scholarly journals Cannabis for the Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Report of 3 Cases

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Holly Mansell ◽  
Declan Quinn ◽  
Lauren E. Kelly ◽  
Jane Alcorn

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurobehavioral disorder that is highly prevalent in children and adults. An increasing number of patients with ADHD are self-medicating with cannabis, despite a lack of evidence on efficacy and safety. This case report describes 3 males (ages 18, 22, and 23) who have integrated cannabis into their treatment regimen with positive results. Semistructured interviews conducted with the patients describe subjective improvements in symptoms and on quality of life. Improvements on validated rating scales conducted post-cannabis initiation, compared to pre-cannabis initiation obtained from the medical chart, corroborated their personal accounts. Scores on the PHQ-9 (measuring depression) improved by 8–22 points (30–81%), and the SCARED (measuring anxiety) ranged from 0 to 27 points (up to 33%). Improvements on the CEER-9 scale (measuring regulation) ranged from 2 to 7 points (22–78%), and the 9-item SNAP scale (measuring inattention) showed improvements of 2–8 points (7–30%). Mild adverse events including short-term memory problems, dry mouth, and sleepiness were reported. Blood samples were also collected from the patients to determine the plasma concentrations of the cannabinoids and relevant metabolites before and after a cannabis administration. After cannabis use, the plasma levels for CBD and THC ranged from 0 to 15.29 ng/mL and 1.32 to 13.76 ng/mL, respectively. Cannabinoids, however, were not detected prior to dosing, suggesting that cannabis played a complimentary role in the therapeutic regimen of these 3 patients. Clinical trials are recommended to confirm the efficacy of cannabis in the treatment of ADHD.

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Marie Angello ◽  
Robert J. Volpe ◽  
James C. DiPerna ◽  
Sammi P. Gureasko-Moore ◽  
David P. Gureasko-Moore ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Langrock ◽  
Johannes Hebebrand ◽  
Katharina Radowksi ◽  
Eckard Hamelmann ◽  
Thomas Lücke ◽  
...  

Background: There is an ongoing discussion whether thyroid hormones are involved in the development and course of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Since obesity is associated with both higher thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free triiodothyronine (fT3) concentrations and increased rates of ADHD, we hypothesized that overweight children with ADHD show higher TSH and fT3 concentrations compared to overweight children without ADHD. Methods: TSH, fT3, fT4, and leptin levels were analyzed in 230 children (60.9% boys, 9.3 ± 1.7 years old, 35.7% migration background). The children were divided into four groups (I = 26 overweight children with ADHD, II = 56 normal-weight children with ADHD, III = 66 overweight children without ADHD, and IV = 82 normal-weight children without ADHD). Severity of ADHD was determined by the parent version of the Connors 3® rating scales. Results: Overweight children with ADHD did not differ significantly from overweight children without ADHD with respect to TSH, fT3, or fT4 concentrations. Comparing the thyroid hormones between the four groups also demonstrated no significant differences for TSH and fT4 concentrations. fT3 concentrations were significantly higher in normal-weight children with ADHD compared to normal-weight children without ADHD. Inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity scores were not significantly related to TSH or fT3 in multiple regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, and migration background. In these analyses, TSH was associated with BMI SDS (β coefficient 0.19 ± 0.12, p = 0.002) and leptin (exp[β coefficient] 1.87 ± 1.36, p < 0.001). fT3 (β coefficient 0.06 ± 0.05, p = 0.009) and leptin (exp[β coefficient] 1.17 ± 1.13, p = 0.009) were also associated with BMI SDS. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the relation between overweight and thyroid hormones but point against the hypothesis that thyroid hormones might link overweight and ADHD in children.


Author(s):  
Nawel Abdesslem ◽  
Sabeur Hamrouni ◽  
Roy Jesse Shephard ◽  
Mohamed Souhaiel Chelly

Objective: This study made a preliminary exploration of the efficacy of physically-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and deep relaxation for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: ADHD behavior and cognitive functions were assessed by test D2 and Conner’s scale before and after a one-year physically-based training program. The reliability of test scores was assessed by repeat testing of a control group (CG) of 10 students who did not have ADHD. Children (10 per group) with ADHD were assigned to physically-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and deep relaxation (E1) or physically-based cognitive-behavioral alone (E2). Results: After 52 weeks of treatment, an intra-group comparison showed that E1 and E2 had improved their scores on the test D2, whereas CG showed no significant change. In addition, most participants with ADHD showed a remarkable improvement in their attentional behavior, with group E1 responding better to treatment than group E2. Conclusions: Physically-based cognitive behavioral therapy appears to improve function and social competence in children with ADHD, and should be recommended as an alternative or supplement to pharmaceutical treatment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document