I almost laughed when I saw the title of the Evidence-Based Mental Health journal article, “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with poorer academic performance.” Not a “ha, ha, that’s funny” type of laugh. More of a, “well yes, of course,” type laugh.

Now I’m not implying that this is actually any laughing matter. School is a huge part of most children’s life and having problems there means that these problems are now a huge part of their life. And it’s important to do this research along these lines. But as a former teacher and someone who has worked with children who have ADHD, I can tell you that this isn’t a surprise. Read more →

I’m never surprised at the power big pharma has over the media, especially media directed at physicians. For once, I’d like to talk back. Here’s a perfect opportunity! I’m going to talk back at an article recently posted to MedScape.com — a source of very informative, thoughtful, brainwashing, and useful information for physicians. This article is about individualizing adult ADD treatment:

To review the latest clinical thinking in this field, Medscape’s Randall F. White, MD, spoke with Richard H. Weisler, MD. Dr. Weisler, a busy clinician and researcher, is adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.

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Adult attention deficit disorder or AADD is characterized as a condition causing inattentiveness, organization problems, procrastination and difficulty completing work. It is believed that adults can see an onset of AADD later in life maybe as a carryover from childhood, but in order to receive a diagnosis you must have had symptoms as a child. The condition has differing levels of severity so treatment options vary all the way from coping skills to medication to control the symptoms. Medical intervention will come with some unwanted side effects so many patients opt for social counseling and other less invasive treatment options. Read more →

The brains of chronic pain patients fail to maintain the state of “activity equilibrium” seen in healthy patients. New research has demonstrated that a key emotional control center in the frontal lobe remains active constantly in chronic pain, while in pain-free patients it shuts down in order for other areas of the brain to function adequately. Read more →