Thoughts on ADHD Conference: Part 1 Statistics

In September I had the opportunity to see Russell Barkley, PhD speak about the current research and advancement of understanding ADHD.  He is the "guru" of ADHD and it was an honor to hear him.  I wanted to take some time to share my thoughts on his conference.  While I was there in a professional role, after raising Grace I filtered most of it through my "mom brain."  I had many different emotions at the conference.  I was thrilled that I felt like someone finally understood our journey with ADHD and validated that it is not "just bad parenting" and that it is very, very hard.  I was overwhelmed by the realities of the longevity of the situation and wondering how we can help her so she will thrive as an adult (and adolescent).  And I was encouraged by specific interventions that we can use to manage the situation.

Anyone can go to www.ADHDLectures.com and watch Dr. Barkley present his information.  His information is broken down into 1 - 2 hour lectures.  There are 5 for parents that include 1 on how to deal with ADHD in the classroom.   There is a cost (about $6 each) to watch the lectures that is minimal considering the information and help you can receive.  There is also a book written in layman's terms that I am finding to be excellent called Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell Barkley.  If you have a child with ADHD, think you do, or want to help understand someone else who has it, I highly recommend this book. 

Dr. Barkley presented a very different way to conceptualize ADHD than I had previously heard.  I will cover that in another post. Very importantly in my mind, he talked about how ADHD is the "diabetes of psychiatry."  There is no cure or fix.  There is only management.  The management will help with the symptoms only, but perhaps more importantly it will help to prevent more long term negative consequences.

Some statistics:

How do you get it:
ADHD is highly passed on genetically.  However, there are known ways to "acquire" ADHD (about 30+% of cases)

PRENATAL:
*There is a threshold of 10 cigarettes a day below which developing baby is not thought to acquire ADHD from nicotine/tobacco use.  Over that nicotine use increased the likelihood of ADHD by 2.5 times more likely than non-smoking mothers.

* There is NO SAFE THRESHOLD FOR ALCOHOL USE!!!

* premature birth - especially if a brain bleed  (45% are thought to develop ADHD)

* total increased pregnancy complications

*high phenylalanine levels in mom's blood (but not full PKU levels)

* high maternal anxiety in 2nd trimester (due to the hormone levels on the baby while developing)

GENETICS:
* two genes have been identified so far.  40 genetic sites have been located - all related to issues with dopamine (which is probably why stimulates work well as treatment).
* if a sibling has it, 25 - 25% likely of another sibling having it
* if an identical twin has it, 78 - 92% likely the other twin has it
* if parent has it, 40 - 54% of their children will have it (more likely if it is the father)

POST-NATAL (3 - 7%)
* head trauma
* certain seizures
* lead poisoning prior to age 3
* survival from acute lymphoblastic leukemia
* strep B infection
* elevated but sub threshold exposure to PKU related amino acid

Some more general stats on ADHD:
* 7-8% of kids are diagnosed with it and 4 - 5% of adults.
* one sees a 2.5x increase in seizures in kids who have it
* 1.5x more likely to be overweight if have it (impulse control issues)
* 39 - 56% have sleep problems
* more dental issues
* more coordination issues
* accident proneness - 1.5 - 4x greater risk for injuries, 3x greater for accident poisonings
* 2 - 3 x the medical costs of other kids - not counting the meds/mgmt of the ADHD itself
* pragmatic deficits in language disorders with 60%
* excessive speech, less logical, coherent, organized speech
* much difficulty with talking "to self"
* less able to understand rule-governed behavior
* IQ is an average of 7-10 points lower (probably due to the executive functioning that I will discuss later)
* 90% have poor school performance (reduced productivity and inattention are the biggest issues)
* learning disabilities in 24 - 70% depending on the study (with reading, spelling, math, handwriting, and comprehension).  These LD's are not due to the ADHD, but co exist with it and can improve with ADHD management.
* increased parent/child conflicts
* higher rates of parental divorce earlier in marriage
* since it is highly genetic, many parents also have it which leads to interesting dynamics

* significantly impacted peer relationships: more intrusive on others, verbally impulsive, more anger, more directive of others, less cooperative (wanting things done own way), reduced empathy, etc resulting in conflicts and often rejection by peers of the ADHD child.

Teens:
* 40% of ADHD kids are parents as teens
* 60% of ADHD girls get pregnant in high school
* 40% don't graduate
* 40% fail/repeat at least 1 class in school
* only 5-10% finish college as compared to 35% of non-ADHD students
* 5x more likely to attempt suicide if they think about suicide (less likely to talk self out of the thoughts as are more impulsive).
* much higher risk of car accidents (he even went so far as to suggest not letting 16 year old ADHD teens drive until more maturity is developed.  I am ALL about agreeing to that lol!)

*As adults: family stress, strained friendships, more limited educational success, legal difficulties (if engage in criminal behavior), excessive smoking/drinking/caffeine, accidents, job problems, financial problems (impulsive spending), problems in own marriage/parenting, and unhealthy lifestyles, increased risk of heart disease. 3x more likely to die by 45 years old.

Drug use (top 3 that are abused):
1st: nicotine.  The nicotine, oddly enough, will "treat" the ADHD as it is a stimulate, and thus unfortunately many people with ADHD symptoms use it to self-medicate
2nd: alcohol
3rd: marijuana       these are used not to self-medicate as it will actually make the symptoms worse.  However, people with ADHD often use them to help "forget" their problems

My next post on ADHD will be on Dr. Barkley's theory of ADHD, what he says the foundational issues are, and what he says Executive Functioning is that is most impaired in people with ADHD.