Spring Training has started for professional baseball, and college baseball teams have been at work since January. It is time to get in shape for the 2008 baseball season.

I love baseball - always have. I was an "All Conference" pitcher and Captain of my college baseball team. I coached at a University for four years and have coached at the High School level for four more. I was a "bird-dog" scout for the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers for a few years, and I have coached Little League teams forever. My nephew is a pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization, and a legitimate prospect. Really, I love baseball.

But there is a strange and perhaps disappointing story about ADHD and MLB that has come out since the release of the Mitchell Report. Read more of the article...

As parents of ADHD kids know all too well, children with ADHD often have difficulty handling stress, or stressful situations. Now, a team of researchers in Australia may have found a biological reason why this is so. Read more of the article...

For those of you parents, especially those who have children taking ADHD medications, we want you to be aware of the following information.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) just startled everyone by reporting on a study that estimates that each year cough and cold medicines send about 7,091 children to hospital emergency rooms, which accounts for 5.7% of all emergency room visits for medications in this age group. Read more of the article...

Alternative ADHD Treatments that Work

Article includes VIDEO on EEG Biofeedback

There are a LOT of alternative treatments for sale out there for ADHD. Some are good, some are fair, and some are bad.

Anything will help somebody out there. There are 2 million kids with ADHD, so a treatment that worked for as few as 01% of the kids who tried it could still line up 20,000 kids on TV to say what a remarkable treatment it was. But if you are smart, you will want to pursue treatment options that have better than just a one percent chance of helping your child, or yourself. Read more of the article...

TEACHING PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES TO KIDS

I know that the "Stop and Think" movement in ADHD treatment has lost some momentum lately, but I still believe that the basic strategies and techniques are still worth teaching your children. After all, problem solving skills are important for everyone to have, whether ADHD or not. In fact, many marriage researchers agree that if married couples had basic problem solving skills better mastered that many marriages would be happier and many divorces averted. So problem solving skills are important for everyone.

Its easy to teach your child this five-step problem solving strategy. My favorite version of this simple skill goes something like this. . . Read more of the article...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the problem?"
2. Think up three possible
   

Does Ritalin Use Alter a Child’s Brain?

This was a common headline in the media regarding another of the really interesting studies published this summer. The actual name of the study was:

“Methylphenidate Administration to Juvenile Rats Alters Brain Areas Involved in Cognition, Motivated Behaviors, Appetite, and Stress.”

The study attempted to answer questions regarding the consequences of using Ritalin (Methylphenidate) long-term in children. The researcher’s had concerns that no one really knows what long-term use of Ritalin does to a child’s brain, so they studied the impact of Ritalin use on 16 areas of the brains of young male rats, hoping to find clues. Read more of the article...

Several important and controversial studies have been published in the past few months on ADHD, making the summer research reading all the more fun. Here are summaries of two summer studies for you:

August, 2007

Depressed Dopamine Activity in Caudate and Preliminary Evidence of Limbic Involvement in Adults With ADHD

Some very impressive researchers were involved in this study on ADHD, dopamine, and substance abuse. The researchers included Dr. Nora Volkow who is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Dr. James Swanson from U.C. Irvine. I’ve been a fan of Dr. Swanson’s work on ADHD treatment for many years.

This study concludes that ADHD is a real disease (ed. note: and not just something made up by drug companies to sell meds). ADHD is biologically caused and that dopamine production in individuals with ADHD is decreased, and that Ritalin increases dopamine production. Read more of the article...

ADHD Prescription Drug Use Up in Teens

More teenagers are taking prescriptions medications for ADHD, and for other medical conditions, than ever before, and the sharpest increase is with teenage girls. This is according to a five year study of prescription drug claims by Medco Health Solutions, a company that manages various pharmacy benefits programs.

The increase in prescription drug use may be seen as either good news or bad news. Read more of the article...

ADHD and Caffeine: a Treatment Option?

For many years our ADHD diet has promoted the use of moderate amounts of caffeine in the morning, along with a protein drink supplement and the nutraceutical medicine Attend, as a part of the program. Parents have reported success using the program, both with their ADHD children as well as in their own lives.

Caffeine is a mild CNS stimulant that can be used with ADHD children, teens, and adults, if used purposefully and in moderation. All stimulants are vaso-dilators, meaning that they allow the blood vessels to increase in size and increase the blood flow in the brain. One of the primary physiological problems causing ADHD seems to be a lack of blood flow to certain regions of the brain, and stimulants help to improve blood flow and reduce symptoms caused by this problem, at least temporarily. Read more of the article...