Running head: ADHD Final Paper

Joe Kehoe

Nutrition

Final Paper

ADHD

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder is a condition that is

probably one of the, if not the most common medical disorder. ADHD is

considered a neurodevelopmental and mental brain disorder by the National

Institute of Mental Health (nimh.nih.gov). While ADHD has many symptoms, the

most notable is the deficit of attention, or the inability to pay attention, and hyper

activity. These are the symptoms of which ADHD is most associated, but there are

many more symptoms. While many people see it as children who are just too

hyper, or misbehaved, the reality is much more than that.

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Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder is much more common than most

people think. According to a report from the Center for Disease Control and

Prevention up to eleven percent of people are diagnosed with ADHD

(www.additudemag.com). To put that in perspective, only nine point three

percent of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes (www.diabetes.org)

and it is estimated that autism, which has been becoming more and more

common is only one in sixty eight people (www.cdc.gov), or to put it in other

words ADHD is seven times more common. According to the CDC’s, like autism,

study boys are also three times more likely to be diagnosed then girls. This means

that the number jumps up to 13.2 percent of boys are diagnosed with ADHD.

As I stated before, Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder has many, many

symptoms. The ones people most associate with the disorder are the inability to

pay attention and being hyper active, but in reality it is much more than that.

While those are the two most common symptoms, ADHD can also include

impulsiveness (webmd.com), and the multitude of other symptoms that can come
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from those three. For example, inattention leads too many other things, such as

being disorganized, forgetting about daily activities, and getting easily distracted.

This host of other symptoms can often lead to ADHD being misdiagnosed. As I

stated before it can often be overlooked just as a child not paying attention or just

being to hyper. The problem with this is that if the child is viewed this way,

particularly by the parent, then the child never gets diagnosed, and thus they

never get the help that they need.

Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder is just that, a disorder, and like all

(with some exception) disorders it cannot be cured only treated. This is where its

frequency can be put to an advantage. Because it is so common there are a lot of

different and very effective treatments for it. Both medication and therapy are

used in the treatment of ADHD (nimh.nih.gov). Behavioral therapy is a therapy

that is used to change one’s behavior and can be tremendously effective with

ADHD patients. By monitoring one’s own behavior one can learn what not to do.

Sometimes these children can have decreased social skills compared to their
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peers, and therapy can help teach them these skills. Another type of therapy that

can help is family therapy. By helping family members and spouses deal with

people with ADHD it can create a more supportive environment which is helpful

for any disorder.

Like many other disorders there is not one know cause for Attention Deficit

Hyper Activity Disorder. There are however many factors that can lead to an

increased probability for someone to be born with ADHD. There are both

environmental and genetic factors which are known to increase to chance of

ADHD (nimh.nih.gov). Like all things medical there is a genetic factor to ADHD and

children in seventy five percent of cases, the parent also has it. Children with

siblings that have ADHD are also four times more likely to have ADHD themselves.

There are also a number of non-environmental factors that may lead to a child

developing ADHD. Some of these include drug use during pregnancy and any birth

complications.
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Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder is an extremely common disorder.

Though even though how common it is still often just overlooked as child

misbehaving. This is a terrible misconception that must be stopped as soon as

possible as the numbers suggest that it is becoming more and more common.
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Sources:

ADHD and ADD Symptoms: Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity.

(n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/add-

adhd/guide/adhd-symptoms

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2016,

from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-

hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml

Data & Statistics. (2015). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
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Just How Common Is ADHD? (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2016, from

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/688.html

Statistics About Diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/