What is ADHD?

It is a developmental Neuropsychiatric disorder which include hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive behaviour in children as well as in adolescents and adults.

In adult, restlessness is seen rather hyperactivity which is mostly seen in children.

Children will have problems related with their parents, school, and teachers where as adult will have problems related with their relationships and employment

It is a common problem which is more seen in boys/males than girls/females.  The ratio is 3:1.

Types of ADHD

Types of ADHD are based on its symptoms:

1. Predominantly inattentive.
2. Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive.
3. Combined type.

Pathophysiology (what happens in ADHD)

There are impairments in the function of the neurotransmitters (chemicals) in the brain.  Brain size of ADHD child especially the frontal lobe of the brain is found to be slightly smaller as compared to a normal child.

Causes of ADHD

1.  Genetic- Family history of ADHD is one of the causes.

2.  Environmental- Alcohol intake, chewing tobacco, smoking cigarette and exposure to lead during pregnancy could be the major causes in ADHD.

3.  Birth injuries can be one of the causes.

Symptoms of ADHD

1. Hyperactivity in children and restlessness in adults.
2. Inattention- mainly difficulty in focusing on a particular work, confusion, mind easily gets diverted, forgets things immediately, difficulty in following instructions.
3. Impulsiveness- They act abruptly.

So symptoms which are bothering to the parents, society, and school/work place should be noted at short intervals in around 6 months of duration and it should be compared with the normal child (behaviour) of the same age group.

Symptoms of ADHD like irritability, mood-related symptoms can be a hurdle in differentiating this with other disorders like bipolar disorder, personality disorder, depression, mania, seizure disorder, head injury etc.

And many diseases exist together which makes it much more difficult to diagnose the disease.

Diagnosis of ADHD

1.  A thorough history of the patient by him or by his family members.

2.  Child’s/adult’s behaviour- social and emotional.  Child’s educational history will reveal the disorder.

Conventional treatment of ADHD

1.  Counselling can be done to the child or adult which is the first line of treatment and when it fails in certain cases then medications are continued.

2.  Medications- stimulant and non-stimulant medications can be used.

3.  Iron, iodine, magnesium, and zinc supplements can be given to ADHD patients.

3.  Therapies are useful in ADHD condition. For example, social skill training, behaviour therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy.

4.  Physical training/exercise is quite useful in ADHD which must be done on regular bases.

Homeopathic treatment of ADHD

Homeopathic medicines work excellently in ADHD cases. It improves the concentration power; hyperactivity and impulsiveness with the proper course of homeopathic treatment.