Can’t seem to quit smoking?
It really could be your ADD/ADHD

Maybe you’ve been using your ADD/ADHD symptoms as an excuse for your inability to kick the habit – the tobacco habit.

If you have been, you may be surprised (or heartened) to know that it’s just not an “excuse” but seems to be a fact: having ADD/ADHD does make it more difficult to quit smoking. (Notice, I said “more difficult” not “impossible”!)

But here’s the catch – your ability to quit smoking may be related to the specific symptoms you exhibit.

A recent study, conducted by Dr. Lirio Covey, a professor of clinical psychology (in psychiatry) at Columbia University medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and colleagues, points in this direction at least.

Individuals displaying hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms were less likely to stop smoking than those with the symptoms of inattention alone. These are the results at the conclusion of the eight-week study.

This study is one of the few, Dr. Covey told the Science News Daily web site, that has actually studied the effect of ADD/ADHD on attempts at smoking cessation.

But more than that, it’s even rarer because the study actually broke the disorder down into specific symptoms and analyzed each symptom in regards to the habit,

The trial examined 583 adults – of which 43 were found to have “clinically significant” symptoms of ADD/ADHD. All were treated with the Zyban® (which contains the medication buproprion), the nicotine patch and cessation counseling.

When compared, those without ADD/ADHD symptoms possessed higher rates of smoking cessation than those who had symptoms. But once the researchers dug deeper – and analyzed specific symptoms – they discovered smoking quit rates seemed to be linked to specific symptoms of the disorder.

Those individuals who only had the ADD/ADHD symptoms of inattention were just as likely to quit smoking as those with no symptoms—54 percent to 55 percent.

But when they examined those who possessed hyperactivity and impulsivity (regardless of whether they had problems with inattention), the statistics changed significantly. This group of individuals was more likely not to succeed at their attempt to kick the habit.

This latest research falls in line with earlier thoughts that tobacco use is a “self-medicating” treatment for many individuals with ADD/ADHD. It has long been thought that when a person smokes the neurotransmitter dopamine is released which specifically assists in the processing of attention and impulse control. To read a summary of the article, visit here.

Please share your thoughts and feelings below.

Best,
Dr. Kenny

P.S. For help in kicking the habit, I recommend this stop smoking program. This program has helped hundreds of people to stop smoking quick and easy. I believe it can help you - even if you have ADD/ADHD! To learn more, visit: Stop Smoking Fast and Easy.

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Just-Released Study Finds No Genetic Damage From Taking ADD/ADHD medication

Contrary to some earlier findings, the results of a new study reveal that the most common medications for ADD/ADHD – Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta – do not cause genetic damage in children.

The research, conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University, studied 63 children in all, ages ranging from six to 12 years of age. Each met the full criteria diagnosis for ADHD. None, however, had previously been treated with prescription stimulant medications.

The students were divided into two groups. Some of the students were treated with Ritalin LA or Concerta; the other group took Adderall. Each child’s blood was sampled prior to the administering of the medication and again after three months of use. Forty-seven students actually completed the study.

The researchers failed to discover any significant genetic differences between these two groups. Each, moreover, responded well to the medication they were given.

The co-author of the study Kristine L. Witt cautioned that while this is good news for parents, the study didn’t necessarily provide “final proof” that stimulants which treated ADHD don’t do genetic damage.

The results, though, certainly bolster the “growing body of evidence that therapeutic levels of these medications do not damage chromosomes,” according to Dr. Donald R. Mattison.

The study was published on the online version of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP). The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) funded the study. Both of these organizations are part of the National Institutes of Health. The summary of the study can be read here.

This study helps to establish one aspect of the safety of medication for ADD and ADHD.
The best approach to safety for ADHD medication, is to know as much as possible. You can learn all that you need to know with my free report, and ADHD Medication Mastery Course, by visiting here: ADHD Medication Mastery.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

p.s. please leave your comments below

Technorati Tags: Concerta, Adderall, Ritalin LA, ADHD, Medication, NIMH

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This is a fantastic video of how powerful one can be when validating others. This video is extremely well done, and has a very powerful message.

Often with ADD/ADHD, people do not feel recognized and acknowledged. More often than not, they feel that people do NOT see who they are. They so often hear about how they’re not reaching their potential, ‘just try harder’, and other comments which impact on their self esteem.

