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Post by newbi on Jul 23, 2011 15:24:01 GMT
Id just like to bring into into our awareness that there is an absolutely amazing book out on ADD- SCATTERED, How Attention deficit disorder oroginates and What You can do about it. Its one of the two best books on ADD Ive ever come accross...for those who enjoy delving deeper into the neuroscientific and psychological roots of the cause. Written in a simple and popular language by drgabormate.com/read excerpts here: www.scatteredminds.com/about.htmIt really should be included in the Library page of this website.
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Post by phil on Jul 23, 2011 15:49:18 GMT
Spam lol
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Post by tim on Jul 23, 2011 23:17:11 GMT
I'm a bit worried about this book.
In the blurb it claims that ADHD is caused by 'early childhood experiences' rather than genetic factors. That's basically very wrong, and I think a little dangerous if left unchallenged.
If you have a disease, that seems to be passed down in families, you ask "is this caused by genes, or something cultural".
One way of studying this is to look at how many adopted children with diseased parents go on to have the disease. If the disease was caused by the way the kids were brought up, you'd expect ADHD parent kids in new families to have the same rates of disease as normal people. This isn't the case, actually, kids with ADHD biological parents, who were adopted as babies, are 9 times more likely to have ADHD than adopted kids generally. The same is true of kids with ADHD parents adopted into a completely different culture, e.g. kids from Romania with ADHD parents, adopted and brought to America as babies.
I think that's pretty conclusive proof that ADHD is caused by genes.
In analysis that look at lots of different types of 'cohort study' like the above, it was found that 90% of ADHD is due to environmental factors, and 10% is due to environment.
The same studies show attention deficit as a spectrum, with the extreme on that spectrum being called ADHD. This is like saying weight is a spectrum, with dangerous overweightness being called obesity. Or blood pressure is a spectrum, with dangerously high blood pressure being called 'high blood pressure'. We know that people with attention/hyperactivity problems big enough that they are diagnosable have bad outcomes. You could read studies on that, that talk about reduced lifespans, unemployment, car crashes, life stress leading to other more directly dangerous mental problems. Or you could read this forum.
However, there has been a problem identifying the exact genes that cause ADHD. This too deserves a bit of context, because although it has been used as a platform from which to attack the validity of the disorder that doesn't really stand up either. Studies like the ones described above have shown that a whole bunch of diseases are genetic. The best understood of these in Crones disease. Crones disease is 60% heritable, and we have genes that explain about 20% of that. Just 20%. That's the best one.
Psychiatric diseases in general have apparently been a nightmare to find genes for, and the current theory is that they are a result of maybe hundreds of little mutations adding up to make someone what we would call diseased. That would explain why ADHD is so variable. Every ADHD case would have a unique combination of many different genes, and end up looking slightly different.
Anyway, done ranting, just figured if your gonna read a bunch of stuff you should vomit it out occasionally.
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Post by newbi on Jul 24, 2011 16:59:35 GMT
Spam lol sorry didnt know this would be considered a spam. How strange - Youd think that if there is anything out there that can help one with something as peculiar as AD(H)D you only want to know about it, here... I personally found this book and another one, that I dont even dare to mention now for fear of being classed as a spammer!! - most helpfull in my quest for understanding myself and finding some relief.
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Post by newbi on Jul 24, 2011 17:26:27 GMT
I'm a bit worried about this book. In the blurb it claims that ADHD is caused by 'early childhood experiences' rather than genetic factors. That's basically very wrong, and I think a little dangerous if left unchallenged. well, since I have now got the whole book and not just the blurb, I can only say that the author seems to be saying something slightly different: that from his understanding it is caused by a mixture of both: nature versus nurture. Plus he has been diagnosed with ADD himself, in adulthood and so have his three children: " I was not an undereducated teenager eager for kicks when I self-administered the Ritalin. Already in my fifties, I was a successfull and respected family doctor whose columns of medical opinion were praised for their thoughtfullness. I practise medicine with a high value on avoiding pharmacology unless absolutely unnecessary ( ~~ my note: a value I share!~ ) and needless to say, i have always advised patients against self-medicating..." I find this book very interesting because I am also an adult who finally pushes for ADD diagnosis after 40 or so years of struggle which I have explored high and low in various psychotherapies, counselling sessions and self awareness programmes. I too have always been an advocate of avoiding pharmacology, but after reading the other book - ok, it was Dr Brown book - i decided I want to get diagnosed so that I can try Ritalin no matter how much I hated the idea of it. Of course, discovering how difficult is that on NHS, so in the meantime studying any other material that can be usefull. Well I have identified with almost everything in Dr Brown book and now, reading Scattered, I too find myself at home there and things are making so much sense to me. I think this book is really well worth reading for those who really want to understand things on a deeper level. " Medicine tells us as much about the meaningfull performance of healing, suffering and dying as chemical analysis tells us about the aesthetic value of pottery." Ivan Illich, Limits to Medicine
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Post by tim on Jul 24, 2011 19:17:12 GMT
Sorry newbi, I feel really bad. I thought you were a marketing robot so I didn't post very politely. Really we should have known better because the links are not affiliate links.
I read the guys bio and he has written some other interesting books. And I agree with you that stuff is complicated. That blurb was just a bit hypie you know?
I know what you mean about ritalin being a scary idea. Do keep going with the NHS. You might just need to switch GP a couple times.
What was it that you really liked about this book?
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Post by phil on Jul 26, 2011 15:33:11 GMT
so how has this book changed you're life newbi? these books don't come cheap and why not just post these findings in a free blog? because theres pie and mash to be made from this
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Post by ChaosLily on Jul 26, 2011 16:35:47 GMT
I tend to be a tad distrusting of folk who don't sign up and just burst in with a 'buy this' post too Phil.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2011 16:54:08 GMT
I tend to be a tad distrusting of folk who don't sign up and just burst in with a 'buy this' post too Phil. Exactly.
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kreate
Member posts quite a bit
Posts: 190
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Post by kreate on Jul 28, 2011 21:55:30 GMT
worth reading if recommended by an ADHDer, cheers for the recommendation.
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kreate
Member posts quite a bit
Posts: 190
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Post by kreate on Jul 28, 2011 21:56:10 GMT
oh, newbie - Guest...
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Post by andy12345 on Aug 12, 2011 14:38:39 GMT
skullduggery
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Post by boo on Aug 12, 2011 18:42:32 GMT
is that a good book too andy
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Post by andy12345 on Aug 12, 2011 18:43:42 GMT
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