority of parents of
children with autism and ADD or ADHD were concerned about their
children’s bullying behaviors, but there is much we do not yet
understand. It is too early to label these children as bullies.” said
Guillermo Montes, Ph.D., senior researcher at Rochester, N.Y.-based
Children’s Institute. “These children may have pent up energy
that needs to be properly channeled, or they may have other underlying
behavioral or medical issues that have not been addressed.”

Pharmacology study

This is an analysis of prescription drug use from 2001 to 2006. The age range studied is from 10 to 19. Nearly 370,000 insured children were included.

        The number of adolescent girls taking drugs for Type 2 diabetes nearly tripled in just five years, while use of chronic medicines for psychotic behavior and insomnia roughly doubled among boys and girls aged 10 to 19, a study shows.
Meanwhile, adolescents’ use of drugs for depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, leveled off or dropped in the last two years, after widespread new warnings about safety concerns.