One Size Fits All? — ADD Tip o the Day 397

This is following up on tatum channing’s rant about ADD or ADHD medications (adderal, vyvanse, amphetamines, ritalin) .  Ann made a very pertinent comment:

Ann • We must not forget that there are different types of A.D.H.D. Factors that can be more dominant in one type of A.D.H.D. as apposed to another form of the condition. Hence the importance in monitoring the medication. One type of the medication might not suit one individual, but could suit another person.

Doug Puryear •

ann-
Excellent comment.  ADD and ADHD are  like a Chinese menu; there is a long list of symptoms and each one of us has our own peculiar combination (tho most of us have most of them).
Similarly, due to variance of our genes (and gene expression- how much a particular gene is turned on or off), we are each chemically/genetically pretty unique. so one size will not fit all and there can be occasional pretty strange effects.

The same goes for strategies; we all can benefit from them, but different ones work for different people. 

It looks like God designed us each to be unique, probably so He wouldn’t get bored?

thank you for commenting.
doug

everyone needs to find their own place

Unrestrained — ADD Tip o the Day 396

Has anyone noticed that all of my recent posts are too long?

Not this one.

doug

spouting off?

“ADHD Meds Are Like Coke or Crystal Meth” — ADD Tip o the Day 395

This is the title of an article by Channing Tatum (should I know who that is? – ok, i just googled him, interesting) on medicines for ADD or ADHD.

Like many bizarre or erroneous ideas, there is a grain of truth – ritalin and the other stimulants (and some anti-depressants) work on the same neurochemicals -norepineprine and dopamine. There is some difference in the chemical structure and ritalin does not have its effect as fast, thus minimizing any “high” if used properly.

Mr. Tatum describes his eventual bad experience with ADD medication.  He then generalizes to say that this is what the meds do, as though everyone would have a similar experience.

Was it just him?  Each person is different, and can have different reactions to medication, sometimes quite strange reactions.

Was it the medication?

Sounds like it probably was, but could it have been something else? Or was he taking something else that interacted with the ADD medication.  Possibilities.

I am reminded of a patient who stopped taking her vitamins because she gained weight while on them.  So she assumed the weight gain was due to the vitamins.  Of course, she didn’t stop to consider what she was eating.

These medicines are not for everyone, but have done wonders for many.

channing’s comments clik

bryan’s comments on the article clik

doug

have just gone over 22000 hits – Thank You!! and for your wonderful comments.

Science? — ADD Tip o the Day 394

I am pro science, but today let’s look at some of the problems with science.

1. Some of the studies are not well done, and some  are actually faked – one glaring example is the English doctor who faked data linking autism and vaccines – he has since lost his license for this; he is responsible for a number of child deaths because of his “work”.  The good aspect is that articles in respectable journals are peer reviewed before being published or rejected and so there is some control.  Part of the philosophy of science is that a finding is not accepted as valid until it has been replicated by several independent researchers.

2.  Some scientists confuse cause and effect – just because two phenomena – the price of eggs in china and the rate of obesity in the US – are correlated, they both keep going up – does not necessarily mean that they are related or that one causes the other.  People who take naps have a lower mortality rate, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that naps prevent death; it seems more likely that type A personalities both die sooner and don’t stop to take naps.

3. Lack of proof does not equal proof of lack – ie just because a treatment has not been proven to work does not mean that it doesn’t work.  There is a big move for “evidence based medicine”, which i believe has been carried too far. Still, i would generally prefer a treatment that has been shown to work to one that hasn’t.

4. Science is not God, but some scientists act as though it is; as though nothing else matters or is true.  Parenthetically, some scientists are on a fad of proving that God does not exist.  The best selling book I looked at proved that the Bible has fallacies and contradictions, and then the author leaped to contending that therefore he had proven the non existence of God.  How can an intelligent person commit such a logical fallacy? The existence of God cannot be proven or disproved; a belief either way is an act of faith.

5. Some scientists gather objective data and then leap to subjective conclusions.  One article studied the progress of patients with schizophrenia over a short time, which was of value, and then titled their paper “Schizophrenia has a poor prognosis”.  When i objected, the authors responded that they were sorry that I didn’t like their findings. I had no problem with their findings but with their illogical leap to a questionable interpretation.

6. Some data is subjective but is treated as though it is fact.  In one study I rated patients’ symptoms on a 10 point scale _ “Well, he seems a little better, maybe a six, but he’s still not sleeping very well, so maybe an 8; oh heck, let’s call it 6.5. “  and then the results were reported as an average of all the patients of 6.785.  Again, the study was of value, but that kind of reporting was ridiculous.

7. On the net you can probably find some irate guy who rants that he took ritalin (methylphenidate) and his nose turned green and one of his ears fell off. His errors are overgeneralizing – he implies that this will happen to anyone who takes ritalin – and the cause and effect error – he assumes that the ritalin caused this.

Well, there’s more, but this is already too long.  But then there is Bush, who totally rejects science – the arrogance of ignorance.  Let’s try to use common sense and logic, weak though they may be.  I recommend paying attention to the science, but with a grain of skepticism.

doug

on science and faith clik  

And God created the heavens and the earth.

