Hyperactivity in children is a pathology
Does your child have ADHD?
He is 11 years old and is in the third grade, but he has trouble concentrating in class, is hyperactive, is getting worse in school, and often lies. His parents and teachers have taken many measures against him, but to no avail. They had no choice but to send him to the First People’s Hospital of Taizhou to seek help from experts. According to Tong’s parents, Tong is more active since kindergarten, not easy to discipline, often misspellings. In the first grade of elementary school, his performance was okay, but fluctuated greatly. After entering the third grade, the results are getting worse and worse, from the original class in the upper level to become poor students. He often gets very simple questions wrong in exams, but sometimes he can answer more difficult ones. He is inattentive in class, often makes small movements, and often wanders off, but can hold on longer when watching cartoons or his favorite TV series at home. He also lies a lot and likes to hit and mess with his classmates, intentionally or unintentionally. As a result, a classmate would report him to the teacher twice a day. At first, his parents beat him and disciplined him very severely, but the effect was short-lived and had little effect. Classmates and teachers also grew to hate him, and teachers blamed the child’s parents for overindulging the child, while the parents blamed the teacher for not teaching them well, so the relationship between the two sides was gradually strained. The child’s parents said, has not been to school for more than six months, afraid to meet the class teacher embarrassed each other.
After testing, Tong Tong’s body was not abnormal and his intelligence was measured in the normal range, but his attention was measured to be significantly unfocused and overactive. Dr. Ying Xiaoming, a child development expert and the director of pediatrics at Taiwan First Medical Center, diagnosed that the child had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder syndrome, commonly known as childhood hyperactivity disorder. According to statistics, 5-10% of school-age children suffer from ADHD, more boys than girls, with a ratio of 5:1. 65-80% of children with ADHD have learning difficulties. In general, the main clinical manifestations of children with ADHD are.
I. Difficulty in focusing attention. Children with ADHD have a short attention span, easily distracted by external interference, and cannot finish a task from start to finish; they do not pay attention to lectures, make small movements, look around or desert in class, etc.
Excessive activity. Including often hands and feet, can not sit, small movements, talk a lot, running, jumping, climbing up and down, do not know the danger; like to provoke people, often and classmates quarrel, fight, etc.
Third, impulsive and capricious, emotional excitement. Children with ADHD have poor self-control, unstable emotions, easily agitated, easily angry, easily crying, often lose their temper; their personalities are stubborn, stubborn, impatient, childish, lacking a sense of honor, not distinguishing right from wrong, some lie, truant, cheat, some do not return, and even take up vicious habits.
Fourth, learning difficulties. Although children with ADHD have normal intelligence, most of them show learning difficulties and poor memory discrimination ability. Some have good intelligence, but their academic performance is unsatisfactory, manifesting as up and down, with great fluctuations in performance, grasping a grasp up, not grasping down, and even causing repetition.
V. Combined with other behavioral abnormalities. Such as lying, urine loss, nail biting, tics, stuttering, squeezing eyebrows, blinking, etc.
When it comes to their child’s problems, the child’s parents are a worried face: how can they get this disease? Pediatricians point out that there are various factors in the development of ADHD in children, and currently medical science generally finds the causes in the following areas.
A. Insufficient amount of brain neurotransmitters
The occurrence of ADHD in children may be due to a pathology caused by an insufficient number of brain neurotransmitters (such as norepinephrine and dopamine), which cannot be delivered in a timely manner. A decrease in the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain reduces the inhibitory activity of the central nervous system, resulting in increased movement in children.
Second, organic damage to brain tissue
Approximately 85% of affected children are due to frontal lobe or caudate nucleus dysfunction, including.
(1) Maternal diseases during pregnancy: hypertension, nephritis, anemia, hypothermia, pre-eclampsia, colds, etc.
(2) Abnormalities during delivery: preterm labor, forceps delivery, cesarean section, asphyxia, intracranial hemorrhage, etc.
(3) Children with infections and trauma to the central nervous system within 1-2 years after birth have a higher chance of developing ADHD.
Genetic factors
About 40% of the parents of children with ADHD, their siblings and other relatives, in their childhood also suffer from this disease, the incidence of ADHD in monozygotic twins is significantly higher than in dizygotic twins, ADHD siblings than half-siblings (half-siblings, half-siblings), and also higher than the general children, the above points suggest that genetic factors are closely related to ADHD.
