Effects of Sugar on Aggressive and Inattentive Behavior in Children With Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity and Normal Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 960-966
Author(s):  
Esther H. Wender ◽  
Mary V. Solanto
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Clinical Significance ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Dietary Recommendations ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Acute Ingestion ◽  
Cognitive Attention

Foods high in refined sugar are claimed to exacerbate hyperactivity and increase aggressive behavior. Controlled studies have failed to confirm any effect on hyperactivity and effects on inattention have been equivocal. Possible effect on aggressive behavior has received little study. This study assessed cognitive attention and aggressive behavior immediately following an acute ingestion of sugar compared with saccharin and aspartame-sweetened placebos in 17 subjects with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity compared with 9 age-matched control subjects. The sugar and placebo challenges were given with a breakfast high in carbohydrate. Although the children with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity were significantly more aggressive than the control subjects, there were no significant effects of sugar or either placebo on the aggressive behavior of either group. However, inattention, as measured by a continuous performance task, increased only in the attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity group following sugar, but not saccharin or aspartame. This result is of questionable clinical significance inasmuch as aggressive behavior was unchanged. The finding may be due to the combination of the sugar challenge with a high-carbohydrate breakfast. These findings should be replicated and any possible clinical significance should be documented before any dietary recommendations can be made.

New Evidence on Diet in Hyperkinesis

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-250
Author(s):  
L. Eugene Arnold ◽  
Elaine Nemzer
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
New Evidence

We wish to draw the attention of practicing pediatricians to two recent studies that converge on some important clinical implications for management of attention deficit disorder (ADD, hyperkinesis, MBD). Prinz and associates1 found in a sample of hyperkinetic and normal children that destructive-aggressive and restless behavior significantly correlated with the amount of sugar consumed by a child, with the ratio of sugar products to other foods, and perhaps most importantly, with the ratio of carbohydrate to protein in the diet.

Cognitive Styles of School-Age Children Showing Attention Deficit Disorders with Hyperactivity

1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue B. Stoner ◽  
Michael A. Glynn
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Therapeutic Implications ◽  
Embedded Figures Test ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Embedded Figures ◽  
Matching Familiar Figures Test

Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) children (23 boys and 5 girls) and 28 normal children (23 boys and 5 girls) were matched by age. The ADDH group had a mean score of 2.06 on the hyperactivity scale of the Parent Symptom Questionnaire; a mean score of 1.5 is accepted as the lower limit for establishing hyperactivity. Both groups were individually administered The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised, Children's Embedded Figures Test, and Matching Familiar Figures Test. No significant difference appeared on the Matching Familiar Figures Test, a measure of cognitive styles of reflection-impulsivity with intelligence statistically controlled; however, a significant main effect was found on the Children's Embedded Figures Test which suggests that ADDH children are field-dependent. Some therapeutic implications were discussed.

An Examination of Blood Cell Membrane Potential as a Diagnostic Test of Attention Deficit Disorder in Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Stepanova ◽  
Robert L. Findling ◽  
Dana Kaplin ◽  
Bernice Frimpong ◽  
Sofia Pikalova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Blood Cell ◽  
Diagnostic Test ◽  
Clinical Significance ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Blood Draw ◽  
Youth With Adhd

Objective: To reexamine previous findings that reported that blood cells’ membrane potential ratios (MPRs™) differ between youth with ADHD and controls and to determine whether psychostimulants affect MPRs™. Method: Forty-four youth (ages 6-17) with ADHD (not currently taking psychostimulants; n = 24) and controls ( n = 20) completed the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 7 (MINI 7) and a blood draw to determine MPR™. Youth with ADHD provided another blood draw 30 days after receiving psychostimulants. Results: MPR™ values of participants with ADHD who were not taking stimulants were not significantly different from those of the controls. MPR’s™ sensitivity was 79.2% and specificity 25.0%. Among youth with ADHD, there was a trending association between lower MPRs™ and taking stimulants (compared with baseline). Conclusion: Results neither replicate prior findings nor support MPRs’™ utility in diagnosing ADHD in youth. We identified possible MPR™ changes after participants with ADHD began stimulants. Further studies are needed to establish the clinical significance of this finding.

