Self+Guided+Project

Introductory Summary is BELOWWW! What Causes ADHD?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to **//The Sound Learning Centre//**, is defined as a developmental disorder that presents during childhood, in most cases before the age of seven, and is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention and hyperactive-impulsive behavior. According to **//The Methodist Health System//,** Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a behavior disorder, usually first diagnosed in childhood that is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and, in some cases, hyperactivity. And stated by the **// University Hospitals Located in Cleveland Ohio //**, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a syndrome of disordered learning and disruptive behavior. Symptoms may include inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsive behavior. All of these websites are giving the same definition in different words, this disorder is commonly known as ADHD, it is mostly visible in children, and often only boys. Some of the keywords the three websites use to describe this disorder is hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and inattention because that is exactly what this disorder does to it’s patients, this disorder causes children to loose concentration in a second, give them the inability to sit still, and think before they talk. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) two to three percent of children have ADHD. This means that in a typical classroom at least one child is ADHD. The NIMH estimates that about 2 million children in the United States have ADHD.

As you may have noticed, my research topic is ADHD, I will continue to study and I have been thoroughly researching and studying this disease, the symptoms, causes, treatments, and also some case studies. All in order to discover an answer to my question, Is ADHD caused by environmental factors (chaotic home, maternal smoking and drinking, being exposed to harsh toxins), or genetic factors(hereditar, born with not enough chemicals in the brain)? I have made it clear to all, what the definition if ADHD is, and the only reason is to clarify that ADHD is a very complex and complicated disease. It does not only have one treatment, one cause, or definitely not one symptom. What I have gathered from my research so far is that the causes of ADHD are environmental **and** genetic. The causes of ADHD have been identified as being **environmental factors** such as being exposed to harsh toxins, and mothers abusing tobacco and alcohol while pregnant; and the causes ARE also **genetically** based, the disease can be hereditary, or just be caused by insufficient amounts of chemicals in the brain. This has been shown by studying controversial arguments and researching the many different articles, websites, novels, etc. My evidence will be provided in the next paragraph…

I have gathered most of my data and evidence from articles that I have found online, and also from two books on ADHD. The first article that I found helpful was **// Environmental influences that affect //** **// attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder,( David E. Pineda and co-writers, 2007) //** this was helpful mainly because it gave a lot of good information that some of the other articles neglected to give me. For example, in this article one of the main points is the affects that prenatal alcohol and tobacco use can actually affect whether your child has a behavioral disorder. Along with low birth weight, and some medications the child may take for epilepsy or seizures. This article also gave me a look at what individuals lives would be like when they are adults living with this disease, they are at a heightened risk for poor educational attainment, lower income, underemployment, and impaired social relationships. The next article that I found useful was **//Diagnosing The Disorder Makes A Difference (Mary Starr, 2010)//**this article was helpful because it states what parents should look for in a child with ADHD, it was not that relevant to my topic but it did supply me with quite a few facts that added to my research and data collection about this disease. Some facts include that, i t is more common in boys then girls; the disorder can develop even before the age of 7; and that parents should keep a and eye on their children and see If they are paying enough attention to detail. The last few articles covered the **//Causes of ADHD, (MayoClinic.com, HealthyPlace.com)//**the first article was very helpful in my research because it broke down a lot of the causes for me, by listing them in heading, subheadings and so on. It gave me a lot of insight into the causes, and proof that ADHD can in fact be caused by so many things, For example they list causes, such as Heredity, childhood exposure to environmental toxins, altered brain function and anatomy, etc. And then they also inform me that the environmental factors play a key role in whether the children acquire the disease or not. The second article was also very helpful for the same reason, yet this one went into depth, For example, when opening the article, they explain that genetics and neurobiology are the main causes for ADHD, and yes environmental factors do play a role in the severity of the disorder, but they might not cause it. And finally from my two books, I am still studying them because they take a lot more concentration and time, but they are proving to be very helpful indeed, mainly because they tackle many controversial questions and questions that all of the scientists, and doctors are trying to answer. Also they give me evidence to support the idea that the cause for ADHD can vary from environmental factors to genetic factors, however that it is NEVER caused by bad parenting or watching to much TV, those things contribute to the severity but do not cause it.

I am doing this research because I find it very interesting that this disease affects so many children all around the world, and many people are still baffled by the actual cause of it. Yes, research has been done in order to prove to people what causes this disorder and what contributes to the severity of it but are people actually being educated about this. I chose this topic to learn more about ADHD and to educate my classmates as to what could cause this disease, and hopefully they will keep it in mind when they have children because it is not only genetic, it is environmental. There are so many unanswered questions, so many doctors, scientists, researchers trying to figure out what the cause, how to treat it, and often how to diagnose it. And a lot of research is being accomplished, however I believe that the children suffering from this disease need to be more then just case studies and a number within a few million children with this disorder. Someone needs to help them, and I choose to do that anyway I possibly can. Works Cited "ADHD Statistics - ADHD." //ADHD - Child ADHD and ADD//. Web. 25 May 2010. . "The Causes of ADHD." //HealthyPlace.com - Trusted Mental Health Information and Support - HealthyPlace//. Web. 25 May 2010. . "The Causes of ADHD." //Mayo Clinic Medical Information and Tools for Healthy Living - MayoClinic.com//. Web. 25 May 2010. . Dudley, William. //Attention Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder//. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2005. Print. "Glossary." //The Sound Learning Centre//. Web. 25 May 2010. . "The Methodist Hospital System." //The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, Texas | Leader in Heart Care, Orthopedics, Organ Transplant, Cancer Treatment, Neurology and Neurosurgery//. Web. 25 May 2010. . Nigg, Joel T. //What Causes ADHD?: Understanding What Goes Wrong and Why//. New York: Guilford, 2006. Print. "Terms and Definitions." //University Hospitals Located in Cleveland Ohio//. Web. 25  May 2010 . Pineda, David A., Isabel C. Puerta, Vilma Merchan, Clara P. Arango, Astrid Yuleth Galvis, Monica Gomez, Daniel Camilo Aguirre, Francisco Lopero, Mauricio Acros-Burgos, and Luis Guillermo Palacio. "Environmental Influences That Affect ADHD." //European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry;// (2010). //EBSCO//. Web. Starr, Mary. "Diagnosing the Disorder Makes a Difference." //Brunswick News, The (GA)// (2010). //EBSCO//. Web.

