Article is from Ideas.Ted.com

Half of the American preschoolers diagnosed with ADHD are given drugs to treat the symptoms. Is that necessary? Is there another way?

Neurobiologist David Anderson is alarmed by the idea of drugging children to treat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Especially during adolescence, when changing levels of sex hormones and growth hormones are already having a dramatic impact on a teenager’s brain, he questions the long-term use of a drug that promotes a system like dopamine or serotonin. As he puts it: “You can’t take the kid off the drug after puberty and say, ‘Whoops, let’s go back and do puberty without the drug.’” Read on to learn how drugs like Adderall affect the brain — and why Anderson says that drug treatments should be a last resort in children with ADHD.

One in 10 American children is diagnosed with ADHD — but we still don’t understand the disorder. “There’s this traditional view that common brain disorders like ADHD, anxiety and depression are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, as if the brain were some kind of chemical soup that just needed a little more salt,” says Anderson (TEDxCaltech talk: Your brain is more than a bag of chemicals). Then there’s the emerging view, which is that ADHD and other common brain disorders are “actually disturbances in the neural circuits that mediate emotion, mood and affect.” This distinction matters most when parents, doctors and teachers are evaluating the pros and cons of behavioral, environmental and medical treatment options for a growing child, since current drug treatment options act by globally changing brain chemistry. “Many of the drugs that are taken for conditions like these were discovered by accident, not through an understanding of the underlying physiology of the disorder,” says Anderson. “It was just discovered that they work, and we don’t know how they work really or why they work.

 

Follow the link to read entire article.

Autistic people are not failed versions of “normal.” They’re different, not less

This article breaks my heart. Children forced to kill or be killed by Boko Haram. I thought my prayers came true when reading all the girls were released last week. Keep the girls and Nigeria in your prayers. 

DAKAR, Senegal — As it torments West Africa, Boko Haram is increasingly turning to children to carry out its crimes.

One of every five suicide bombers deployed by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, usually a girl, according to a report released Tuesday by Unicef.

Boko Haram used 44 children in suicide attacks last year, compared with only four in 2014, the report found.

The youngest bomber so far was thought to be 8 years old.

The report seeks to quantify one of the most chilling elements of Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group that has assaulted the Lake Chad region of Africa for years with thievery, beheadings, kidnappings and the torching of entire villages. The group has killed thousands of people and caused a food crisis, leaving the area hungry and in tatters.

Toby Lanzer, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for that region, said Boko Haram’s use of children as suicide bombers “really  beggars belief.”

“To me that’s the epitome of evil,” Mr. Lanzer told reporters during a briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York about his recent trip to northeastern Nigeria. “I cannot think of anything more horrifying.”

It was two years ago this week that the group kidnapped nearly 300 girls from a school in Chibok, Nigeria. Several dozen escaped early on, but most are still missing. Intelligence officials believe they are being used as human shields for Boko Haram leaders hiding in the Sambisa Forest in northeastern Nigeria.

Follow link to read entire article.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/world/africa/boko-haram-children-suicide-bombers-unicef-report.html?_r=0

Xx  M

There are many viruses that have similar characteristics to dengue, yellow fever, and Zika that have the potential to emerge. We don’t know why Zika emerged now. But we know how to develop surveillance systems that will allow us to pick these viruses up if they start to move as Zika has.” This starting point was outlined by tropical medicine expert Duane Gubler at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva in early March. Gubler has spent his career studying tropical infectious diseases with an emphasis on dengue virus (DENV), a flavivirus closely related to Zika virus (ZIKV).1 His introductory presentation at the international meeting about the ZIKV challenge emphasized the complexity of the flavivirus–host relationship and the inevitability, thanks to urbanization and globalization, of emergence and spread of viruses that were previously confined to small, remote geographic areas.

To prevent and control ZIKV infection in humans, we must understand the virus and its vectors, the modes of transmission between mosquitoes and vertebrates and among humans, and the natural history of ZIKV disease. The main challenge today is that most of this knowledge is lacking. Of the 313 articles on Zika identified by a recent PubMed search, only 25 were published between 1952, when the virus was discovered, and 2009, when the first outbreak outside Africa and Asia was reported in the Journal2; 225 were published in 2016.

To read the full article follow the link;

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1603734?query=infectious-disease#.VweaPQYn9_h.twitter

Take care on where you travel. Look at the list of contries with active Zika. The Rio Olympics are left with a big issue. The Americans will not play because of the odds of getting Zika.

Good health to you a family.

:)

Melinda

Here are a few books which helped me understand miscommunications in my marriage and how to work thru distrust. One encouraged me to take the first step to look deep inside and come out better off. I hope you will benefit from reading. If so please leave me a comment or let me know books who’ve helped you.  :)

How We Love-I learned how to have a healthy relationship with my husband. I found this book most helpful, all communications not just with partner.

Brain On Fire–My month of madness-I haven’t read, it’s on top of list.

Shock: The Healing Power Electroconvulsive Therapy by Kitty Dukakis .

Bipolar Disorder-A Guide for patients and Families

The Gifts of Imperfection-Let go of who you think you’re supposed be, embrace who you are.

Seven Choices-The book helped me immensely, I began to grieve my grandparents. She inspired me to become a Minister.

Great presentation with several slides with demographics. Please watch to see how you can support an effort.

