What is ADHD in Children- Will It Go Away?

Many a parent with a child showing some ADHD symptoms will be eager to understand what is ADHD in children and the immediate question of whether it can ever go away.

Parents will desperately hope that their kid will outgrow this ADHD thing. However, to date, there is not any straight forward answer to whether or not ADHD ever goes away. There are of course ways that you can manage the disorder with medication and other natural methods.

One way to try to get the disorder to "go away" is if researchers can concentrate on identifying the causal factors which can then be eliminated. But for now, there are still many varying opinions regarding the causal factors of ADHD.  Different  experts have come to different conclusions about whether ADHD is permanent or not.   

Does Food Affect ADHD?

Many studies have been done on this topic regarding the role of diet in ADHD. There are a few of these studies which suggest that modifying the diet of children could greatly reduce ADHD symptoms and in some cases even appear to eliminate it totally.   However, many of these studies show that not all cases can benefit from dietary changes alone but they did make a difference in the majority of test cases.  In one case done in 2011, 64% did seem to have their ADHD eliminated.

Thus, to many parents, this is a possibility that they very much hope for.  If you are a parent with a ADHD child, the first thing you should do is to alter their diet as he or she may be one who can benefit from diet changes as their ADHD could be triggered by food related factors. 

In the important landmark study in 2011, the doctors doing the study stressed that their approach was to first look for any causal factor wherever ADHD symptoms are observed.   This then would be key to managing the case.  As each patient is different, causal factors may differ too.  

So if you think that diet route is the culprit, look for a nutritionist or health care provider who is familiar and experienced with this topic and start on dietary changes first before you even think of other medications.

Therapy and Medication

Many medical experts and even families of children with ADHD do believe that this is one disorder that can never really go away. Rather, they are of the opinion that it is better to concentrate on ways to manage the symptoms through various ways like medication or other alternative methods. Instead of always trying to get a permanent cure for ADHD, they believe that instead we should try to improve the parts of the brain that is showing deficiencies.  They think that a better approach is to re-train the brain and lessen or eliminate the symptoms.  In a way the cure is not permanent but the patient is able to go about his life normally as though he does not have ADHD.  In a way, he has learnt to live with it by managing the symptoms.

Research has already shown that the ADHD brain in fact operate differently than normal brains.   Most healthcare professional and parents often focus on how to normalize the ADHD symptoms and they seldom try to approach the problem by identifying the cause of these abnormal brain patterns instead.  That is why most feel that although the brain abnormalities exist, it is not sufficient reason to warrant direct treatment of these abnormalities on their own.

Management of Symptoms

Regardless of what is our opinion as to the best approach for this, the symptoms must be managed. That way, the child with ADHD can live a normal life without always feeling that he or she has a disorder and is not normal.  A diagnosis of ADHD does not necessarily mean that you have to work with the same symptoms throughout your life.  Many symptoms can improve or go away with time as you learn to manage them.  For example, in the case of my kid, the brain exercises were able to improve their working memory and reduce a lot of their problems in school.   

What you need to do as a parent is to work around learning how to manage and improve these symptoms.  You should find health care providers who can work with you and someone you can feel comfortable with so that you are always part of the program or effort to trying an approach to treatment for your child.

 

 What is ADHD in Children?