treating adhd: recent publications

April 5, 2024Treating ADHD with medication can lower overall risk of mortality and of hospitalizations, both psychiatric and non-psychiatric, according to two new Swedish studies.1, 2 These findings highlight the importance of ADHD medication use for long-term health and longevity, underscoring the urgent need to end the stimulant shortage that has prevented U.S. patients with ADHD from consistently accessing medication since the Fall of 2022.An observational study from Sweden, published in JAMA, followed nearly 150,000 adults and adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD, tracking participants for two years following diagnosis.The researchers found that use of ADHD medication:While the authors of the study caution that these findings show correlation, not causation, the results are encouraging for patients and clinicians with reservations about ADHD medication use, especially later in life.A second Swedish study sought to investigate the effect of a variety of ADHD medications on rates of hospitalizations.

We know that ADHD symptoms respond best to a multimodal treatment plan that includes medication plus helpful interventions ranging from mindfulness meditation to exercise to brain training. These complementary supports can help curb symptoms and enhance well-being for many individuals with ADHD.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is as multifaceted as the individuals who live with it. Just as there is no one singular presentation of ADHD, there is also no singular treatment.

With dozens of different ADHD medications on the market, it’s likely one will work well for you — but it may not be the first, or second, medicine you try. On average, children try 2.75 different medications and adults try 2.56 prescriptions before finding one that works for them, according to a recent ADDitude survey of more than 11,000 readers.Adults and caregivers reported that the process of searching for the right medication — the one with highest efficacy, fewest side effects, and covered by insurance — is often frustrating, but essential. Persevering through the often confusing, time-consuming, and inconvenient process leads to better management of ADHD symptoms in the end for most.

Not available March 7? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.Black children and adults with ADHD are less likely to receive an accurate diagnosis and proper treatment due to structural racism, low socioeconomic status, and stigma, all of which can worsen the symptoms of ADHD.

Small studies suggest that an individual with trauma may be predisposed to ADHD, just as anyone with a history of trauma is predisposed to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The task of a good diagnostician is to identify a patient’s current diagnoses and treat them, focusing particularly on the most pressing and problematic symptoms. If all of those appear to be symptoms of PTSD, we treat that with a different kind of therapy called trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT).

Nobody likes taking medicine. So if a teenager doesn’t like taking medicine, I get it, one hundred percent. You can’t force it down their throats.

January 17, 2024Prescriptions for ADHD medications increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for women and for adults aged 20-39, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The most significant increases were found among prescriptions for adults aged 20-39, up 81% for non-stimulants and 30% for stimulants; and for women, up 59% for non-stimulants and 25% for stimulants.1 By contrast, researchers found a decrease or no change in rates of prescriptions during the pandemic for medications used to treat other behavioral health disorders, including anxiety, depression, and opioid use disorders.The researchers, associated with the U.S.

In people who have comorbid ADHD and bipolar disorder, treating both conditions leads to the best outcome, but deciding whether to use stimulants to treat ADHD in people with bipolar can be complicated. The prevailing concern has been that stimulants can de-stabilize a person with bipolar and, while this is a valid concern for people who are not on optimized mood stabilizers, recent research suggests the risk may be low for bipolar patients whose symptoms are well-managed with medication.The study that’s frequently cited to justify the use of stimulants in stabilized bipolar disorder is the Swedish National Registry, which involved 2,300 patients over the course of 8 years.1 These were patients who were admitted into the hospital for mania or a change in their mood-stabilizing medication.

Donna Provencher of Texas was shocked when her eight-year-old son, who was diagnosed with ADHD, a clinical anxiety disorder, and an adjustment disorder, recently asked her: “Do you remember when that school shooter came to my school, like at Uvalde? We had to get on the ground. They told us we were in danger and that someone could come in the room and hurt us.”Provencher was puzzled. There hadn’t been a shooting at her son’s school.

July 17, 2023Nearly half of people with cannabis use disorders also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)1, according to a new systematic review that also found almost a quarter (23%) of people with substance use disorders have ADHD.2Researchers found a positive relationship between severity of ADHD symptoms and likelihood of continued, increasing cannabis use and development of cannabis use disorder (CUD). They uncovered a host of structural changes that occur in the brains of young people who regularly use cannabis, however they also found a prevailing belief among many people with ADHD that the risk associated with cannabis use is low, and the benefits are high, particularly for the improvement of sleep disturbance, social anxiety, and executive functioning.

The Sun newspaper boldly proclaimed it on March 4: “Prince Harry diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder by trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté in tell-all interview.”“Reading the book, I diagnose you with ADD,” Maté said, referring to the Duke of Sussex’s autobiography, Spare.

The lingering stimulant medication shortage has prompted some individuals with ADHD to seek alternatives to first-line treatments that are no longer readily available. The shortage has also sparked widespread marketing by companies selling alternative “treatments” to ease the symptoms of ADHD.Here, we examine the effectiveness of three of these:Lion’s mane is a mushroom marketed as delivering “brain-boosting benefits.” As with many proposed alternative treatments, it claims to treat many symptoms and conditions, including anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis.

In one of my earliest memories, I’m at a restaurant with my parents talking excitedly about something, only to be sharply shushed. “Listen!” my parents say to me. “Do you hear anyone else talking as loudly as you are?”It was the first time I learned that I was expected to behave like everyone else, and that I was falling short at that.

May 3, 2022The first nonstimulant ADHD medication for adults introduced in two decades, Qelbree was approved last week by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients aged 18 to 65.

so ADHD,” people say. “I just can’t get it together today.”“Oooh, look, a squirrel!”“Doesn’t everyone have ADHD these days?”You’ve probably heard flip comments like these. I have.

Not available October 20? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.ADHD is a chronic, life-long condition, one that impacts individuals through school years and into their adult lives, even into retirement.

Not available October 20? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.ADHD is a chronic, life-long condition, one that impacts individuals through school years and into their adult lives, even into retirement.

May 21, 2020

Not available May 19? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.