Exposure to Anesthesia during infancy may increase the risk of ADHD

17 June, 2012

Does your child act without thinking? Does your child feel difficulty in sitting still for some time? Does your child start work but is unable to finish it? If these conditions match with the behavior of your child, then your child might be at risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). All the kids having ADHD exhibits these kinds of symptoms, when they are anxious but the difference is that the symptoms are present for a longer period of time in the kids with this disorder.

ADHD is characterized by three problems, namely inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, but the child may not exhibit all the three behaviors. This disorder affects almost eight to ten percent of the school going kids, and is three times more common in boys than girls.

According to a research done by myoclinic, it was found that if the children below the age of three years have undergone two to three surgeries using general anesthesia then they are at a higher risk of ADHD. The study lead by Dr David Warner, analyzed the data of 341 children suffering from this disorder and out of them 18 percent of the children underwent one or two surgeries, and the remaining were exposed to anesthesia once or never.

The cause of ADHD has not been discovered. A theory came up through the brain imaging studies between the individuals with and without the disorder. The study between twin sibling demonstrated that, if one identical twin is effected with ADHD then there are 92 percent chances of the disorder in the other one, but the probability falls to 33 percent in non identical twins, reported Medindia.

The six major tasks of brain which are been effected by ADHD are:

Shifting from one mind set to another
Organization of task
Planning
Emotional feelings
Working memory
Regulating speech and movements appropriately

The ADHD symptoms are related to behavior, they don't exhibit any physical symptoms. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health, 4th ed. (DSM-IV), copyright 1994, American Psychiatric Association, has specified that if the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity last for more than six months then it can be diagnosed as ADHD. The symptoms of the three behaviors in detail are discussed below.

Inattention – fails to pay attention during studies and does careless mistakes in day to day activities. They are always distracted and fail to sustain their attention in doing a particular work. Dislikes tasks that need attention. Gets easily distracted with little of disturbance.

Hyperactivity – can't sit at a place for more time, where remaining seated is expected (e.g. In classroom). They mostly run and climb at inappropriate situations. Likes to talk excessively.

Impulsiveness – they comes up with there answer before the question is completed. Faces difficulty to wait for there turn and often interrupts other to get there work done.

There are no specific ADHD tests, it requires a medical diagnosis from your physician, a psychiatrist may be helpful. The psychiatrist will try to collect different kinds of information from you such ashistory about the symptoms, the time of its appearance, the medical history of the individual, past psychiatric history of the patient, difficulties faced by the individuals during his academics, mental and physical health of the parents and about the environment where the patient is staying, reported the website netdoctor.

The ADHD medications involve stimulants such as methylphenidate (retalin) and dexamfethamin (dexidrine). Retalin helps to reduce hyperactivity and impulsivness and focuses on increasing the attention of the child. The child shows better improvement but there are many side effects associated with this drug, as per emedicinehealth.