 |
 |
Phil, My son has ADHD, with OCD and anxiety problems. He has been on several meds, some work for a while, then we try another. He just tried Zoloft, and did not help. We will try Paxil starting on Monday. I have read so much about the side effects. I am worried. Has your daughter had many negative reactions? How old is she? My son is 10. -----Original Message----- From: Phil E.Gesotti <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, December 17, 1999 5:05 PM Subject: Re: ADD symptoms like PD? >This is a tempting leap to make in associating the two. My daughter was >also diagnosed as ADHD. However, I'm concerned that ADD and ADHD are >being over diagnosed as a convenient explanation for other things that >may be going on with our children. She was later diagnosed with an >anxiety disorder and put on Paxil which has had more of a positive >effect than any of the ADD drugs. > >I visited with a PD researcher at the University of Virginia on >Wednesday and posed this same question regarding the association of PD >and ADD. His response was that the ADD link with dopamine deficiency is >a very weak assumption and should not be taken too seriously. > >I was then over at NIH this morning talking to molecular biology >researchers about how dopamine is used by the neurons. I was surprised >when I heard that dopamine acts as an inhibitor at the corpus striatum >level, but the mechanics of how this works at the neuron level are not >well understood. When my mouth sort of dropped, he coincidentally >volunteered that amphetamines stimulate the release of dopamine and >amphetamines have been proven effective for relief of ADD symptoms. Thus >the conclusion that ADD may be caused by a dopamine deficiency. His >point was that both amphetamines and levadopa have both been used to >alleviate symptoms of the associated disorders, but that the pure >science that backs up how all this works is not really there. > >Amphetamines could be affecting the release of other neurotransmitters >as well or counterbalancing the overabundance of another >neurotransmitter. > >He did emphasize that although we don't know how all this works today >that our knowledge in this area is growing almost exponentially. What >used to be years between discoveries is becoming months. > >So, in summary, I'm not too concerned about my daughter. Today we are >just jumping to conclusions. In 10 years we will have adequate knowledge >to make a reasonable assessment. In 35 years when my daughter is >approaching my age of diagnosis, I'm sure the cure will have been well >proven. > >My philosophy of life is based on the movie "Butch Cassidy and the >Sundance Kid". As they stood poised to jump off a cliff into a river >hundreds of feet blow, Butch confessed that he couldn't swim. Sundance >replied "Swim? Hell Butch, the fall will probably kill you." We can't >worry about ten years from now. We hope for the best, plan for the >worst, and live life to it's fullest everyday. We never know when that >fall through life is going to kill us. > >Go Airborne! > >Phil Gesotti 50/46+