Attention Disorder

[B-rab]

A seven year old boy in my class has had little success in school. He has been a concern since he entered kindergarten. He functions well below grade level. He is not a behavior problem. He is sweet and co-operative. His parents had refused to have him evaluated until this year. This little boy will sit and do little or nothing for the entire school day. He can attend for very short spands even with one on one support. He exhibits many of the symptoms of a learning disable child. Having taught for 35 years, with a special education background as well as regular education masters, I have worked with children with a wide range of disabilities but I have never experienced a child like this little boy. I believe he has ability but he will zone out while he is working and even in the middle of a sentence sometimes and it is dificult to get his focus back. He has great difficulty with short term memory. A simple 10 minute task can take him hours to complete. The school team is look at ADD. My instinct and experience tell me that it is something more especially since his parents told me that when the mom was 5 months pregnant with him she underwent major lung surgery and then was given a variety of drugs for various post-op complications. Doctors told her that her unborn child would not be harmed by the surgery or drugs in any way.  
Question: Could this child be experiencing some sort of mild almost unnoticable seizure caused by the anesthesia or drugs given to the mom when she had the surgery? I want very much for this little boy to be successful.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is very likely that the boy displays learning disability in addition to possible attentional problem. Hopefully the evaluation you mentioned will help to clarify what is occurring. The pattern you describe is usually not due to seizure activity. Petit mal seizures can result in more brief periods of losing focus, but not the type of persistent lack of focus you are noticing. Now, this is not to suggest that an neurological evaluation should not be pasrt of a workup for the boy. It would help to ascertain if his neurological status is normal. I suspect that the evaluation will indicate learning disability and/or deficit in intelligence, as well as deficit in attention.

[potassium]

You sound like a very caring teacher and the short answer is yes.  Because you are a teacher and not a doctor I'm sure you know you can only report symptoms.  Tell the mom it doesn't look like the ADD you have seen in other kids but it looks like he just zones out.  DO NOT bring up the surgery.  Moms, in general, feel guilty enough already "blaming" her will not change anything.  You may be very correct in your assement but all you can really do is report what you see, leave it to the doctors to diagnose.

Thank you for caring about this child!  Things like this are hard for everyone,teacher, parent and child.

Good Luck,
Potassium

[dontakedrugs]

MORE DAMNING EVIDENCE ABOUT ADHD `MEDICATION`


Thursday, January 5, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM


Reported risks spur new study of ADHD drugs
By Andrew Bridges

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Reports of sudden deaths, strokes, heart attacks and hypertension in both children and adults taking drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are spurring new government study into the medications' safety.

Sales of drugs to treat ADHD have increased sharply in recent years, with use growing at a faster rate among adults than children, according to a recent study by Medco Health Solutions, a prescription benefit manager. Spending on ADHD drugs soared from $759 million in 2000 to $3.1 billion in 2004, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical information and consulting firm.

The Food and Drug Administration said it had received reports of what it called "serious adverse events" — including deaths — in association with the therapeutic use of the drugs. The agency considers the reports "rare though serious," FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said Wednesday.

The FDA's Canadian counterpart, Health Canada, yanked the ADHD drug Adderall (adderrall) XR from the market for six months last year in response to reports of 20 sudden deaths and 12 strokes in adults and children using the drug. A number of the cases involved children with structural heart defects.

The panel eventually concluded there was inadequate evidence of increased harm from Adderall (adderrall) XR compared with other available therapies, a conclusion the FDA also reached based on data on hand.

Now the U.S. regulatory agency is asking its Drug Safety and Risk Management advisory committee to examine ways of studying further the potential cardiovascular risks of the drugs. The few studies that have looked at longer-term use of ADHD drugs provide little information on those risks, the FDA said.

The committee is to meet Feb. 9-10 in Gaithersburg, Md.

"The issue of drug treatment of attention deficit disorder in children has been a controversial one without this issue of cardiovascular risk, too. It adds another concern to what will certainly be an interesting conversation," said Arthur Levin, the FDA committee's consumer representative.

A posting to the FDA Web site did not identify any of the drugs by name. However, the most commonly used ADHD drugs include Adderall (adderrall) XR, made by Shire Pharmaceuticals, and Ritalin, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Various other companies make generic versions of Ritalin as well.

Shire spokesman Matthew Cabrey said the company had not been told of the meeting but added it may send representatives. Novartis did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company