Texting +ADHD = DISASTER

My ADHD/LD son is 13. I recently decided, against my better judgment, to get him a cell phone and allow him to text. I set limits of usage, allowing only 200 texts per month with our data plan. I soon realized that his life started to revolve around his new found freedom. He felt powerless without his phone. It was an ever-present accessory that I soon began to despise. I randomly checked his texts to make sure he was sending and receiving age appropriate messages. I was shocked at what I found. His “friends” had began bullying him via text. We successfully addressed and eliminated the bullying issue at school and on the bus during the first month of school. Now, it has crept back into his life.

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Canadian scientists discover gene for depression

Canadian scientists have discovered a gene that makes some people susceptible to depression. Speaking in the Forum of European Neuroscience today (9 July), Professor Nicholas Barden said: “This is a major breakthrough in the field of psychiatry and groundbreaking impact on the diagnosis and development of new anti-depressant therapy.” ! br! It is known for many years that genetic factors at the root of depression and bipolar disorder, but the complex molecular networks involved remain unknown. “The actual gene, known as P2RX7, is found in humans and animals and is responsible for a depression. It has taken many years to find,” says neuroscientist, professor of Bards Chul Research Centre in Quebec. Find it very important in uncovering the molecular pathways involved in depression. The results were published in May 2006 American Journal of Medical Genetics * During their lifetimij, approximately 5-12% of men and 10-25% of women experience at least one episode of depression. People with bipolar disorder – also known as manic depression – experience extreme mood swings. The total social costs of depressive disorders is estimated at billions of dollars annually. In 2020, depression is expected to rank first in disease burden in economically developed countries. Depression has until now often associated with the serotonin system in the brain, a system that can affect mood and emotion. “What is particularly exciting is that P2RX7 has nothing to do with serotonin,” said Professor Barden. Drugs that increase the flow of serotonin can be effective anti-depressants, but take weeks to become effective. The fact that P2RX7 nothing to do with serotonin could partly explain it. Animal studies have shown that this gene is known to be expressed in brain areas involved in depression and depressive-like behavior in mice could be reversed by treatment with drugs that stimulate P2RX7.! br! br! P2RX7 also plays an important role in the response of the brains to inflammation, which is known to be part of many neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, stress hormones decrease the activity of this gene, suggesting a mechanism for the onset of depression following severe stress. “A person can be the mutated gene, but it means ‘default setting’ that they can not develop depression. We do not know how P2RX7 work and we still believe that many genes are included in the same route that can lead to depression , “said Professor Barden. The identification of the gene means that anti-depressants in the future, the objective of the gene directly. With anti-depressants currently focused on the serotonin system, P2RX7 is beaten to a degree. In animal studies, activators of P2RX7 have an antidepressant action immediately, giving hope that a nieuweTI-depressant medication, with a new mechanism can be developed.

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Memory Techniques to Help Your ADHD / LD Child

Does your LD child have problems remembering certain facts in science, math, history or English class? Have you tried using mnemonics (pronounced ni-mon-iks) to help him recall facts?

These memorization techniques have been invaluable in my son’s schooling. A few of his favorites include:

• ROY G BIV
  Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
  (This helps students remember the order of the colors in a rainbow)

 

• Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
  Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.
  (This allows students to remember the Order of Operations in math)

 

• My Very Earnest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles
  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
  (This is an easy way to remember the order of the planets from the sun out)

 

• Thirty days hath September, …
  (I even use this mnemonic to help me remember the number of days each month)
  Thirty days hath September,
  April, June, and November;
  All the rest have thirty-one
  Excepting February alone:
  Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine,
  Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.

 

• HOMES
  Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior
  (An easy way to remember the five Great Lakes)

 

• In 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue

For additional mnemonics and other memory techniques you can utilize to help your child, visit these websites:

• http://www.bucks.edu/~specpop/mnemonics.htm
• http://www.web-us.com/memory/mnemonic_techniques.htm

Does your child need to remember something that you can’t find a mnemonic for? Visit the following site, which offers a free mnemonic generator:

• http://spot.colorado.edu/~sonderga/mnemonic.html

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Cheap medicine best for schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients live longer if they cheap generic clozapine than when they swallow more expensive medication. That Finnish researchers write today in the medical journal The Lancet. Minister Klink will be pleased with the research: its aim is for doctors to prescribe cheaper medicines, thus saving on the already expensive health care. Clozapine (sold as Clozaril) is among the first generation antipsychotics. That newer and more modern pills do not always work better, the Finns found that 67,000 cases of Finnish schizophrenia patients over 10 years analyzed. Patients who take modern medicines like quetiapine showed a 41% higher mortality rate than the “old” clozapine. For risperidone (Risperidal) is 35%. Also, olanzapine (Zyprexa that has branded last week was negative press because of side effects manufacturer Lilly would have concealed) is the mortality rate is 13 percent. Jari Tiihonen study according to health authorities clozapine seen wrongly as a last option. While there are negative side effects, but that weighting did not outweigh the benefits of the drug. This would clozapinegebruikers significantly less likely to commit suicide. In Spitz says the director Bert Stavenuiter of Ypsilon, an association of relatives of people with schizophrenia or psychosis, the study shows that the practice should be reviewed. “One patient, not the practitioner determines which side effects are acceptable.” In the Netherlands suffer approximately 130,000 Dutch psychiatric disorder to schizophrenia. The disease usually manifests itself between the 15th and 30th birthday.

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