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- What is ADHD?
- Symptoms of ADHD
- Causes of ADHD
- Prevention of ADHD
- Risk factors for ADHD
- Complications of ADHD
- When to see a doctor about ADHD
- Diagnosis of ADHD
- Conventional treatment of ADHD
- Alternative/complementary treatment of ADHD
- Living with ADHD
- Caring for someone with ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurobehavioural disorder which mostly affects children, but can also affect adults.
This disorder is characterised by the symptoms of impulsiveness, very short attention span and hyperactivity. While these symptoms may occur in normal, healthy children and adults, they are displayed to an extreme level in those with ADHD to the extent that they disrupt their life in many ways.
There are three main types of ADHD according to which symptoms present the strongest in an individual:
- Mainly inattentive type - inability to pay attention to detail, listen to instructions or complete tasks
- Mainly hyperactive-impulsive type - unable to sit still, very restless and fidgety, wont wait and jumps in and interrupts others
- Combination of inattention and hyperactivity - this type is characterised by having symptoms of both the two types
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Some facts about ADHD
- Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls
- It is estimated that around 3-8% of children worldwide may have ADHD
- ADHD was previously named ADD (attention deficit disorder) but was renamed in 1994 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA)
- ADHD is part of a group of conditions, called Autistic Spectrum Disorder and children with this disorder are normally very intelligent but often do not do well at school due to their inability to focus their attention
- Children with ADHD are often either over stimulated or under stimulated or both, which can cause them to have problems with coordination and balance and make them extremely sensitive to their surroundings and external stimulus
- Children with ADHD learn things non-sequentially and often try to do several things at the same time, which means that they can become very frustrated if they cannot accomplish everything at once
- Children with ADHD would have been difficult babies that did not easily settle, who would have had problems sleeping, waking often and needing a lot of attention
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2: symptoms of ADHD > Last reviewed: 7 October 2007 || Last updated: 3 January 2009
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NOTE: Mega doses of any type of vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal supplement cannot cure illnesses and in fact can be very dangerous and produce toxic side effects and interfere with medicine you are taking. Always ensure you consult your doctor before taking any type of complementary supplements.
Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.