scholarly journals Attention Patterns in Children with Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1093-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil Zalsman ◽  
Orat Pumeranz ◽  
Gabriel Peretz ◽  
David H. Ben-Dor ◽  
Sharon Dekel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Continuous Performance Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Equal Degree ◽  
Before And After

The objective of this study was to differentiate the attention patterns associated with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity using continuous performance test (CPT). The diagnoses were based on the DSM-III, III-R, and IV criteria and of the 39 children who participated in the study, 14 had attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) and 11 had attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADDWO), while 14 normal children served as a control group. Attention patterns were examined according to the performance of subjects on the CPT and parental scores on the ADHD Rating Scale, the Child Attention Profile, and the Conners Rating Scale. CPT performances were assessed before and after administration of 10 mg methylphenidate. We found as hypothesized that the CPT differentiated between the ADDH and ADDWO groups. However, contrary to our expectations, the ADDH children made more omission errors than the ADDWO children; they also showed more hyperactivity and impulsivity. The performance of both groups improved to an equal degree after the administration of methylphenidate. It is conluded that different subtypes of the attention deficit disorders are characterized by different attention profiles and that methylphenidate improves scores on test of continuous performance.

Sustained Release and Standard Methylphenidate Effects on Cognitive and Social Behavior in Children With Attention Deficit Disorder

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Pelham ◽  
James Sturges ◽  
JoAnn Hoza ◽  
Casey Schmidt ◽  
Jan Jaap Bijlsma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Release ◽  
Treatment Program ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Standard Drug ◽  
Summer Treatment Program ◽  
Time Courses

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relative effects of sustained release methylphenidate (Ritalin [SR-20]) and standard methylphenidate (Ritalin, 10 mg, administered twice daily). In the first study, 13 boys with attention deficit disorder participating in a summer treatment program went through a double-blind, within-subject trial of each form of methylphenidate and placebo. Measures of social and cognitive behavior were gathered in classroom and play settings. Although group analyses of the data showed that both drugs were effective and there were few differences between them, standard methylphenidate was superior to SR-20 on several important measures of disruptive behavior. Furthermore, analyses of individual responsivity showed clearly that most boys responded more positively to standard methylphenidate than to SR-20. The second study involved a partially overlapping group of nine boys with attention deficit disorder participating in the same summer treatment program. Also double-blind, within-subject, and placebo controlled, this study tracked the time courses of the two forms of methylphenidate. Both were shown to have similar time courses on the Abbreviated Conners Rating Scale and other measures, but SR-20 had a slower onset than did the standard drug form on a continuous performance task. Effects of SR-20 were still evident eight hours after ingestion.

Clonidine and Sudden Death

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 1176-1177
Author(s):  
Michael J. Maloney ◽  
Jeffrey S. Schwam
Keyword(s):  
Sudden Death ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Cardiac Toxicity ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Tourette's Syndrome ◽  
Tourette’S Syndrome ◽  
Drug Surveillance ◽  
Child Psychiatrists

Clonidine is used by pediatricians and child psychiatrists for tics, Tourette's syndrome, and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD) with aggressive behavior. However, recent evidence of sudden death and cardiac toxicity associated with clonidine raises concern about the widespread use of this medication. There are three unpublished cases where the combination of clonidine and methylphenidate has been associated with unexplained sudden death in children ages 7,8, and 9 years (Frenia M.L., personal communication, September 21, 1995, Drug Surveillance and Information, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals).

Responses to methylphenidate in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and normal children: Update 2002

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Rapoport ◽  
G. Inoff-Germain
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Pediatric Study ◽  
Hyperactive Children

Since the positive effects of stimulants on disruptive behavior were described (Bradley a Bowen, 1941), further pediatric study has been limited almost exclusively to samples of hyperkinetic school-age children. Because these agents normally were viewed as arousing in their effects on the central nervous system, but were calming in their therapeutic effects on these children, stimulant effects on Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) were interpreted as being “paradoxical.” Investigation of effects in normal children and adolescents and in those with disorders unrelated to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as well as in young adult samples, however, indicate that stimulants appear to have similar behavioral effects in normal and in hyperactive children. This brief report is an update (as of August 2002) on studies of stimulants in ADHD and normal children, with particular focus on MPH.

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