 Article summaries:

Title :**Attention deﬁcit/hyperactivity disorder or** Author: **Nigel Millor** Date published: **2009** The first Article I have studies the relation ship between seeking attention and actual ADHD. The article states that there is a fine line between these two things. For example all though studies suggest that there is actually no real definition for attention seeking, it is stated as : “attention seeking. . . [refers] to those behaviours which, through their very irritating nature, bring a child to the attention of a number of adults in a persistent manner over a lengthy period of time, causing great concern. We would exclude, for instance, the sudden reaction of a child to an upset at home lasting for a few days or weeks. . .”. Throughout the entire article, Nigel Mellor discusses the differences, and gives examples for both. I believe that this article might actually be useful for my research essay, because my essential question is related to this a little bit. One main focus of the article is also the distinction between behavioral problems: that cause difficulties at home, school, and every day life. And then ADHD which is actually a disease, or disorder. Rate: **4**
 * attention seeking? Ways of distinguishing two**
 * common childhood problems.**

Title: ** Increasing On ****‑ **** Task Behaviors of High School ** Authors: ** Kristall J. Graham **** ‑ **** Day, Ralph Gardner, Yi **** ‑ **** Wei Hsin ** Year published: ** 2010 ** The second article discusses an experiment that was carried out on 3 10th grade students that have the disease of ADHD, during study hall. The observers used a 10 ‑ second whole interval recording system to record on ‑ task/oﬀ ‑ task behavior within an alternating treatment experimental design. I don’t believe that this particular article helped me at all in my research which is why I did not put to much effort into the abstract. Rate: **3**
 * Students with A[ention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity **
 * Disorder: Is it Enough? **

Title**:** ** Environmental influences that affect ** Author : ** David A. Pineda ** Year published : **2007** This article seems very useful to me, and may help me quite a bit in my research project. Mainly because it focuses on the causes of ADHD not just the diagnosis and treatment as many other article have discussed. Some key points that I like about it, are that it is controversial, not just the same old boring suff, and it states what is really going on. For example, in this article one of the main points is the affects that prenatal alcohol and tobacco use can actually affect whether your child has a behavioral disorder. Along with low birth weight, and some medications the child may take for epilepsy or seizures. Rate: 5
 * attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder **
 * Luis Guillermo Palacio **
 * Isabel C. Puerta **
 * Vilma Mercha´n **
 * Clara P. Arango **
 * Astrid Yuleth Galvis **
 * Mo´ ** ** nica Go´ ** ** mez **
 * Daniel Camilo Aguirre **
 * Francisco Lopera **
 * Mauricio Arcos-Burgos **

Title: **Diagnosing the disorder makes a difference.** Author: **Mary Starr** Year published: **2010** Rate: 4 ½ This article was quite helpful with my topic because it firstly explained that ADHD is caused by many things, it could be the cause of bad parenting, and also the cause of heredity disease, and birth deffects. However what I realllly liked about the article was that as it explained the inherited traits and how they affect the disease and the child. The writers broke everything up into steps and details. It really allowed me to analyze and read the article correctly. For example they broke the disease and causes into sub topics, such as Heredity, chilhood exposure to environmetal toxins, altered brain function and anatomy, etc.The detail was also used to describe how environmental factors play a key role in whether children acquire the disease or not. On the website I could have easily accessed the symptoms and the diet information for children with ADHD. Overall it think it was quite a helpful site and article. Rate: 3/4
 * This was also a very helpful article, because instead of staying very broad and almost tip toeing around the problem, mary Starr is actually diagnosing it. In this article Starr states what parents have to look for in a child that they suspect of having ADHD, for example Starr states that it is more common in boys then girls; the disorder can develop even before the age of 7; and finally parents should deff. Keep their eyes open and watch children to see if they are or are not paying enough attention to detail. **
 * Causes of ADHD**
 * By Mayo Clinic Staff**

This article was also very helpful, mainly because they went into soooo much detail and the other article did too. But this one had so many more explanations for things and didn’t just list it. For example, when opening the article, they explain that genetics and neurobiology are the main causes for ADHD, and yes environmental factors do play a role in the severity of the disorder, but they might not cause it. I also learned that scientists are in fact finding more ad more evidence that the stem of ADHD id from biology not necessarily the home. And just like the previous article this one also breaks all the causes down and decribes them very well going into detail. This article also explains the correlation between ADHD and the factor or cause being analyzed. I would deff use this article for my project. Rate: 4
 * What causes ADHD?**
 * Healthy Place .com**