what are risk factors of adhd?

Answer 1

Possible risk factors can include environmental agents, traumatic brain injury, food additives and sugar, brain abnormalities, and genetics. You can read more about each possible risk factor here

http://www.adhdissues.com/ms/guides/adhd_risk_factors/main.html

Answer 2

I'm still not sure adhd is a problem, it seems like a tag for a basket of symptoms, which might be caused by a number of things. Most children tagged with "adhd" label find that with good diet, (no sugar, no junk) and much more exercise, they do much better. Read "better late than early" by the Moores. They make very convincingly the argument that early "schooling" is at best counterproductive.

Answer 3

if you put someone with ADD or ADHD on meds at a young age this can lead to substance dependency because they were taught that taking a drug is a resolve to their problems.

as far as risk factors for a child getting it...my mom did crack before she knew she was pregnant with my brother and he has ADHD/a form of autism called Asperger's. we arent sure if thats why or if its completely different reasons..but..yeah...

Answer 4

This is a very debatable issue questions....I don't think anyone can really say. My daughter started showing signs at 8 months old (she completely quit taking naps, she was too hyper even then). I have known people that think it is the parents fault, until they experienced my daughter off her medication... I believe it is heriditary, but 20-30 years ago a child was labeled "difficult" or "hard-headed". I do not think a parent can "give" a child ADHD like they can other conditions like bad eyes or bad teeth or bad diet resulting in more serious medical conditions. Just remember, it is your child that will suffer if left untreated.

Answer 5

The exact cause of ADHD remains unknown, but there is no shortage of speculation concerning its etiology,[18][19] most of which centers around the brain.


Hereditary dopamine deficiency
Research suggests that ADHD arises from a combination of various genes, many of which affect dopamine transporters.[20] Suspect genes include the 10-repeat allele of the DAT1 gene,[21] the 7-repeat allele of the DRD4 gene,[21] and the dopamine beta hydroxylase gene (DBH TaqI).[22] Additionally, SPECT scans found people with ADHD to have reduced blood circulation,[23] and a significantly higher concentration of dopamine transporters in the striatum which is in charge of planning ahead.[24]

A new study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in collaboration with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggest that it is not the dopamine transporter levels that indicate ADHD, but the brain's ability to produce dopamine itself. The study was done by injecting 20 ADHD subjects and 25 control subjects with a radiotracer that attaches itself to dopamine transporters. The study found that it was not the transporter levels that indicated ADHD, but the dopamine itself. ADHD subjects showed lower levels of dopamine across the board. They speculated that since ADHD subjects had lower levels of dopamine to begin with, the number of transporters in the brain was not the telling factor. Researchers generally agree that dopamine imbalance is a telling factor in ADHD.[1]


Diet
Recent studies have begun to find metabolic differences in these children, indicating that an inability to handle certain elements of one's diet might contribute to the development of ADHD, or at least ADHD-like symptoms. For example, in 1990 the English chemist, Neil Ward,[25] showed that children with ADHD lose zinc when exposed to the food dye tartrazine. Some studies suggest that a lack of fatty acids, specifically omega-3 fatty acids can trigger the development of ADHD. Support for this theory comes from findings that children who are breastfed for six or more months seem to be less likely to have ADHD than their bottlefed counterparts and until very recently, infant formula did not contain any omega-3 fatty acids at all.[26] Time and further investigation will perhaps tell whether this correlation is reliable or merely a coincidence.

Despite the uncertainty of nutrition as a cause of ADHD in some cases it may play a role in the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. Certain dietary issues, most commonly a moderate to severe protein deficiency, can cause symptoms consistent with ADHD.[27][28]


Environmental factors
There is no compelling evidence that social factors alone can create ADHD. The few environmental factors implicated fall in the realm of biohazards and include alcohol, tobacco smoke, and lead poisoning. Allergies (including those to artificial additives)[29] as well as complications during pregnancy and birth--including premature birth--might also play a role.

It has been observed that women who smoke while pregnant are more likely to have children with ADHD.[30] Since nicotine is known to cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in utero, smoking during pregnancy could increase the odds of a child having ADHD.

Head injuries can cause a person to present ADHD-like symptoms,[31] possibly because of damage done to the patient's frontal lobes. Because symptoms were attributable to brain damage, the earliest designation for ADHD was "Minimal Brain Damage".[32]


Violence, abuse, and other emotional traumas
Many clinicians believe that attachments and relationships with caregivers and other features of a child's environment have profound effects on attentional and self-regulatory capacities. It is noteworthy that a study of foster children found that an inordinate number of them had symptoms closely resembling ADHD. What Keeps Children in Foster Care from Succeeding in School. An editorial in a special edition of Clinical Psychology in 2004 stated that "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 labelled ADHD is shown by children in the context of violence and abuse, impaired parental attachments and other experiences of emotional trauma."[33]
While no conclusive evidence has been offered that parenting methods can cause ADHD in otherwise normal children a sizable minority of clinicians believe this is the case.[citation needed] A different perspective holds that while evidence shows that parents of ADHD children experience more stress and give more commands,[34] further research has suggested that such parenting behavior is in large part a reaction to the child's ADHD and related disruptive and oppositional behavior, and to a minor extent the result of the parent's own ADHD.[35]

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