Experts are suggesting putting kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on drugs early in order to improve their academic performance, especially in math.
How early? Some say as it could benefit kids as young as six.
According to research published in a recent issue of Pediatrics, giving younger kids with ADHD stimulant medications can improve their grades and test scores.
A study of 12,000 students out of Iceland concluded that getting kids with ADHD started on drugs like Ritalin and Adderoll earlier were less likely to see their grades fall between the fourth and seventh grades.
Interestingly, Iceland has a national database that records all outpatient prescriptions, helping researchers to see which kids were prescribed medications to treat ADHD and at what age they began drug treatment, according to WebMD.
Girls with ADHD who were treated at a young age, showed a more marked improvement than their male counterparts.
?Performance of kids with ADHD tends to decline over time, especially if medication is delayed,? said Helga Zoega, an epidemiologist at the Institute for Translational Epidemiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and lead author of the study told ABC News. ?Starting medication earlier may halt this decline.?
A majority of kids are diagnosed with ADHD by age 7, she said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently broadened its age guidelines for ADHD to children as young as four years-old.
The Acedemy recommends treating children ages four to five with behavior therapy before resorting to drug treatment.
?Most families come to medication as a last resort,? Ruth Hughes, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Children and Adults with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or CHADD told Bloomberg News in October.
(Source: NY Daily News)
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