Health Advice Articles

What is Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) is a condition that can make it hard for a person to sit still, control behavior, and pay attention. These difficulties usually begin before the person is 7 years old. However, these behaviors may not be noticed until the child is older.
Doctors do not know just what causes AD/HD. However, researchers who study the brain are coming closer to understanding what may cause AD/HD. They believe that some people with AD/HD do not have enough of certain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) in their brain. These chemicals help the brain control behavior.
Parents and teachers do not cause AD/HD. Still, there are many things that both parents and teachers can do to help a child with AD/HD.

How common is Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

As many as 5 out of every 100 children in school may have AD/HD. Boys are three times more likely than girls to have AD/HD.

What are the signs of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
There are three main signs, or symptoms, of AD/HD. These are:
• problems with paying attention,
• being very active (called hyperactivity), and
• acting before thinking (called impulsivity).
More information about these symptoms is listed in a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association (2000). Based on these symptoms, three types of AD/HD have been found:
• inattentive type, where the person can’t seem to get focused or stay focused on a task or activity;
• hyperactive-impulsive type, where the person is very active and often acts without thinking; and
• combined type, where the person is inattentive, impulsive, and too active.
Inattentive type. Many children with AD/HD have problems paying attention. Children with the inattentive type of AD/HD often:
• do not pay close attention to details;
• can’t stay focused on play or school work;
• don’t follow through on instructions or finish school work or chores;
• can’t seem to organize tasks and activities;
• get distracted easily; and
• lose things such as toys, school work, and books. (APA, 2000, pp. 85-86)
Hyperactive-impulsive type. Being too active is probably the most visible sign of AD/HD. The hyperactive child is “always on the go.” (As he or she gets older, the level of activity may go down.) These children also act before thinking (called impulsivity). For example, they may run across the road without looking or climb to the top of very tall trees. They may be surprised to find themselves in a dangerous situation. They may have no idea of how to get out of the situation.
Hyperactivity and impulsivity tend to go together. Children with the hyperactive-impulsive type of AD/HD often may:
• fidget and squirm;
• get out of their chairs when they’re not supposed to;
• run around or climb constantly;
• have trouble playing quietly;
• talk too much;
• blurt out answers before questions have been completed;
• have trouble waiting their turn;
• interrupt others when they’re talking; and
• butt in on the games others are playing. (APA, 2000, p. 86)
Combined type. Children with the combined type of AD/HD have symptoms of both of the types described above. They have problems with paying attention, with hyperactivity, and with controlling their impulses.
Of course, from time to time, all children are inattentive, impulsive, and too active. With children who have AD/HD, these behaviors are the rule, not the exception.
These behaviors can cause a child to have real problems at home, at school, and with friends. As a result, many children with AD/HD will feel anxious, unsure of themselves, and depressed. These feelings are not symptoms of AD/HD. They come from having problems again and again at home and in school.

Even though there have been many wonderful advancements in Western medicine, many people are alarmed at rising health care costs. In addition, increasing reports of serious complications with prescription medication has alarmed many who had previously thought that FDA approved drugs must be safe. As a result of these concerns, there is a strong and growing movement toward alternative forms of healthcare and biofeedback is one of the modalities that is getting a lot of attention.

Biofeedback, which is also known as neurofeedback, has proved an effective therapy for a number of different conditions, but it is most often used as a pain relief for ailments such as headaches, migraines and other chronic pain conditions. A biofeedback treatment provides the patient with information from the body about how it is operating and reacting to different conditions. With this type of feedback, the person can better understand their body’s reactions and take steps to change.

Over the course of many years, biofeedback therapy has proven to be remarkably safe. It is often used in conjunction with various relaxation techniques and as a result, biofeedback can also be very effective at combating stress, which in turn can help to reduce the risk of many illnesses and conditions.

In addition to being used for pain relief, biofeedback therapists are also able to address many other health conditions with varying degrees of success. Some of the other common conditions that have been effectively treated though neurofeedback treatments are epilepsy, attention deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity and incontinence. In addition, this non-invasive treatment is often very helpful in rehabilitation after stroke or injury and can even help people to break the bonds of addictive behaviors, such as drug addiction and alcoholism.

Biofeedback therapy is a technique that uses mechanical feedback to teach people how to relax, even in stressful situations. Over time, many people are able to train themselves to control blood pressure, breathing, muscle tension and other bodily functions, through the use of painless electrodes that give on-the-spot feedback through graphs, beeps and flashing lights.

During a neurotherapy session, a biofeedback machine is used that monitors the patient’s brain wave activity and displays the readings on a screen. With the help of a trained technician, the person can learn what relaxation techniques produce the desired responses and can observe these responses through the readout on the machine. With time and practice, a person can eventually learn how to achieve the desired changes, even without the use of the device to provide the feedback.

As a patient becomes more aware of their body and its responses to the biofeedback techniques, they become more sensitive to the internal signals their body is providing. This increased awareness and sensitivity, combined with practice, is what allows a person to gain the same benefits of neurofeedback therapy, even when the neurofeedback equipment is not available to confirm the changes within the body.

While it can appear to be so, the fact is that biofeedback therapy is not a “magic bullet.” Practitioners of biofeedback will be quick to point out that neurotherapy will not “cure” diseases, nor will it “make” a person healthy. What it can do, and does do with a high degree of success, is give people the tools to take more control over their bodily functions and, as a result, they are able to help their bodies to become stronger, healthier and better able to recover from or avoid disease and illness.