New Device Treats Childhood ADHD With Electric Pulses To Their Foreheads While They Sleep (cnn.com) 98
An anonymous reader quotes CNN:
The first medical device to treat childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, was OK'd Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Designated for children ages 7 to 12 who are not currently on medication for the disorder, the device delivers a low-level electrical pulse to the parts of the brain responsible for ADHD symptoms.... The pocket-sized device is connected by wire to a small adhesive patch placed on the child's forehead above the eyebrows. Designed to be used at home while sleeping, it delivers a "tingling" electrical stimulation to branches of the cranial nerve that delivers sensations from the face to the brain.
A clinical trial of 62 children showed that the Monarch external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation System increases activity in the regions of the brain that regulate attention, emotion and behavior, all key components of ADHD. Compared to a placebo, children using the device had statistically significant improvement in their ADHD symptoms, the FDA said, although it could take up to four weeks to see improvement. Authors of the clinical trial called for additional research to examine if the response to treatment will last over time, and its potential impact on brain development with prolonged use....
The device was previously approved for the treatment of epilepsy and depression in Europe and Canada. Studies at UCLA found the stimulation decreased seizure activity by inhibiting overactive neurons in one section of the brain, while stimulating blood flow in the areas that control mood, attention and executive function.
CNN reports that the manufacturer's web site says the device costs around $1,000 -- and is not covered by insurance.
The FDA added that common side effects could include headache, teeth clenching, and trouble sleeping (as well as fatigue and sleepiness).
A clinical trial of 62 children showed that the Monarch external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation System increases activity in the regions of the brain that regulate attention, emotion and behavior, all key components of ADHD. Compared to a placebo, children using the device had statistically significant improvement in their ADHD symptoms, the FDA said, although it could take up to four weeks to see improvement. Authors of the clinical trial called for additional research to examine if the response to treatment will last over time, and its potential impact on brain development with prolonged use....
The device was previously approved for the treatment of epilepsy and depression in Europe and Canada. Studies at UCLA found the stimulation decreased seizure activity by inhibiting overactive neurons in one section of the brain, while stimulating blood flow in the areas that control mood, attention and executive function.
CNN reports that the manufacturer's web site says the device costs around $1,000 -- and is not covered by insurance.
The FDA added that common side effects could include headache, teeth clenching, and trouble sleeping (as well as fatigue and sleepiness).
Electric shock treatment (Score:2)
isn't new, they were using it nearly a century ago for 'disorders of the brain'
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Ritalin and Adderall alter the brain. ADHD alters the brain.
However, the device only works on a third of children.
My biggest concern with this is the lack of consent. Adults may impose this on children who are misbehaving because their parents suck at parenting. True for Ritalin too.
Also, there's a Netflix documentary on the lack of safety testing of medical devices -- don't know if it applies here.
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Yep, and it actually works wonders for some severe problems. But it's not without its risks, and at least some minor brain damage seems like an inevitable result.
But, hey, in this case it's *so* much easier than drastically reducing your child's intake of refined sugars and caffeine - what's a little brain damage compared to the difficulty actually doing your f'ing job as a parent?
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Many studies have shown that sugar does not any noticeable affect on kids with ADHD; but rather only affect the parents' view of their kids behavior.
And caffeine actually helps with concentration for people with ADHD. My 8yr old has Inattentive ADHD and the days where he has a little coffee before school are the days he does his best.
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Only if he's been good.
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There's a portion of me that believes that the shocks are really just the angry caretakers getting their frustrations out.....
Clearly true in many cases.
In all seriousness though, this is about as effective as applying the average amount of electrostatic discharge to a computer's motherboard and expecting the system to play that cat video already.
Not quite. The brain is analogue, not digital. But let's not pretend this device is precise.
And you can bet they don't know all the side effects yet.
Congratulations on surviving your crap parent and your crap therapy.
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Well yeah, the kid being dead tired all day from being shocked awake every few minutes would make them less hyper during the day......genius
Wouldn't the low tech alternative of chucking a bucket of cold water over them at random times during the night work just as well?
ADHD == Boys not acting like girls (Score:3, Insightful)
There. I said it.
Why do people keep saying the same shit? (Score:2)
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except ADHD only affects about 13% of boys, so it's also == boys not acting like 87% of other boys
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Oh yea? Go to any elementary school around lunch time and observe the number of boys there. It's not 13%. Last time I was at my son's elementary school it was 90% of the boys in his grade. They saw nothing wrong with this. All lined up in a big queue to the nurses office.
NPR had an article out about it around this time. I took him off his drugs the next day. Then I had to fight with the school because I did that. I won of course.
It's been 20 years. He's still not right. He has no where near the drive he had
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Well that could be true. Keep in mind you're not an asshole if you're right.
So how am I an asshole? Because I'm concerned at what's happening and I dare voice it?
I mentioned it because it's a common refrain among fathers. Articles have been written and as I mentioned it's even to the point NPR noticed over a decade ago and it's still happening.
