Causes
of ADD/ADHD
What Causes ADD/ADHD?
Role of Reticular Activating System
Attention Deficit is
a malady of the Reticular Activating System,
the area of the brain (via billions of nerve
connections) that is important in reinforcing
learning and memory.
It also helps
support the
processing of information and the ability to pay
attention.
An insufficient amount of
neural building materials can prevent the
proper number of neural connections from being
made.
With limited neural connections,
the existing neural pathways are over-worked and are
forced to deal with an extreme amount of information
processing (just like an overburdened computer) that
may lead to a processing shutdown.
This inadequate connectivity
slows down the processing of information and can
induce terrible feelings of aggravation,
irritation and dissatisfaction in the child with
ADD, ADHD or LD.
ADHD is a development
disability with neurological roots,
estimated to afflict up to 5 percent of the school
age group in the country. No studies have placed
a direct cause of ADHD, but
numerous
scientific evidence suggests that ADHD is caused by
a chemical imbalance in the brain that depletes the
amount of neurotransmitters which are responsible
for helping the brain regulate behavior.
There was a groundbreaking study done by the
National Institute of Mental Health that showed
glucose levels were lesser in ADHD brains than
"regular" brains.
The causes of ADHD are yet
unknown, though it is confirmed that ADHD is a
medical problem based in the brain. ADHD
is not a condition caused by external conditions.
There are many ways children can manage their ADHD
symptoms. Prior to listing these tips and tricks, it
is important to know what ADHD is and how it is
diagnosed first.
Natural Help for Chemical Imbalance
Using
Attend, by Vaxa, has
helped thousands of children and adults with
the symptoms
caused by this chemical imbalance in the brain.
Along with inattentive and hyperactive symptoms,
there are other secondary signs that come into play.
Aligning closely with age and the child’s
developmental stage, he may explode with temper
tantrums, get frustrated easily, have poor self
esteem, and have feelings of rejection easily in a
social environment, along with poor academic work
and poor self application to tasks.
If you look at the charts, you will see the
brains of a normal children vs. the child with ADD.
Brain scans are one of the fundamental ways to study
activity.
Z-Score
Maps from Quantitative Electroencephalography
Differences in Brain Activity in a Normal versus ADD
Child
The brain map on the left shows two
normal children, a 9 year old boy and a 14
year old girl. The brain map on the right shows
two ADD children of the same age and
gender.
The ADD map indicates the two
ADD children
have more alpha and theta activity in the
brain than the normal children. High alpha activity
is usually
associated
with idleness and high theta wave activity is
predictive of drowsiness.
 ADD
is characterized with inattentiveness and poor
reticular activating system stimulation, which
is caused by an insufficient number of
connections. This shows
ADHD and LD
children cannot shutout stimuli in their environment
as easily as normal children. Low alpha and theta
activity always results in sound alertness and
attentiveness levels, since there is a good amount
of neural connections being made to maneuver all
that stimuli traffic in the brain.
The root cause of ADD is a mystery, though
it is most probable ADHD has heterogeneous roots,
which simply means several causes could be at
play. There is an entire laundry list of
evidence that suggests that genetics play an
overriding role in the condition.
Genetic Link To ADD & ADHD
Research has shown that there are a combo of
various genes that brings about ADHD,
many of them
which affect dopamine transporters directly.
Some genes associated with ADHD include the 10
repeat allele of the DAT1 gene and the 7 repeat
allele DRD4 gene along with the dopamine beta
hydroxylase gene. In addition, SPECT spans have
shown less blood circulation to ADHD affected brains
along with a larger volume of dopamine transporters
in the striatum which is responsible for planning
tasks.
There was a landmark study done by collaboration
between the US Energy department's own Brookhaven
National Lab and New York's Mount Sinai School of
Medicine which has raised questions over the role
of dopamine transport levels in indicating ADD.
According to the study, it's the brain's ability to
produce dopamine that should come into question. In
order to test this, the study called for 20 ADD
subjects and 25 control subjects to be injected with
a radiotracer that worked alongside dopamine
transporters. The results showed that the dopamine
was responsible for indicating ADHD, not transporter
levels. The
ADHD subjects have less levels of dopamine to start,
and the amount of brain transporters was never a
factor. In addition, plasma homovanillic acid
was also attributed to childhood learning problems
in the healthier subjects.
PET scan st udies
conducted earlier show that global cerebral
glucose metabolism was almost 9 percent lower
in ADHD adults.
If you look at the image on the left, you will
see glucose metabolism levels in normal adult brains
while performing a specific auditory attention task.
On the right image, you’ll see an ADHD adult brain
with a map of the areas of activity in the brain as
a child when given the same task. As you can see,
group level differences are prominent. Along the
same line, the premotor cortex and the superior
prefrontal cortex are the regions of the brain
where
deficit of activity was most evident in ADHD
patients.
A second study using young adults did not find
substantial differences in global metabolism levels
between controls and ADD patients, but did discover
notable deficits in six different areas of the
brains of ADD patients in comparison to "normal"
brains. One of the most glaring differences was
the lower
level of metabolic activity in one part
of the brain called the left anterior frontal
lobe which directly coincides with the severity
of symptoms in question. These studies have raised a
legitimate argument that lowered activity in
different brain areas is responsible for ADHD
symptoms. It is important to note that these
conclusions are based on ADHD subjects performing
assigned tasks. They could be found in ADHD subjects
because they were not participating in the task.
Thus, the brains of others doing the task would not
be show the same activity found in the ADHD
subjects.
Non-Genetic Factors of Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder
According to the studies,
non-genetic factors contribute to 20 percent
of ADHD cases.
Environmental factors associated with
ADHD:
- Consumption of alcohol
- Cigarette smoke
- Exposure to lead
More cases of ADHD were attributed to lead
concentration than tobacco. Pregnancy and birth
complications were also seen as contributing
factors, including premature birth. Research has
also shown that smoking while pregnant
increases
the risk of having an ADHD child, since
nicotine is known for lowering oxygen in the uterus.
ADD like symptoms can also occur with head
injuries, especially when the damage is done to
someone's frontal lobes which are critical. In
earlier cases, having ADHD was equivalent to being
diagnosed with 'minimal brain damage.'
Social factors have not been proven
significantly enough to cause ADD. The
scientific community has lauded attachments and
relationships with an ADHD child's peers and
environment as beneficial to fostering a sense of
self control. It’s important to note a foster
children study revealed a significant number of them
shared ADHD symptoms. According to a 2004 editorial
in Clinical Psychology magazine, 'our impression
from spending time with young people, their families
and indeed colleagues from other disciplines is that
a medical
diagnosis and medication is not enough. In
our clinical experience, without exception, we are
finding that the same conduct typically labeled ADHD
is shown by children in the context of violence
and abuse, impaired parental attachments and other
experiences of emotional trauma.' Complex Post
Traumatic Stress disorder can also cause ADHD like
attention problems, just like sensory integration
disorders.
There is not sufficient evidence to suggest that
poor nutrition causes ADD, but
studies
have shown malnutrition ties into natural attention deficit
disorders.
Natural Remedies for ADD
To assure you or your child is getting the
proper nutritional supplement for Natural Attention Deficit
Disorder it is important to take
Omega 3 Fatty Acids which are a building block
for the brain. In addition,
ATTEND by Vaxa has been clinically shown to
naturally help with ADD and ADHD symptoms.
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