5 Must-Read Articles, and an Online Course, to Help Children with ADHD
—– — Dr. David Rabiner, Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke Uni­ver­sity and founder of the Atten­tion Research Update. Given the ongoing changes and controversies surrounding ADHD diagnosis and treatment, let us highlight 5 key articles written by Duke University’s Dr. David Rabiner to summarize recent scientific findings and their implications, plus a very relevant online course to help parents and professionals help children with ADHD. 1. Study finds large gaps between research and practice in ADHD diagnosis and treatment Key insight: Evidence-based guideline...
Source: SharpBrains - June 21, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness ADHD-diagnosis ADHD-Treatment behavior management behavioral-therapy behavioral-treatment brain-development diet DSM DSM diagnostic crite Source Type: blogs

First Time Outside of Europe. The 6th  World Congress on ADHD In Vancouver, Canada, April 20-23rd
Würzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Milan, Glasgow, and now  # 6 in Vancouver. The 6th World Congress on ADHD will take place for the first time outside of Europe, they chose Canada, here in my home city of Vancouver. It will be on April 20–23 2017 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. It is a massive conference with presenters from all over the world. There will be very many sessions on an extremely wide variety of topics on ADHD in adults, children, and teens. For example just scrolling through one of the four days, Friday, on my 20”  monitor took scrolling down 29, count them, 29 screens scrolls. I hope some speakers wi...
Source: Adult ADD Strengths - April 9, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pete Quily Tags: ADD / ADHD Conferences and Workshops Vancouver ADHD family day. World Congress on ADHD Source Type: blogs

TBI: Cognitive Function and Methylphenidate
A very interesting Open Access publication available today examining the impact of methylphenidate and cognitive functioning in patients with a traumatic brain injury: Manktelow, A. E., Menon, D. K., Sahakian, B. J.,& Stamatakis, E. A. (2017).Working Memory after Traumatic Brain Injury: The Neural Basis of Improved Performance with Methylphenidate.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11(58).doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00058 (Source: BrainBlog)
Source: BrainBlog - April 5, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: blogs

The fuzzy line between medication use and abuse
Opioid painkillers, such as Vicodin (hydrocodone) and OxyContin (oxycodone), are crucial medical tools that are addictive and widely abused. Tranquilizers and sleeping pills of the benzodiazepine class, like Xanax (alprazolam), Ativan (lorazepam) and Klonopin (clonazepam), are safe and effective in limited, short-term use, but are often taken too freely, leading to drug tolerance and withdrawal risks. Stimulants such as Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Adderall (amphetamine) ease the burden of ADHD but are also widely used as college study aids as well as recreationally. All of these medications are available only by prescrip...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 16, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/steven-reidbord" rel="tag" > Steven Reidbord, MD < /a > Tags: Meds Patients Source Type: blogs

Mental Health and Addiction Among Inmates
Working with offenders allows you to see many interesting phenomena. Not only do you get to observe interesting behaviors and get a glimpse inside the thinking patterns of criminals, but there are interesting sociological observations as well. One of which is how life inside the walls mirror what is going on in society; cultural diversity, violence, drug use, etc. While there is nothing new about drug use inside prisons, a new and interesting occurrence seems to be taking place. It would appear that much of the drug\alcohol use may be attributable to the inmates engaging in self-medication to treat known (or undiagnosed) ...
Source: World of Psychology - September 3, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ron Forte Tags: Addiction Anxiety and Panic Mental Health and Wellness Policy and Advocacy Recovery Alcoholism Anxiety Disorder Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Corrections and society Crime Drug Addiction Incarceration prison Substance Source Type: blogs

Is It Withdrawal Symptoms or a Depression Relapse
Four years ago, a good friend of mine put her 10-year-old son on Prozac (fluoxetine). He had always suffered from anxiety and anger outbursts, but at age 9, his behavior turned violent, and his ruminations were keeping him up at night. My friend and her husband went to a variety of child psychologists, but the cognitive behavioral therapy wasn’t enough. Finally, they got a referral to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed the boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The doctor prescribed both Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Prozac. The bo...
Source: World of Psychology - August 30, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Therese J. Borchard Tags: Depression Medications Mental Health and Wellness Personal Bipolar Disorder Mood Disorder Prozac withdrawal Source Type: blogs