I don't want it to happen to anyone else. Treat those that really honestly and truly need it. Not the ones so certain people can make a bunch of money. They get the b
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It is true that in another era such behavior could have been useful, and thus evolution kept it. Sometimes "flaws" are merely features out of time.
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My kid was really slow and very distracted (Score:4, Informative)
The condition was so obvious, especially compared to his syblings, that as a concerned parent I had him measured on the autism spectrum. The results were fascinating. They told me he had a significantly slow response time on rapid fire type questions. Then they told me that given his other attributes what this showed was the exact opposite of what you might think. He had a very early developed massive processing power and sort of like a neural net gains complexity at the cost of speed this is why he was slow. In otherwords anything you asked him he thought a lot about, not just about what the answrr might be but the nature of the question itself. e.g. ask someone if something is "red" and they can tell you quickly if they don't stop to ask "now is this a question about shades or simple color categories. Is muave red too?".
As kids reach late adolescence the brain stops building the neural net framework so intensively then is starts pruning it for speed. As it turned out as my kid grew older he was always at the top of his class.
So things like ADHD might be good or bad depending. Curing it would have nust made my kid average. We'd never have actually known it reduced his potential because he'd just seem "normal". I'm glad we got good advice and lived through a few difficult years without drugs.
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ADHD: "Curing it would have [j]ust made my kid average."
Very interesting anecdote.
One of my children would have been diagnosed with something or other back in his school days. One one hand he may have gotten treatment to be more "normal". One the other hand he might have never developed into the talented artist that he is today.
ONE THOSAND DOLLARS ?!?!? (Score:1)
That is RIDICULOUS!
Wait a week or two and the plans will be on HackaDay.
In 3 weeks the device will be availabe from China for $4.95.
And if it doesn't work at first - (Score:2)
Just turn up the voltage.
I can't say I'm a huge fan of this idea. It seems of the order of smacking the side of a computer if it malfunctions, with little regard to what this might achieve.
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Have you tried it?
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I have and have recommended it to people, even on slashdot. It is of course not without dangers but then nothing is.
This story isn't about a convulsive treatment however.
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Just turn up the voltage.
Just skip all the nonsense and turn it up to 11! Sizzle, drugs, and rock n roll!
Yeah, definitely room for abuse, which is historical.
But, the basic logic seems good. F'rinstance, the vast majority of equipment that I've worked on would not respond well to a smack, nor would it be necessary. But I've dealt with a few pieces (certainly less than 1%) that required a smack every now and then to fix what ailed it.
(Not that peeps are pieces of equipment; just sticking with the "bad wiring" analogy)
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Yes. It makes me recall the ending of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
This kind of thing should be voluntary, and just be another tool in the toolbox of people who really really want to take care of their specific issues. It's certainly problematical when minors are involved.
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Thank God I was diagnosed in the 80's (Score:1, Funny)
the solution to ADHD back then was to send you back to class to "deal with it".
I graduated 10 years later from an excellent Catholic school.
No electric shock "therapy" needed.
And now you Obama loving Trump hating communists can mod me down.
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Since you're a Trump supporter, it's obvious you don't need any more brain damage-- you have enough already.
Autism and ADHD connection (Score:2, Interesting)
I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago (I'm 35). Look, adderall is pretty great sometimes, but it definitely doesn't solve my biggest problems. It also increases my anxiety and seems to decrease my creativity (which likely comes in some part from allowing the mind to wander which the adderall seems to prevent). I take a beta blocker because the adderall gives me high blood pressure, and I actually think the beta blocker has helped me more than the adderall. I take the beta blocker daily and the adderall
Re: Autism and ADHD connection (Score:1)
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oh nice an electrical lobotomy.
isn't quack science great?
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!
The traditional treatment for mental issues ;)
Concerned about causing sleep deprevation (Score:2)
Something that disrupts sleep can have all sorts of bad side effects.
Face massage (Score:2)
Hmm, I wonder if a good, relaxing facial massage would have just as much effect as this would.
I wonder (Score:2, Insightful)
I wonder if anyone thought of first taking these kids off all the sugars the typical kid today eats for a couple of months before trying shock therapy.
But that would be unthinkable. Today it would be considered cruelty to take away kids' HFCS cererals, soda drinks, and potato and corn chips. So I guess I answered my own question.
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Re:I wonder (Score:4, Informative)
As sugars doesn't increase activity in general and ADHD symptoms in particular that would be catering to adult delusions. Yes there have been research into this.
Reducing sugar intake would of course be beneficial in non-mythical ways.
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I hope you do realize that you are creating the very world you despise by posting this type of crap?
Sugar Misinformation (Score:3)
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You'll find some people who point to a British study that showed the opposite, but they generally won't point to the follow-up where they found that nearly the entire test group was leptin resistant, completely by chance!
Really bad luck for the researchers, but one of those things that pop up statistically every once in a while.
Dr. Robert Lustig at UCSF has the best online videos on the subject.
Welcome to medieval times! (Score:2)
SPECT scanning is interesting... (Score:1)