Identifying, dealing with adult ADHD
James Carville, the political analyst, didn’t know he had ADHD until he was in his late 50s. That’s not unusual. It’s estimated that adult ADHD affects more than 8 million folks in the U.S. and up to 80 percent may be unaware they have the condition.
Although being diagnosed later in life may come as a big surprise — it offers a chance to address troubling issues that affect your personal and work life.
According to Children and Adults with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), a diagnosis of adult ADHD is determined by symptoms such as difficulty with personal interaction, impulsiveness, restlessness and difficulty paying attention; the duration of symptoms; and the degree to which these symptoms harm your everyday life. For example, if you lost a job because of ADHD symptoms, have excessive marital problems, or got into financial trouble. In addition, someone who knew you as a child needs to verify you had unacknowledged symptoms back then.
Once diagnosed, there are nonmedical approaches adults can use to ease symptoms. They include cognitive behavioral therapy, which gives you tools to deal with stresses caused by ADHD, and neurofeedback, which teaches you how to regulate your brain waves to improve brain function and emotional well-being. Family or couples counseling can also be helpful.
Sugar sadness
Two studies reinforce what I have been saying for years — added sugar is one of the most harmful food additives, fueling inflammation, chronic diseases like diabetes, heart woes and sexual dysfunction, and causing premature aging.
The first is an epidemiologic study published in JAMA that found that when postmenopausal women had one or more sugar-sweetened drinks a day, they were 78 percent more likely to develop liver cancer and die from chronic liver disease than women who had three or fewer sweetened beverages monthly. Not as solid as a controlled trial, but the degree of increase in risk makes one believe it may reflect reality.
The second epidemiologic study, released in Frontiers in Nutrition, found that participants who got more than 25 percent of their total calorie intake from added sugar were 88 percent more likely to develop kidney stones compared to folks who got only 5 percent of their calories from added sugars. The difference in risks is so great that where there’s smoke there may be fire.