Help Convince BC Pharmacare to Cover Long Term ADHD Medications for ADHD Adults And Children
Please tell BC Pharmacare and health minister Terry Lake why they should cover long-acting ADHD medications vs just the short acting ones. Deadline is June 1st, 2016. If you live in BC and have a family member with ADHD or have ADHD yourself and already know why this is important, have your say here now . Scroll down to “Therapeutic Review of ADHD Drugs” and chose “Patient Questionnaire” or “Caregiver Questionnaire.” Please follow the instructions carefully. If you are unsure why this is important, please read on. I called for BC Pharmacare to cover long-acting (10-13 hour) medicati...
Source: Adult ADD Strengths - May 26, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pete Quily Tags: ADD / ADHD Advocacy ADD / ADHD Medication BC Pharmacare Source Type: blogs

Please Help Convince BC Pharmacare to Cover Long Term ADHD Medications for ADHD Adults And Children
Please tell BC Pharmacare and health minister Terry Lake why they should cover long-acting ADHD medications vs just the short acting ones. CADDAC, CADDRA and some BC Psychiatrists and doctors are organizing this. Deadline is June 1st, 2016. If you live in BC and have a family member with ADHD or have ADHD yourself and already know why this is important, have your say here now . Scroll down to “Therapeutic Review of ADHD Drugs” and chose “Patient Questionnaire” or “Caregiver Questionnaire.” Please follow the instructions carefully. If you are unsure why this is important, please read ...
Source: Adult ADD Strengths - May 26, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pete Quily Tags: ADD / ADHD Advocacy ADD / ADHD Medication BC Pharmacare Source Type: blogs

To See or Not to See
A   A 17-year-old boy presented to the emergency department after having a seizure. Initial vital signs included a temperature of 38°C, heart rate of 134 beats/min, respiratory rate of 22 breaths/min, blood pressure of 142/93 mm Hg, and pulse oximetry of 97% on room air. His physical exam is significant for tachycardia and pupils are 5 mm bilaterally and reactive to light with horizontal nystagmus. He is awake, confused, and combative.   Paramedics report that his mother found him in his bedroom was acting strangely before he fell to the floor and began convulsing. ED staff administered 2 mg intravenous lorazepam, ...
Source: The Tox Cave - January 4, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The urine drug screen commonly utilized in the emergency department is an immunoassay that uses antibodies to detect specific drugs or their metabolites. This allows for rapid screening for drugs of abuse, but it has many limitations.   Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the confirmatory test, but it is more costly, time-consuming, and generally can only be performed by outside laboratories. This confirmatory test is generally not useful in the emergency department, but has a role in cases of pediatric exposures, research, or occupational drug testing.     One of the limitations of a urine drug s...
Source: The Tox Cave - June 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The urine drug screen commonly utilized in the emergency department is an immunoassay that uses antibodies to detect specific drugs or their metabolites. This allows for rapid screening for drugs of abuse, but it has many limitations.   Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the confirmatory test, but it is more costly, time-consuming, and generally can only be performed by outside laboratories. This confirmatory test is generally not useful in the emergency department, but has a role in cases of pediatric exposures, research, or occupational drug testing.     One of the limitations of a urine drug screen a...
Source: The Tox Cave - June 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Patch Down the Hatch
A 42-year-old man presented with somnolence. Initial vital signs include: heart rate 54 bpm, blood pressure 92/68 mm/Hg, temperature 37°C, respiratory rate 6, pulse oximetry 90% on room air. Physical examination is remarkable for depressed level of consciousness, miosis, and bradypnea. His mental status and respiratory rate temporarily improved with the administration of 0.04 mg naloxone. He reports swallowing several “patches” in a suicide attempt.   What are examples of medications available as a transdermal patch? Compare the dose of drug delivered and the patch content. Popular transdermal patches are listed bel...
Source: The Tox Cave - March 31, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Patch Down the Hatch
A 42-year-old man presented with somnolence. His initial vital signs were heart rate 54 bpm, blood pressure 92/68 mm Hg, temperature 37°C, respiratory rate 6, and pulse oximetry 90% on room air. His physical examination was remarkable for depressed level of consciousness, miosis, and bradypnea. His mental status and respiratory rate temporarily improved with the administration of 0.04 mg naloxone. He reports swallowing several “patches” in a suicide attempt.   Popular transdermal patches are listed in the table. Others include diclofenac, buprenorphine, hormone patches (estrogen, contraceptive, testosterone), methy...
Source: The Tox Cave - March 31, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs