Introduction to Children with ADHD

Manifestations of Childhood ADHD

    What is the difference between ADHD and hyperactivity and naughty? Does hyperactive, naughty child necessarily have ADHD? In fact, otherwise, the specific manifestations of childhood ADHD are as follows:

• There is a difference between ADHD children and naughty children.

1. 1. When it comes to things that require concentration when watching comic books, TV cartoons, etc., even if it is something that attracts the attention of children of the same age, children with ADHD cannot concentrate for a long time; while naughty children are naughty, but I can concentrate on the things I am interested in, and some even hate being disturbed;
2. In a serious and unfamiliar environment, children need a certain degree of self-control, but children with ADHD lack the ability to self-control and lack the psychological mechanism of self-discipline. Most naughty children are able to realize the constraints of the atmosphere in an unfamiliar environment on their behavior. When the environment is unfamiliar, they will not be noisy and have relatively standardized behaviors, showing a certain degree of self-control.

• The specific manifestations of children's ADHD are as follows.

1. 1. Often make careless mistakes in homework, work or other activities, and lack attention to details;
2. Inability to concentrate when learning games;
3.  When talking to a child, the child often seems to be listening but not listening;
4. Can't follow other people's instructions, and can't complete study, homework, housework or work on time;
5. Difficult to organize work and study;
6. Dislike or avoid school homework or homework;
7. Items that are often lost, such as toys, school assignments, pencils, books or tools;
8. Easy to be distracted by external stimuli;
9. It is easy to forget things in daily life;
10. Frequently busy or constantly moving like "with the engine installed".
11. The child's hands and feet are constantly moving or twisting in the seat;
12. Often leave the seat in the classroom or other environments that require sitting posture;
13. Running or climbing in inappropriate circumstances;
14. Difficult to play quietly or engage in leisure activities;
15. Frequently busy or constantly moving like "with the engine installed".

Symptoms of ADHD in children

   Now the prevalence of ADHD is increasing day by day. The main reason for this result is that parents cannot get up early to find the behavior of children with ADHD. Many parents do not realize that children’s "hyperactivity, tics" is a disease, but mistakenly think it is " The performance of "naughty" and "disobedient" will just be fine when you grow up to be sensible. Due to the delay in the optimal treatment time, lifelong schoolwork, family and social life are affected. Therefore, it is very important to understand the symptoms of ADHD in children. The symptoms are as follows:

1. Pay attention to defects. It is obvious that the child has difficulty concentrating for a long time, and the duration of attention is short. Children often pay attention when attending lectures, doing homework or other activities, and it is difficult for them to be persistent, and they are easily distracted by external stimuli. Cannot pay attention to details in learning or activities, and often make mistakes because of carelessness.
2. Difficulty maintaining attention. Often deliberately avoids and is unwilling to engage in tasks that require a long period of continuous concentration, such as classwork or homework. Do things procrastinately, unable to complete assignments or assigned tasks on time. Patients usually lose things easily, often lose toys and learning utensils, forget daily activities, and even forget the homework assigned by the teacher.
3. Too much activity. Children often appear restless, move a lot, have active hands and feet, and cannot stay quiet in the seat. Leave your seat arbitrarily in the classroom or other places where quietness is required, and run or climb around. Difficult to engage in quiet activities or games, busy all day.
4. Be impulsive. Interrupt or interrupt the conversation when others are speaking, and can't wait to answer first before the teacher's question is finished. Be impulsive, act regardless of the consequences, and act with temporary interest. Can't wait patiently in line. Respond quickly to situations where information is insufficient. Frequent fights or disputes with peers, causing undesirable consequences.
5. Learning difficulties. The children's listening in class is not effective, and the speed and quality of homework are low, resulting in poor academic performance, which is often lower than the academic performance that their intelligence should achieve.
6. Abnormal development of the nervous system. Turning hands, moving fingers, tying shoelaces, and buttoning buttons are inconvenient, making it difficult to distinguish between left and right. The patient's development of fine motor, coordinated movement, and spatial position perception is poor. A small number of patients have problems such as delayed language development, poor language expression, and low intelligence.
7. Disorders of conduct. The comorbidity rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder is as high as 30%-58%. Disorders of conduct are manifested as aggressive behaviors, such as insulting, hurting classmates, destroying objects, cruelty to others and animals, sexual assault, robbery, etc., or behaviors that do not conform to ethics and social norms, such as lying, playing truant, running away from home, Arson, theft, etc.

Causes of ADHD in children

   The etiology and pathogenesis of ADHD in children are unclear. At present, it is generally believed in medical science that it is caused by the interaction of many factors. The factors are as follows:

1. Heredity. Family studies, studies of twins and foster children support that genetic factors are an important cause of childhood ADHD, with an average heritability of about 76%.
2. Neurotransmitters. Neurobiochemical and psychopharmacological studies have found that neurochemical transmitters in the brain are out of balance, such as dopamine and norepinephrine in the blood and urine of patients, and 5-HT function declines.
3. Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) found that the patient's frontal lobe dysplasia and bilateral caudate nucleus head-to-end asymmetry. Functional MRI also found that ADHD patients have brain function defects, such as low frontal lobe function, abnormal activation in the frontal lobe, especially the prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia, anterior cingulate cortex, cerebellum and other parts.
4. Environmental factors. Including prenatal, perinatal and postnatal factors. The risk factors related to pregnancy and childbirth include smoking and drinking of the mother of ADHD patients, premature delivery of children, postpartum ischemic hypoxic encephalopathy and thyroid dysfunction.
5. Family and psychosocial factors. Disagreement between parents, family breakdown, improper parenting style, poor parents’ personality, mother suffering from depression, father’s impulsivity, anti-social behavior or material addiction, family financial difficulties, housing crowded, childhood separation from parents, abuse, school Adverse factors such as improper education methods may be the cause of the disease or the cause of the persistence of symptoms.

Treatment of children with ADHD

   Childhood ADHD can be cured after treatment. The treatment methods are as follows:

1. Psychotherapy. There are mainly two ways of behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. The patient has poor peer relationships, aggressive language and behavior towards others, and poor self-control ability. Behavior therapy uses the principle of operational conditioning to promptly strengthen the patient's behavior positively or negatively, so that the patient can learn appropriate social skills and replace inappropriate behavior patterns with new and effective behaviors.
2. Drug treatment. Drugs can improve attention deficits, reduce activity levels, improve academic performance to a certain extent, and improve the relationship between patients and family members in the short term. Central stimulants and first-line treatment drugs are generally used. At present, methylphenidate and its controlled-release tablets are mainly used in China. Methylphenidate, low dose helps to improve concentration, high dose can improve hyperactivity and impulsive symptoms, and reduce behavior problems.
3. Behavior management and education. Teachers and parents need to carry out effective behavior management and psychological education according to the characteristics of patients, avoid discrimination, corporal punishment or other crude education methods, and appropriately use praise and encouragement methods to improve patients' self-confidence and consciousness. The child’s seat can be arranged near the teacher to reduce the child’s distraction during class. The course arrangement should take into account that the patient should be given sufficient time for activities.
4. Education and training for parents. Provide a good supportive environment for parents, let them learn the skills to solve family problems, learn to formulate clear rewards and punishment agreements with their children, effectively avoid conflicts and conflicts with their children, and master the correct use of positive reinforcement methods to encourage their children's good Behavior, use punishment to eliminate the child’s bad behavior.

Diet Therapy for Children with ADHD

   Cooking more foods that children love to eat and are beneficial can help children grow up healthily and benefit a lot. Therefore, in addition to the general medical treatments, the children with ADHD can also undergo diet therapy, which can often get twice the result with half the effort.

1. Eat less foods containing tyrosine, such as dried noodles, cakes, etc.; eat less foods containing methylsalicylic acid, such as tomatoes, apples, oranges, etc.; do not add spicy condiments, such as peppers, to your diet. It is not advisable to use tartrazine, such as shellfish, scarlet is, tangerine and other foods.
2. Eat more iron-rich foods. Because iron is a raw material for hematopoiesis, iron deficiency can cause brain dysfunction, affect children's mood, and aggravate hyperactivity symptoms. Therefore, children with ADHD should eat more iron-rich foods, such as liver, poultry blood, and lean meat.
3. Eat less lead-containing foods. Because lead can cause changes in children's visual movement, memory perception, image thinking, behavior, etc., and hyperactivity, children with ADHD should eat less lead-containing preserved eggs, shellfish and other foods.
4. Eat less foods containing aluminum. Because aluminum is a metal that threatens human health. Too much aluminum can cause mental retardation, memory loss, loss of appetite, and indigestion. Children with ADHD should eat fritters less, because making fritters requires adding alum to the flour, and the chemical composition of alum is potassium aluminum sulfate. Therefore, eating fried dough sticks is not good for children's intellectual development.

    Childhood ADHD can have many negative effects on your child’s growth. If your child has the symptoms described in the article, please go to the hospital for examination and receive treatment as soon as possible.