US report: Medical cases of ADHD in young women are skyrocketing
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/us-report-medical-cases-of-adhd-in-young-women-are-skyrocketing/ar-AAuRZAH?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Over the last decade, the numbers have jumped 344%
The number of young, adult women medicated for ADHD has skyrocketed over the last decade – jumping by 344%, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report points out that these women are of reproductive age, and that there is almost no research on the safety of medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder during pregnancy.
The report does not explain why the number rose so much, but experts in the field note that the public’s understanding of ADHD has been transformed since the early 2000s.
“The good news is that adult women are finally getting diagnosed,” said Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist who has written a half-dozen on ADHD. “I see women go from struggling and feeling so bad about themselves to – they burst into tears when they see how much better their life becomes.”
The percentage of young women who filled at least one prescription for ADHD medication climbed from just under 1% of the population in 2003 to 4% in 2015, according to the report, which looked at women ages 15-44 with private insurance.
Roughly 5% of the adult population is considered to have ADHD, so the increase among women suggests a rightsizing rather than over diagnosis, said Dr. Patricia Quinn, a developmental pediatrician in Washington, DC, who specializes in ADHD in women and girls.
“We’re kind of catching up now,” Quinn said, noting that ADHD used to be diagnosed 10-times more often in men than women. Now, there’s growing recognition in the field that both genders have it at nearly equal rates.
The rise in childhood diagnoses is also likely driving the spike among adult women, said Melissa Orlov, a marriage counselor who specializes in relationship issues in ADHD. As children with ADHD age into adulthood, they are taking their prescriptions with them, she said, citing her own daughter who was in fifth grade in 2001 when she was diagnosed with ADHD and is now 26 and still medicated.
Also, many women realize they have the condition after their child is diagnosed with it. “That seems to be the most common way that adults figure out they have it,” she said.
Orlov said it took more than eight years after her daughter’s diagnosis to realize that another family member had the condition, too. Now, doctors generally alert parents that ADHD is inherited.
The study found that almost all the growth in prescriptions came from women taking stimulant medications, which are considered the most effective drug treatment for ADHD.
But there are only a handful of studies, some contradictory, about the safety of these stimulant drugs during pregnancy.
One large study, published in December, found that babies born to women who used methylphenidate, a type of stimulant medication, during pregnancy, had a slightly increased risk of heart malformations. The study found no association between amphetamines, such as Adderall, and heart malformations. An earlier study had found no connection between methylphenidate and major malformations.
Other research has found a potential link between ADHD medications and a lower Apgar score – a measure of health – at birth.
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Roughly 5% of the adult population is considered to have ADHD, so the increase among women suggests a rightsizing rather than over diagnosis, said Dr. Patricia Quinn, a developmental pediatrician in Washington, DC, who specializes in ADHD in women and girls.
“We’re kind of catching up now,” Quinn said, noting that ADHD used to be diagnosed 10-times more often in men than women. Now, there’s growing recognition in the field that both genders have it at nearly equal rates."
I know I often feel like I suffer from ADH
but I'm sure there are indicat
ors something else to prove my susp
what was the thesis of my mal fecec aga
.
on a more serious note, i'ev tried Adderall dan found it mdae me lexdysic
but ttaw wood eye know
.
on an even more serious note, I believe I should be on it, but do not trust big pHarma cause I've seen them cause big hArma via the opioid crisis that I'm convinced they created