Fourth, other factors
In recent years, many parents of only children “want their children to become a dragon” eager, due to improper education methods and early intellectual development in excess, so that the pressure of the external environment is far more than the child’s ability to degree, is also the current cause of hyperactivity in children (inattentive, hyperactive) one of the reasons. In addition, eating artificial dyes in food and consuming a diet containing excessive amounts of lead (not necessarily to the point of lead poisoning) can also lead to hyperactivity.
In fact, in recent years, with the change in the environment, lifestyle and diet structure of life, the incidence of hyperactivity in children is increasing and has become a disease of the times that seriously affects children’s learning difficulties and physical and mental health. Some data show that there are nearly 20 million children with ADHD nationwide, making it a serious public health problem for families, schools and society. Director Ying said, “Since our pediatric department opened a specialized outpatient clinic in 2000, we have seen more than a thousand cases of ADHD in children.”
In terms of treating ADHD in children, the current medical consensus is that ADHD in children should be treated early and comprehensively. There can be significant differences in outcomes and prognosis when treated or not treated, and when treated early or late. Parents and teachers should also recognize that ADHD in children is pathological and should not be discriminated against or scolded to avoid aggravating the child’s mental trauma. “Treatment is generally based on both medication and psychological counseling, and both methods are carried out simultaneously.” Ying Xiaoming, a pediatrician at Taiyi Medical Center, said, “Medication is necessary for children with ADHD, but medication cannot replace education, which can provide good conditions for education, and the effects and side effects of medication should be properly understood. At the same time, the mutual cooperation of four parties (the child, parents, teachers and physicians) is necessary to achieve good results.” Here experts especially emphasize that parents, including teachers, should treat their children with ADHD correctly, analyze the causes, and provide timely and effective medical treatment.
Related links: How to determine if a child has ADHD?
According to the diagnostic criteria of the American Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the clinical manifestations of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are divided into two types of symptoms: A, inattention; B, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The characteristics of these two types of symptoms are.
A. Inattention.
① It is often difficult to concentrate on details or often make careless mistakes in study, work or other activities;
② Difficulty in maintaining concentration during study, work or recreational activities;
③ often seems to be absent-minded when talking with others, seems to listen but not to listen;
④Incompetence in completing homework, chores and work tasks as required (not due to resistant behavior or lack of understanding);
⑤ often find it difficult to conceive and plan assignments and tasks;
(6) Are often reluctant to do or avoid work that requires energy, such as classroom or homework assignments;
(7) Often lose the necessities of study and life, such as textbooks, homework supplies, tools, etc;
(8) Easily distracted by external stimuli;
⑨ Very forgetful in daily life.
B. Hyperactivity and impulsivity.
①Sitters wriggle their arms and legs constantly and often appear irritable;
② often leave their seats without permission in the classroom or on other occasions where they should not move around;
③ often inappropriate occasions to run around, climbing up and down, in adolescents or adults just have the subjective feeling of fidgeting;
④It is difficult to participate quietly in games or after-school activities;
⑤ Often moving around constantly, as if driven by a machine;
⑥Speech is often incessant, talkative, and impulsive;
(7) Often rush to answer questions before they are finished;
⑧It is difficult to wait patiently in line;
⑨ often interrupt or interfere with other people’s speech and games.
The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (i.e., ADHD) must meet the following conditions.
(1) Six or more of the symptoms in categories A and B are present, and the disorder must last for at least 6 months. The symptoms are inconsistent with the developmental level to the extent that it is difficult to adapt.
(2) Both types of symptoms appear before the age of 7 years.
(3) Certain manifestations are present in more than two settings. For example, at school, at home, in the studio or in the clinic.
(4) There is clear evidence of clinical deficits in social, academic, or occupational functioning.
(5) Pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychiatric disorders are excluded. such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders (separation anxiety), or personality disorders.
Clinical typing of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (i.e., ADHD).
①Mixed type: with 6 or more of the symptoms of both A and B;
(2) Inattentive type: only A but not B symptoms in 6 or more;
(3) Hyperactive-impulsive type: with B but not with 6 or more of the A symptoms.
I. Inattentiveness
Have at least 3 of the following.
1.Tend to do things without finishing.
