Furious Seasons

August 06, 2007

ADHD Is In Your Throat

Here's a story from Tucson, Ariz. about a kiddo who was diagnosed with ADHD, later had his tonsils removed due to sleep apnea concerns, and, boom, his ADHD is all gone. At first, I thought this sounded a bit too weird to be true. But there has been actual research published on this phenomenon. Here and here. Make of it what you will.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 6, 2007 12:03 AM

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Comments

Weird. I never had ADHD, but I had my tonsils taken out twice as a child.

Maybe it wasn't from the tonsils. Maybe it was from all the ice cream you et when your tonsils are removed.

Posted by: susan at August 6, 2007 03:42 AM

This is not a big surprise. There are just very few in psychiatry that have the skills/knowledge,required to uncover the physical health problems that can earn one a psychiatric diagnostic label.This is a common problem. If you're interested in more on this phenomenon, read: A Dose of Sanity:Mind,Medicine and Misdiagnosis by Sydney Walker M.D. It was a real eye-opener.I thought of that book as soon as I read this post. ADHD misdiagnosis is only the tip of the iceberg.
Here's a link for anyone interested in getting the book: http://www.amazon.com/Dose-Sanity-Mind-Medicine-Misdiagnosis/dp/product-description/0471192627

Posted by: thememoryartist at August 6, 2007 04:00 AM

I had a friend who was prescribed Prozac after she described symptoms that fit with the DSM's criteria for depression. A few months after she was prescribed Prozac, her symptoms didn't seem to alleviate. She went to a different doctor and it turned out the problem wasn't depression, but hypothyroidism. Had she remained with the other doctor's recommendations, she would have received either a higher dose of Prozac, another medication, or even ECT.

I agree with thememoryartist that misdiagnosis is a common problem. There is a reason why differential diagnoses are often listed after the symptomatic descriptions of certain diseases and conditions. Psychiatrists and other physicians should not be quick to diagnose one with a psychiatric illness prior to ruling out physical problems. Statistics used to support a diagnosis can be useful and have proven useful, but shouldn't be completely relied on as statistics hide some essential details.

At the same time, physicians have less and less time to spend with their patients, so a quick diagnosis may sometimes be more doable since, as the article you linked to mentions, doctors can miss details. The story of this young boy, formerly with ADHD, seems to imply that there is a problem with both misdiagnosis and the decreasing amount of time physicians are alloted with their patients.

Posted by: anonymousbystander at August 6, 2007 04:19 PM