Omega Oils - Essential Fatty Acids Valuable in the Treatment of ADHD

The studies on Essential Fatty Acid levels in Attention Deficit Disorder subjects vs. non- ADD ADHD subjects are interesting.

The ADD ADHD groups had significantly lower concentrations of key essential fatty acids than did the control groups, and about 40% of the ADD ADHD group showed these signs of EFA deficiency:

* increased thirst,
* frequent urination,
* dry skin,
* dry or brittle hair.

Low levels of Omega 6 EFAs contributed to higher incidents of illness (colds, flu, etc.), and deficits in Omega 3 EFAs contributed to problems with learning, behavior, sleep, and temper. Read more of the article...

Atypical Frontal Brain Activation in ADHD: Preschool and Elementary School Boys and Girls.

(Statistical Data Included)

Author/s: Lioba Baving
Issue: Nov, 1999

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder that significantly hampers psychosocial adaptation (e.g., Biederman et al., 1996; Tannock, 1998).

Several findings point to the involvement of a right-sided frontostriatal dysfunction in ADHD symptoms. Read more of the article...

Using MRI to Examine Brain-Behavior Relationships in Males With Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity.

Author/s: Margaret Semrud-Clikeman
Issue: April, 2000

ABSTRACT

Objective: The relationship between neuropsychological measures of inhibition and sustained attention and structural brain differences in the regions of the caudate and the frontal region was examined in males with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD).

Children with ADHD were found to have reversed asymmetry of the head of the caudate, smaller volume of the left caudate head, and smaller volume of the white matter of the right frontal lobe. Read more of the article...

Subtle Brain Circuit Abnormalities Confirmed in ADHD

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: JULY 15, 1996

Subtle structural abnormalities in the brain circuit that inhibits thoughts have been confirmed in the first comprehensive brain imaging study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Difficulty staying mentally focused is a primary symptom of ADHD, which affects about 5 percent of school age children.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of 57 boys with ADHD, aged 5-18, also revealed that their brains were more symmetrical than those of 55 age-matched controls. F. Xavier Castellanos, M.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health and colleagues report on their findings in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Read more of the article...

Review of Neuroimaging Studies of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders From the Past 10 Years.

(Statistical Data Included)

Author/s: Robert L. Hendren
Issue: July, 2000

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To review recent neuroimaging studies of serious emotional disorders in youth and identify problems and promise of neuroimaging in clinical practice.

Method: Published reports from refereed journals are briefly described, critiqued, and synthesized into a summary of the findings to date.

Results: Read more of the article...

• Childhood-onset schizophrenia shows progressive ventricular enlargement, reduction in total brain and thalamus volume, changes in temporal lobe structures, and reductions in frontal metabolism.

Premature Or Low Birthweight Babies At Significantly Increased Risk Of Hyperactivity Disorder

Premature or low birthweight babies are up to three times as likely to become hyperactive, with low attention spans, suggests research published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The Danish research team compared the birth records of 834 children with confirmed HKD with those of 20,100 children with no mental disorders. All the children were born between 1980 and 1994.

Children born at between 34 and 36 weeks were around 70% more likely to develop the disorder than children born at term. Babies at born below 34 completed weeks were almost three times as likely to develop the disorder. Read more of the article...

Source: Stanford University
Date: November 24, 1998

Science Daily — Stanford neuro-scientists have found a clear difference in brain functioning between boys who have attention deficit disorder [ADHD] and those who do not, a step that could lead to better diagnosis of the most common developmental disorder of childhood.

Follow-up studies will be required before the results of this study on a small number of boys can lead to brain-based methods of diagnosis, caution the lead researchers, Research Associate Chandan Vaidya and Associate Professor John Gabrieli of Stanford's Department of Psychology. Read more of the article...

Task-Specific Hypoactivation in Prefrontal and Temporoparietal Brain Regions During Motor Inhibition and Task Switching in Medication-Naive Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Anna B. Smith, Ph.D., Eric Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., Mick Brammer, Ph.D., Brian Toone, M.D. and Katya Rubia, Ph.D.

OBJECTIVE: A relatively small number of functional imaging studies of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have shown abnormal prefrontal and striatal brain activation during tasks of motor response inhibition.

However, the potential confound of previous medication exposure has not yet been addressed, and no functional imaging study exists to date on medication-naive children and adolescents with ADHD. Read more of the article...

Researchers see flaws in brain-imaging studies

Insight on the News, August 19, 2003
by Kelly Patricia O'Meara

A recent review by Jonathan Leo, professor of anatomy at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., and professor David Cohen of the School of Social Work at Florida International University in Miami, dispels the myth of brain imaging as a way to diagnose ADHD. And it finds that the majority of studies dating back to 1978 failed, unaccountably, to consider a major variable the use of psychotropic drugs by participants in the studies. Read more of the article...