2. Often do not listen to lectures in class.
3. Easily shifts attention from one situation to another.
4. Difficulty in concentrating on homework and other things that require prolonged attention.
5.It is difficult to stick to a certain kind of game or play.
Impulsive and capricious
1.Tend to do whatever comes to mind.
2.Shift from one activity to another too often.
3.Can’t do things in an orderly manner.
4. Needs to be supervised and taken care of by others.
5. Often shouts suddenly in the classroom.
6. Does not wait patiently for turns in games or group activities.
Excessive activity
At least 2 of the following.
1.Fidgeting.
2.Runs a lot.
3.Hard to stay in classroom seat.
4.Lying in bed and often twisting and turning.
5.Busy and busy all day long.
6.The phenomenon of hyperactivity begins before the age of 7.
7.Lasting for at least 6 months.
When applying the above diagnostic criteria, the following two points should be noted.
First, on occasions when activity is allowed, such as at the end of class or after school, no matter how active the child is, there is no diagnostic significance. Only on occasions when the child should not be active, such as during class or while doing homework, but he still cannot restrain himself and keeps moving, then it has diagnostic significance.
Second, if there is only excessive activity but no inattention, ADHD cannot be diagnosed. On the contrary, if the inattentiveness is obvious without hyperactivity, only then should the possibility of ADHD be considered, because some children belong to the so-called “hyperactivity without hyperactivity”. In the United States, since 1979, the term “ADHD” has been renamed “attention deficit disorder” and divided into “attention deficit with hyperactivity” and “attention deficit without hyperactivity” based on the fact that the most common and prominent symptom of ADHD is difficulty in concentrating. “The latter is also known as “hyperactivity without hyperactivity”.
Behavior therapy
Behavior therapy is a method that uses the principles of learning to correct inappropriate behaviors in children. When they appear in the learning of appropriate behavior, they will be given timely rewards to encourage them to continue to improve. And seek to consolidate; and when some inappropriate behavior appears, we should ignore or temporarily deprive them of some rights, which will promote these behaviors gradually disappear. For example, if the teacher writes down the number of times the child wiggles his buttocks during class time, and praises it if it decreases, and brings a report to the parents every day, the number of wiggles decreases, the parents will give rewards according to the report. And the reward can be determined according to the specific conditions of each family, such as allowing them to watch TV at night, or go to the zoo on holidays, or rewarding them with toys, etc.
Fourth, diet therapy
In recent years, research has shown that eating large amounts of food containing kojic acid and salicylates, as well as eating food contaminated with condiments, artificial colors and lead, can cause hyperactivity to occur in children with the genetic quality of hyperactivity, or make the symptoms of hyperactivity worse. On the contrary, some children with ADHD can have their symptoms significantly reduced by limiting such foods, therefore, the diet of children with ADHD should pay attention to the following points.
1, should eat less food containing kool-aid, such as hanging noodles, pastries, etc. Eat less food containing methyl salicylic acid, such as tomatoes, apples, oranges, etc. Do not add spicy condiments to the diet, such as pepper and so on, and should not use tartar yellow pigment, such as shellfish, big red is, citrus olive and other foods.
2, should eat more food rich in zinc. This is because zinc is a trace element in the human body, and the human body’s growth and development is closely related. Zinc deficiency often makes children’s appetite, developmental delays, and mental retardation. Studies have found that most students with good academic performance have high zinc content in their hair. Therefore, often eat zinc-rich food, such as eggs, liver, beans, peanuts, etc. to improve intelligence will help.
3, should eat more iron-rich food. Because iron is the raw material of blood production, iron deficiency will make the brain’s function disorder, affect the mood of children, aggravate the symptoms of hyperactivity. Therefore, children with ADHD should eat more iron-rich foods, such as liver, poultry blood, lean meat, etc.
4, should eat less food containing lead. Because lead can make children’s visual movement, memory and sensory, image thinking, behavior and other changes, hyperactivity, so children with ADHD should eat less lead-containing eggs, shellfish, popcorn and other foods.
5, should eat less food containing aluminum. Because aluminum is a kind of metal that threatens human health. Eating too much aluminum can cause mental retardation, memory loss, loss of appetite, indigestion. Children with ADHD should eat less doughnuts, because the production of doughnuts need to add alum in the flour, and the chemical composition of alum is potassium aluminum sulfate. Therefore, excessive consumption of doughnuts is detrimental to the intellectual development of children.