Enjoy this video, and think about how you could use the principle of recognizing and validating others to help the lives of people with ADD/ADHD, and the lives of everyone else too.

And if you are an adult with ADD/ADHD, and you don’t have someone around that you can convince to start ‘validating’ you, then just try validating others for 2 days as an experiment… See what’ll happen.

Please share your comments below:

Best,
Dr. Kenny

p.s. to join an online community where you can get validated and supported, visit: ADHD World and sign up today

[tags] ADHD, ADD, Self Esteem [/tags']

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New imaging technology shows brains of those with ADD/ADHD may differ

Could it be that in addition to the differences in how the brains of those with ADD/ADHD act, there may be also a fundamental difference in the shape of this organ as well?

This research, just published in the online edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, shows actual differences in the shapes of boys’ brains with ADD/ADHD. Why is this even important? This knowledge may eventually help to locate the specific neural circuits that are involved in this disorder.

Staff from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins Center for Imaging Science used a new tool in this project. It’s called a large deformation diffeomorphic mapping (LDDMM) tool, providing them with a very accurate shape of the basal ganglia. Previous research only looked at the volume of the basal ganglia, but was not able to actually determine shape differences. This area of the brain is located deep within either hemisphere of the organ.

Not only did the boys with ADD/ADHD have a significant difference in the shape, but also noticeably smaller volume of the basal ganglia as well. Curiously, girls’ brains revealed no differences. This evidence suggests, the researchers explain, that sex influences the way ADD/ADHD is expressed.

The study viewed the brains of 47 children with ADHD as well as a control group of 66 youngsters, all between the ages of 8 to 13 years old.

These results are exciting because they are building on the growing research which shows that the shape of some parts of the brain may play a factor in this disorder. In fact, the research involves the first reported shape abnormality of the basal ganglia.

Researchers explain that this is only the beginning of the research into this area. The next phase, they explain, is to examine whether these differences in the brain can actually predict certain behavioral symptoms of ADD/ADHD. Possible future studies could include examining the structural features that are associated with compensating and responding to therapy.

To read the entire article click here.

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Brain Imaging, Basal Ganglia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Brain

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From the years 2002 to 2005, use of prescription medications for ADD/ADHD rose by 40 percent according to a recent study.

A recent study looked at the growing use of prescription drugs among children with a variety of chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension, not just ADD/ADHD.

The study was conducted by researchers of Express Scripts, Inc., the Pediatric Research Institute at St. Louis University and the Kansas Health Institute in Topeka, Kansas. Express Scripts is a firm which manages pharmacy benefits.

Of the increase in ADD/ADHD related prescription drugs, the researchers report, use in girls rose nearly twice as fast as it did in boys, totaling a 63 percent increase from 2002 to 2005. In contrast the increase in boys rose only 33 percent.

Researchers also reported that more young adults between the ages of 15 and 19 years of age had been prescribed a medication for ADD/ADHD. This is normally, the report said, an age where many children are taken off these medications.

Part of the reason for the increase, professionals speculate, may be related to the fact that the government now provides incentives for drug companies to study the effects of medications in adolescents. Specifically, the incentive is a patent extension of six-months on any product which included these studies.

Prior to this, companies were hesitant to perform research involving children because the market potential did not warrant it.

The study also discovered that the use of prescription medications for type-2 diabetes, the disease most commonly found in older, overweight adults, had risen in teens some 15 percent from 2002 to 2005.

The report was published recently in the Journal of American Pediatrics Association. To view the entire article on this report visit here.

Dr. Kenny

p.s. to learn more about the proper use of medication in ADD and ADHD, please visit: ADHD Medication Treatment

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Medication, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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It’s a well-established fact in the medical community that treating ADD/ADHD in teens is more difficult when they’re also being treated for substance abuse.

That’s why the results of a recent study are encouraging. It shows that the prescription drug, Strattera®, is particularly effective in helping those teens who not only have ADD/ADHD but who are also being treated for some type of drug problem.

About 40 percent of the teenagers who are being treated for drug abuse also have some degree of ADD/ADHD, according to Dr. Christian Thurstone, of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority, University of Colorado.

Strattera® is most effective, in fact when it’s used in combination with cognitive behavior therapy, he says. These findings were recently presented to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) 55th annual meeting held Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 in Chicago.

