Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). However, the areas, on the right side of the brain’s outer mantle, or cortex, normalized in thickness during the teen years in these children, coinciding with clinical improvement.

In the first known study of its kind, an article published in the August 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and whose sleep efficiency is poor, experience significant improvement on some measures of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) if they are treated with methylphenidate (MPH).

Most children treated in a variety of ways for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) showed sustained improvement after three years in a major follow-up study funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Use of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Ritalin by young children may cause long-term changes in the developing brain, suggests a new study of very young rats by a research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Parents, doctors, and others have wondered whether common treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) inadvertently predispose adolescents to future drug abuse. The answer may depend on the age at which treatment is started and how long it lasts, say the authors of a new brain-imaging and behavioral study conducted in animals at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been traditionally viewed as a childhood disorder, while ADHD in adults has been underdiagnosed and undertreated. A recent study shows that treatment rates have been increasing in all age groups, and improved identification has contributed to rapidly growing treatment rates for adults. Female patients show the greatest increase of all.

Shire plc announced that DAYTRANAâ„¢ (methylphenidate transdermal system), its Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) patch, had significant efficacy in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in both male and female children aged 6 to 12 years, according to clinical trial results reported at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting in San Diego.

Women smokers who become pregnant have long been encouraged to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake. A new study being published in the June 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry provides further reason to do so, as it presents new evidence that in utero exposure to smoking is associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems in genetically susceptible children.

Much of the research surrounding childhood asthma has sought new approaches to managing the disease. However, little was done to address other conditions that often appear along with asthma including depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which can negatively affect a child's ability to cope.