Xx  M

 

 

Hope you have a great tomorrow is ahead

Xx  M

Perspective

Zika Virus in the Americas — Yet Another Arbovirus Threat
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and David M. Morens, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:601-604February 18, 2016DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1600297

The explosive pandemic of Zika virus infection occurring throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean (see map
Countries with Past or Current Evidence of Zika Virus Transmission (as of December 2015).and potentially threatening the United States is the most recent of four unexpected arrivals of important arthropod-borne viral diseases in the Western Hemisphere over the past 20 years.

It follows dengue, which entered this hemisphere stealthily over decades and then more aggressively in the 1990s; West Nile virus, which emerged in 1999; and chikungunya, which emerged in 2013. Are the successive migrations of these viruses unrelated, or do they reflect important new patterns of disease emergence? Furthermore, are their secondary health consequences of this arbovirus pandemic that set it apart from others?

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1600297?query=health-policy-and-reform&

The link above takes you to full article.mThe New England Journal of Medice is a great source for Heath related articles.

Xx  M

The New England Journal comes thru with additional information on Zika.

Perspective

Zika Virus as a Cause of Neurologic Disorders
Nathalie Broutet, M.D., Ph.D., Fabienne Krauer, M.Sc., Maurane Riesen, M.Sc., Asheena Khalakdina, Ph.D., Maria Almiron, M.Sc., Sylvain Aldighieri, M.D., Marcos Espinal, M.D., Nicola Low, M.D., and Christopher Dye, D.Phil.
March 9, 2016DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1602708

Zika virus infections have been known in Africa and Asia since the 1940s, but the virus’s geographic range has expanded dramatically since 2007. Between January 1, 2007, and March 1, 2016, local transmission was reported in an additional 52 countries and territories, mainly in the

Americas and the western Pacific, but also in Africa and southeast Asia. Zika virus infections acquired by travelers visiting those countries have been discovered at sites worldwide. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the principal vectors, though other mosquito species may contribute to transmission. The virus was found to be neurotropic in animals in experiments conducted in the 1950s, and recent experiments have shown how it can cause neural-cell death. A rise in the incidence of Guillain–Barré syndrome, an immune-mediated flaccid paralysis often triggered by infection, was first reported in 2013 during a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia.

An increase in the incidence of microcephaly, a clinical sign that can be caused by underdevelopment of the fetal brain, was first reported in northeastern Brazil in 2015, after Zika virus transmission had been confirmed there. These reports of excess cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome and microcephaly led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on February 1, 2016, and to recommend accelerated research into possible causal links between Zika virus and neurologic disorders.

If you want like to read the full article at the link before. It’s serious yet I’m not sure what the protocol is if you suspect you or a family, be on safe side and go to hospital. I would call ahead since not hospitals have containment rooms.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1602708

Xx  M

FDA MedWatch – Eye Drops: FDA Statement – Potential Risk of Loose Safety Seals
03/15/2016

Eye Drops: FDA Statement – Potential Risk of Loose Safety Seals

AUDIENCE: Consumer, Eye Care

ISSUE: FDA is warning the public about eye drop bottles that have loose plastic safety seals or tamper evident rings below the bottle cap that may fall onto the eye when the product is used. See Safety Statement for example photo.

FDA has received reports of six adverse events associated with loose safety seals on eye drop bottles. FDA is in the process of identifying all relevant products and will require a change in the packaging design.

BACKGROUND: The plastic safety seal or tamper-evident ring, also known as a collar, or band, should stay connected to the bottle neck. However, some eye drop bottles are losing the safety seals or rings when consumers tilt or squeeze the bottle to place eye drops into their eyes. A loose safety seal or ring presents a safety risk as it may cause eye injuries.

RECOMMENDATION: Consumers and health care providers who have these products should not attempt to remove the ring or seal because there is a potential to contaminate the tip of the dropper.

FDA strongly recommends when using tamper-evident rings, the bottle/cap design include a positive-retention mechanism similar to those on disposable plastic beverage bottles to prevent the rings from coming off while using the product.

FDA is continuing to investigate this issue and will provide more information when it is available.

Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:

Complete and submit the report Online: http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report
Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178

Read the MedWatch Safety Alert, including links to the FDA Safety Statement, at:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm490862.htm

 

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Xx  M

 

My fantasy about life with High School boyfriend started the day we met. Our relationship was on and off until my late 30’s. He had to marry me, then go back to wife. The last time we talked, he was moving out, filed for divorce, leased an apartment, later started to move in with me. I should include, I bought the ring $12,500, he would repay. HA!

He gave new meaning to word jealous. I went to FL for business, had several presentations to finish. I stayed over a Saturday for the discount. The baby man said “I stayed over Saturday instead of paying more to be with him” I watched the Stars go for second Stanley Cup.

One afternoon his wife wanted to talk. Be gone a hour or two. At 11:00PM, I called asking when coming home? Reply, later! I had to restrain from hurling my favorite pissed off words. He laid key on table, said he was going back to wife. After he left, I bursted in tears and threw his stuff on the porch.

He emailed me the secret years later. His view, if you accuse someone of cheating, you get free pass. He didn’t go back to wife, the free pass got pregnant. She worked for him at Police Department. He would lie before tell the truth. Fantasy over! My choice last words, fuck off.

We fell “love at first sight” in 9th grade, his mask melted many years later.  I’m blessed a detour changed my path.

Xx  M