The French Way — ADD Tip o the Day 393

Below is my entry into the fray provoked by an article ‘Why French Children Don’t Have ADHD’, which discussed child rearing methods and the benefits of spanking, among other things.  Lots of interesting comments.

1. I don’t know the best way to raise kids, apparently some others do yet they’re not in agreement. It probably partly depends on the particular kid and the particular parent.
2. I don’t think spanking is a good idea, ( i was spanked a lot, and also spanked my kids) but I’m not sure it is particularly harmful either if done “reasonably” , tho could be.  It certainly didn’t increase my respect for the spankers; in fact, quite the opposite.
3. It seems to me that the medications are more to help the kid focus than to ‘control’ them, and then the behavior will improve, although they also seem to have at least some direct effect on the hyperactivity.
4. I have spent some time in france; love it but can’t say that i know much about the french or how they raise their kids or the incidence of ADD/ADHD. would guess there are a lot of different parenting approaches since there are a lot of different parents.
5.Research shows that the brain in ADD/ADHD is different, from early on. Possibly this is the result of  the raising, but it’s doubtful.
6. Seems to me that a lot of people forget to say “seems to me” and that even if you hold an opinion very strongly, that does not make it a fact.
best wishes to all of us who struggle with these issues.
doug 

ps  i am trying to connect with anonymous who has a son in medical school, hope you will contact me

ps 2 i am very grateful to you who comment on this blog.  don’t be shy!!

the child is french.    for the fray  clik

Singing It to Learn — ADD Tip o the Day 392

Abhi had a great study tip; he memorized the fat soluble amino acids by singing them.

I remembered that I learned the alphabet in the same way.

I am geographically challenged.  I want to know the geography of New Mexico.  There’s a group of towns running along the southern border, abutting  Mexico on the west and Texas on the east.  So I turned to Fiddler on the Roof.  Can you sing along with me?:

If I were  a rich man                                                                            rodeo       columbus

yada dada              dada            dada di                                              white’s city            loving          and jal

all day long        I would bidi bidi bong                                         mesilla                anthony

if i were a          wealthy man.                                                           st teresa             sunland park

amazing, this comes ou tperfectly on the screen until i publish it, then it gets all messed up.  Arghhhh!!!!  computers!!!  anyway, i hope you get the idea.

                                                                                         

Is there no punctuation sign for both” : ” and “?” ? (That doesn’t look right either.)

There must be a way to put an audio on here but I don’t know it.  And bet it would cost money.

Anyway, this singing is a good learning tool.

doug

learning from jenna   clik

there is a big section on studying and learning in Your Life Can Be Better  clik   for amazon

or other e book forms  clik

new mexico

Errors in Thinking — ADD Tip o the Day 391

• from a great post from  jeff , on common errors in thinking.  not really related to ADD, but do you think that we are more prone to them???

• anyways, they sure can make ADD worse.

• (and how can you controll these helpful little squares that keep popping up whether you want them or not. would go on a post about irritation.)

• Making a mountain out of a molehill – For example, if you trip while walking up the stairs, you may feel like an idiot. Truth is, tripping up the stairs is fairly human, and although your friends may have chuckled at it, they won’t remember it in 5 minutes.

• All-or-nothing – If you make a suggestion to management, you may think that they will either approve of it or disprove of it. You may not be considering that management might like the “guts” of the suggestion, but just want to do something a little differently to better everyone involved.

• Predicting the future – With a bunch of lay-offs at work, you may be thinking you’re next. Honestly, you most likely have no way of knowing if you’re next or not. And chances are, you probably won’t be affected.

• Mind-reading – If someone cuts in front of you in the line at the store, you may think that they are a jerk, or that they don’t like you for some reason. Instead, it could be that the other person honestly didn’t see you, or just genuinely thought that they were in the lineup first.

• Emotional reasoning – If you start feeling anxious, you might reason that something bad is about to happen… or else you wouldn’t be anxious. Instead, you might be feeling anxious simply because you were startled a few moments ago.

• Overgeneralizing – if you walk into a clothing store and the sales representative seems a bit snobbish, you may generalize that all of the sales representatives at that store are snobbish.

• Labelling – You may label yourself as “useless” because you are not skilled in a particular area.

• Demanding – You may believe that people must treat others with respect, alway be kind, and should say “Hello” to everyone they know whenever they walk past them.

• Mental filtering / Disqualifying the positive - If you believe that you are not good at what you do, you may focus on all the mistakes you make, filter out any positive comments you receive, and take any negative comments straight to heart.

• Low frustration tolerance – You may decide not to do something simply because it looks too hard. Maybe it’s applying on competitions to get a better job, or maybe it’s doing some spring cleaning. It seems like too much, but once you get started you find out it’s not that hard after all.

• Personalizing – If you think someone is ignoring your phone calls, you might be taking things too personally. Instead, they may be too busy to answer/return phone calls at the moment, or perhaps someone else received your message and forgot to pass it on.

• clik  from minding your mind

doug

minding his own business