ADHD In The News AGAIN!

A new study published in the October, 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine revealed that in the two years before and after they're diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children so diagnosed use more health-care services than other children.

The study found that those that had been diagnosed with ADHD had average health care costs that were $488 higher in the second year before their diagnosis, $678 higher in the year before diagnosis, $1,328 higher in the year following diagnosis, and $1,040 higher two years after diagnosis.

“Parents often state that behavioral problems predate their child's ADHD diagnosis, often by several years, and these problems may affect their use of health services,” said G. Thomas Ray of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, CA. Indeed, much of the excess cost was due to increased pediatric and psychiatric services.

A case study called “Behavioral and Learning Changes Secondary to Chiropractic Care to Reduce Subluxations in a Child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” was published October 6, 2006 in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research. Some of the study’s conclusions were:

“…reports from his teachers at school remarked on the positive changes in his behavior and improvements in academic performance…a possible conclusion that can be drawn in this case is that adjusting spinal lesions (e.g., subluxations)…allowed him the ability to concentrate, learn and “sit still.”

The Bottom Line.The Bottom Line.The Bottom Line.

ADHD is an expensive problem to treat medically both in dollars spent and also in potential, life-long, side-effects. Compound the cost with multiple family members running up the expense both with their dollars and their health. Does all this mean that ADHD runs in families or that drug use as a solution for ADHD symptoms runs in families? Could it be that patterns of nervous system stress run in families? A healthy nervous system should be a primary concern.