Clinicians, however, seem reluctant to actually provide these individuals with integrated treatment, Dr. Thurstone continued. While not actually sure why, he suggests that the lack of research in this area may be one reason for this. In fact, only one drug trial involving teens with ADD/ADHD and substance abuse has shown a positive response. That particular study revealed that the use of Cylert® for adolescents with both of these problems appeared to help.

The trial took 70 teens, aged 13 through 19, who not only were diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, but had at least one non-tobacco substance use disorder as well. These adolescents were divided into two groups, one receive Strattera®, the other receiving a placebo. All of the participants received cognitive behavior therapy.

Results revealed that the ADD/ADHD symptoms decreased significantly for those who were administered the Strattera®. But the real surprise came when the group receiving the placebo as well as the cognitive behavioral therapy showed improvement similar to findings from several other trials studying adults with ADD/ADHD and substance abuse.

Dr. Thurstone said that a more extensive study may be needed to detail the difference between the results received from Strattera and those of the placebo.

To view the entire article, you can click here.

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: Strattera, ADHD, Substance Abuse, ADD

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Divorce is More Likely For Parents of ADD/ADHD Children:

If any parent of an child with ADD/ADHD needed any more proof that this disorder strains the entire family, you need only read the latest study on the subject in the October issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Thought to be the first study of its kind, the research revealed that parents who have a child with ADD/ADHD are twice as likely to be divorced by the time the child is 8 years old compared to those marriages in which the child doesn’t have the disorder.

The study discovered that those 23 percent of parents whose children had ADD/ADHD were likely to divorce compared to only 13 percent of couples whose children didn’t have the disorder.

Not only that, but the investigators also discovered that among the divorced couples, those whose families included children with ADD/ADHD experienced divorce sooner than those families who didn’t.

The lead author of the study, Brian T. Wymbs, who is completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pa., believes that this is the first study to examine “both parent and child factors individually” in regard to the rate and timing of divorce.

“Moreover, this is the only study,” he continued, “to demonstrate that the severity of the child’s disruptive behavior, specifically those with ODD [oppositional defiant disorder] or CD [conduct disorder], increases the risk of divorce.”

The study also revealed that among divorced couples who had children with ADD/ADHD, other characteristics appear to play a role in the decision to divorce. Among them include the age of the children when he was diagnosed, the ethnicity of the parents, as well as the severity of any disorders that have been diagnosed along with the ADD/ADHD, like ODD or CD.

Two additional factors also seem to influence the risk and rate of divorce: the level of education of the parents and the father’s “antisocial behavior”, such as any type of criminal background.

In fact, according to the study, this final factor is may also be the largest one. Another cause which may contribute to the high divorce rate was when the mother had a substantially less education than the fathers.

To view the entire article and read more on this study click here.

To learn about a comprehensive resource which can help you to get your child or teen’s ADD and ADHD on track, visit: ADHD Success.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: Divorce, ADD, ADHD, Parenting

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Adderall XR is a long acting version of Adderall which lasts up to 12 hours. It is a very effective medicine for the treatment of ADD/ADHD, and in fact is the most prescribed medicine in the US. Adderall XR has two beads in the capsule - an immediate release bead, and a delayed release bead - which ensures that the medicine lasts for a full 12 hours, while only taking the capsule only once per day.

As our awareness of adult ADHD grows, it is clear that many adults need longer acting coverage of their symptoms than just 12 hours. While many youth can finish their important tasks with 12 hours of medication coverage, many adults still have tasks that need getting done for up to 16 hours per day.

Shire, the makers of Adderall XR, were planning to create a 3 bead Adderall medicine. The idea would be to have an immediate release bead (for immediate symptom control), an intermediate long acting bead - which would release approximately 4-6 hours after ingestion (for mid day symptom control), and then a third long acting bead - which would help to provide up to 16 hours of symptom control.

It has been reported that Shire has decided not to pursue the development of this new medicine.
This relates to the fact that its new medication - Vyvanse - has demonstrated efficacy going beyond 13 hours. Perhaps further research will show that it actually goes longer than 13 hours.

I would guess that most of you would NOT feel a sense of loss, because I suspect that you didn’t know that the ‘triple bead’ adderall was a possibility.

To keep up to date with medication developments like this, consider joining my newsletter list at The ADHD Doctor , and learning more about medication here: Medication Mastery.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: Adderall, Adderall XR, Vyvanse, ADD, ADHD, Medication

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