ADHD and Health

Maybe we so often associate ADHD challenges with schoolwork, paperwork, and housework that we don’t often think of ADHD putting a kink in, um, bedroom fun. Or, that activity that we assume most people can do “in their sleep”: sleep.

Ah, but what you don’t know can hurt you. It can hurt your love life. And it can hurt your ability to get to bed on time, go to sleep, and stay asleep, not to mention leaving you prone to gasping for air (sleep apnea) or dancing the cucharacha with your restless legs all night.

I invite you to visit my blog on ADHD and Relationships to learn a bit more on those two subjects and, best of all, read the many insightful comments from readers that follow. (While you’re there, please sign up to follow this monthly blog so you’ll be notified of new posts.) I guarantee you’ll find some kindred spirits.

1. ADHD and Sex: No Shame, No Blame

“Gina, sex is difficult for people with ADHD; it’s tough to stay focused!” says a female Facebook friend, responding to my query on this topic. Read the rest of this entry »

New study on ADHD and adults

To watch a short interview on NBC’s The Today Show with preeminent ADHD research scientist Dr. Russell Barkley, click on the link above. He introduces the studies examining long-term outcomes of children diagnosed with ADHD. For details on this groundbreaking research by Dr. Barkley and colleague Dr. Mariellen Fischer, read ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says. (Click on the title to learn more about it on Amazon.com.)

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Live a few decades not knowing that you have ADHD, and chances are you’re lugging around not only emotional baggage but also physical baggage — sleep debt, adrenal exhaustion, off-kilter hormones, allergies, and more. Yet, in our specialist-dominated healthcare “system,” finding a physician who can assemble all the puzzle pieces is a challenge.

When’s the last time your personal physician, not to mention ADHD-treating psychiatrist, closely scrutinized lab results for your complete blood panel, adrenal function, or hormones and could properly answer your questions about, say, potential gluten sensitivity? Yet, if you’re suffering from any of these allied health challenges, your brain function could be suffering in ways that will never be sufficiently addressed by psychotropic medications alone.

A few years ago, I scoured the Internet for a “big picture” physician who was sharing information (on a blog or website) not only about ADHD and its commonly co-occurring conditions but also the many other biomarkers that affect brain health. Fortunately, I found CorePsychBlog , written by physician, author, neuroscientist, and psychiatric consultant Dr. Charles Parker (pictured, above right). (Regular readers of this blog have seen Dr. Parker’s comments. For the record, he and I have never met and have no business association.) Pick your media preference: written posts, radio shows, or videos. CorePsychBlog is packed with information. So packed that I’ve picked out a few highlights to get you started (in a follow-up post, I’ll share links to some of Dr. Parker’s highly informative videos): Read the rest of this entry »

For years, ADHD experts have recognized the link between untreated ADHD and obesity. As for many weight-control experts and gastric-bypass surgeons, well, they must have missed the memo. Is it territorial jealousy? Willful ignorance? “ADHD Denial”?

Let’s be charitable and call it one more casualty of our highly specialized medical system. That is, most GI docs aren’t connected to most brain docs aren’t connected to most hormone docs, and down the line. (As for some sleep docs’ determination to ignore ADHD’s role in sleep challenges, that’s for another post.)

In February, a new study came from two Toronto-based clinicians and researchers seeking to bridge this cross-disciplinary knowledge. Physician Lance Levy and psychologist John Fleming set out to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) pharmacological treatment of severely obese subjects with newly diagnosed ADHD would result in sustained weight loss. (In short, yes it did.) Read the rest of this entry »