493 BC |
The great physician-scientist Hippocrates described a condition that seems to be compatible with what we now know as ADHD. He described patients who had "quickened responses to sensory experience, but also less tenaciousness because the soul moves on quickly to the next impression". Hippocrates attributed this condition to an "overbalance of fire over water”. His remedy for this "overbalance" was "barley rather than wheat bread, fish rather than meat, water drinks, and many natural and diverse physical activities." |
1845. |
- ADHD was alluded to by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann, a physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry. Dr. Hoffman was also a poet who became interested in writing for children when he couldn't find suitable materials to read to his 3-year-old son. The result was a book of poems, complete with illustrations, about children and their undesirable behaviours. "Die Geschichte vom Zappel-Philipp" (The Story of Fidgety Philip) in Der Struwwelpeter was a description of a little boy who could be interpreted as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[61] Alternatively, it may be seen as merely a moral fable to amuse young children at the same time as encouraging them to behave properly.
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1902 |
The English pediatrician George Still, in a series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in England, described a condition which some have claimed is analogous to ADHD. Still described a group of children with significant behavioral problems, caused, he believed, by an innate genetic dysfunction and not by poor child rearing or environment.
Analysis of Still's descriptions by Palmer and Finger indicated that the qualities Still described are not "considered primary symptoms of ADHD". |
1918–1919 |
The 1918–1919 influenza pandemic left many survivors with encephalitis, affecting their neurological functions. Some of these exhibited immediate behavioral problems which correspond to ADD. This caused many to believe that the condition was the result of injury rather than genetics. |
1937 |
Dr. Bradley in Providence RI reported that a group of children with behavioral problems improved after being treated with stimulant medication. |
1957 |
The stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) became available. It remains one of the most widely prescribed medications for ADHD in its various forms (Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta, Metadate, and Methylin). |
1960 |
Stella Chess described "Hyperactive Child Syndrome", introducing the concept of hyperactivity not being caused by brain damage. |
1966 |
By 1966, following observations that the condition existed without any objectively observed pathological disorder or injury, researchers changed the terminology from Minimal Brain Damage to Minimal Brain Dysfunction. |
1973 |
Dr Ben F. Feingold, Chief of Allergy at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco, claimed that hyperactivity was increasing in proportion to the level of food additives. |
1975 |
Pemoline (Cylert) is approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of ADHD. While an effective agent for managing the symptoms, the development of liver failure in at least 14 cases over the next 27 years would result in the manufacturer withdrawing this medication from the market. |
1980 |
The name Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) was first introduced in DSM-III, the 1980 edition. |
1987 |
The DSM-IIIR was released changing the diagnosis to "Undifferentiated Attention Deficit Disorder." |
1994 |
- DSM-IV described three groupings within ADHD, which can be simplified as: mainly inattentive; mainly hyperactive-impulsive; and both in combination.
- 1996 – ADHD accounted for at least 40% of child psychiatry references.
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1999 |
New delivery systems for medications are invented that eliminate the need for multiple doses across the day or taking medication at school. These new systems include pellets of medication coated with various time-release substances to permit medications to dissolve hourly across an 8–12 hour period (Medadate CD, Adderall XR, Focalin XR) and an osmotic pump that extrudes a liquid methylphenidate sludge across an 8–12 hour period after ingestion (Concerta). |
1999 |
The largest study of treatment for ADHD in history is published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Known as the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA Study), it involved more than 570 ADHD children at 6 sites in the United States and Canada randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups. Results generally showed that medication alone was more effective than psychosocial treatments alone, but that their combination was beneficial for some subsets of ADHD children beyond the improvement achieved only by medication. More than 40 studies have subsequently been published from this massive dataset. |
2001 |
The International Consensus Statement on ADHD is published and signed by more than 80 of the world's leading experts on ADHD to counteract periodic media misrepresentation that ADHD is a real disorder and that medications are justified as a treatment for the disorder. In 2005, another 100 European experts on ADHD added their signatures to this historic document certifying the validity of ADHD as a valid mental disorder. |
2003 |
Atomoxetine, the first new medication for ADHD in 25 years, receives FDA approval for use in children, teens, and adults with ADHD. |
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This Article has been modified using Wikipedia and released under GNU Free Documentation License. |
