Researchers at Cardiff University have recently published a study in The Lancet claiming that they have found the first direct evidence of a genetic link, or genetic cause for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, teens, and adults. The research team also reports that this is evidence for ADHD being a neurological disorder, such as autism, and not due to environmental factors such as bad parenting.

However, their research study was immediately countered in Britain by those who insist that ADHD is due primarily to environmental factors, primarily stress and the release of cortisol in young children. Read more of the article...

For the last eight or so months I have been helping my father, Dr. Doug Cowan, by editing and publishing this ADHD newsletter. Recently, national news highlighted an article regarding pesticides and a possible link to ADHD in children. I try to be purposeful in feeding my child healthy foods, and so I was very interested in the study, and I think that you might be as well.

Here is the summary: In a study of 119 children with ADHD it was found that the children with ADHD had higher levels of urinary dialkyl phosphate concentrations than did a control of 1139 children without ADHD previously studied (2004). The study concluded that the findings supported the idea that organophosphate exposure, even at levels that are commonly found in children, may contribute to ADHD. Read more of the article...

Parents please be advised that the rate of peanut allergies as tripled since 1997, according to a recent study. The study reported that about 1.5% of children have peanut allergies, and about 2% have allergies to either peanuts or other kinds of nuts. So that’s one out of fifty kids are allergic to some kind of nut (walnuts, cashews, or peanuts, etc.), and about one child in every seventy-five has a specific peanut allergy. Read more of the article...

I Think Everybody is Really Good at Something

Summary: As I was reading an economics blog I came across a link to this article that I would highly recommend to all of you who are parents or teachers of ADHD students, Aspergers students, or others with “learning differences.” Even though the article is about an investment strategist, I really think this article offers a more valuable commodity: HOPE.

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/wall-street-excerpt-...

I have written a lot in the past about those with ADHD being easily distracted or bored with tasks or subjects that just do not interest them, but that if they find something that is interesting to them “the house could burn down around them and they wouldn’t notice” because they can get so focused on the task or subject. Then, typically I have focused on ways to help the ADHD student or adult get the boring or uninteresting task done: classroom interventions, organizational skills, motivation, our eating program, Attend and Memorin, medications, and so on.

But today it occurred to me that I don’t often write about the potential gift of being able to focus on the tasks that one finds interesting “even if the house is burning down around you.” Read more of the article...

The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community. Mind, Disrupted: How toxic chemicals may affect how we think and who we are examines 61 toxic chemicals present in project participants in the context of rising rates of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other learning and developmental disabilities. Read more of the article...

By guest author: Anthony Kane, M.D.
http://ccparenting.com/parenting
http://addadhdadvances.com

If your child has Oppositional Defiant Disorder, I am sure you have often felt that things could not get much worse. Well, in case you ever felt that way, I am going to put things in perspective for you. We are now going to discuss, Conduct Disorder.

Conduct Disorder is the most serious of all disruptive behavior disorders in children and teens. This difficult condition affects between 1 to 4 percent of children and adolescents, is more common in boys than in girls, and occurs more frequently in cities than in rural areas. Some children may show signs of conduct disorder early childhood, often during the preschool years. Read more of the article...

Brain Warm-up Exercises: Summer is the Ideal Time to Begin

We have written about exercises to warm-up your ADHD child’s brain in the recent past and we want to encourage you to use the summer vacation months to learn these routines so that they will be “routine” by the time school begins again in the fall. Like athletes in the off-season, our children with learning challenges need to use their time wisely in the summer to prepare for the fall.

The exercises that we recommend have been gathered from a variety of sources, including my friends in education and baseball, my years in private practice, and from the book Brain Gym. They are simple to do, but like any exercise routine you actually have to do them, not just think about doing them. Read more of the article...

CHARACTERISTICS OF HEALTHY FAMILIES AND STRONG MARRIAGES

There have been a number of studies done that have looked for the common traits or characteristics of “healthy families,” and we believe that putting your efforts into making these traits characteristic of your marriage and family will help to strengthen your ADHD marriage. Here are some of the traits that have been consistently identified in these studies:

Healthy families and strong marriages are characterized by supportive, encouraging, and honest communication. They practice the ancient advice of St. Paul in Ephesians 4:29, which says, “Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful, for building others up, according to their needs, so it may benefit those who listen.” Read more of the article...

When the Detroit Tigers placed pitcher Dontrelle Willis on the disabled list last Sunday (3/29/2009) with the diagnosis of "anxiety disorder" it was very interesting to me for two reasons:

First, because my nephew Casey Fien was trying to make the Tigers as a pitcher and we had just recently returned from a trip to spring training to follow the Tigers and watch Casey pitch (Casey was just assigned to AAA Toledo a few days ago), and we have started following the Tigers very closely; and

Secondly, because of the reports that although Willis had not reported any symptoms of an anxiety disorder, he was diagnosed solely through the results of a blood test, according to news reports. Read more of the article...