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...

Metacognitive Therapy : Here is a Therapy that Just Might Help

There are a number of treatments for ADHD that can help people to focus, increase awareness, and improve performance in day to day living. These include medications, certain natural alternatives like Attend, EEG Biofeedback training, and particular eating programs. But absent from this list has been any form of clinical therapy, such as psychotherapy, as these forms of talking therapies tend to focus on improving people’s feelings or insight, rather than teaching particular skills that would improve performance or focus. 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...

Ending Guesswork In Prescribing ADHD Drug
05 May 2010

Children with ADHD who carry a specific type of dopamine receptor gene respond better to the drug methylphenidate (MPH) than those without the genotype, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Read more of the article...

DrugWatch.com is a comprehensive Web site containing information about many medications, including common prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs available worldwide. The Web site features an A-Z index of the medications, making it easy for patients to find information about specific drugs, such as Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse, and Concerta, which are commonly used to treat ADD and ADHD. 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...