ADHD and Family Ties
There's an interesting study that just came out that looks at family links to attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The study, by Medco, shows that parents of children who are on medication for ADHD are nearly 10 times more likely to be getting medical treatment for ADHD themselves than those without a child using those drugs. I can see why that is for a couple of reasons. First of all, I think there are a lot of people who are walking around with undiagnosed ADHD. Parents who have children with ADHD are more likely to be aware of the symptoms in themselves. The study also seems to suggest something that the ADHD community has suspected for a long time -- that ADHD is hereditary. The Medco study reviewed prescription claims of more than 107,000 children ages 5 to 19 and their parents over a 12-month period in 2005. The study is the nation's largest analysis of concurrent use of ADHD medications among family members, according to the company. Here's a link to the Medco news release: