ADHD Drug Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injuries
I’m Ed Smith, a Redding Brain Injury Lawyer. Most people either know someone with ADHD or have ADHD themselves. While the condition has received a significant amount of focus for its impacts on someone’s ability to focus in school, the therapy may hold implications for patients with traumatic brain injuries. A recent study published by the Nature publication Neuropsychopharmacology sought to examine this interesting, new hypothesis.
Brain Injuries Impact Sleep
Patients who suffer traumatic brain injuries, are likely to experience a variety of symptoms. These symptoms could range from headaches with difficulty sleeping to memory loss, trouble focusing, and difficulty with simple tasks. Many medical professionals will track a patient’s symptom resolution as part of the recovery process. Therefore, it makes sense to treat these symptoms to try and restore a patient’s overall quality of life. Given that patients who have suffered head or brain injuries may have trouble focusing, it makes sense that the medical therapy for someone with ADHD may help alleviate these symptoms.
The Study Compared Different Treatment Groups
Researchers conducted a trial that lasted six weeks. The patients were all adults that had experienced some type of traumatic brain injury. The brain injuries did range in severity and patients had differing comorbidities but all patients had experienced some alteration of consciousness and had serious cognitive difficulties identified during the screening process. The study had over seventy patients in total and they were broken up into four different groups. Two of the groups received an ADHD drug therapy (Ritalin) and the other two groups were placed on a placebo treatment (meaning they did not receive any true medical therapy). At the end of the six weeks, the groups were compared in their ability to learn, remain attentive, and perform executive functions. The group that was placed on the ADHD medication performed significantly better in all of these areas, suggesting that the therapy impacted their mental capacity.
Future Directions
While there are certain common medications that are used to treat traumatic brain injuries, such as anti-inflammatory medication and pain medication, this therapy could change with this new research. This first study had a relatively small treatment size and should be replicated using a larger treatment group. Then, the treatment can be further examined to see if possibly it can be incorporated into the standard therapy for treatment of head and brain injuries. Regardless, the study is an important first step that could present new medical treatment for people with neurological injuries.
Contact an Experienced Redding Brain Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Redding Brain Injury Lawyer. It is possible that the pharmacologic therapy used to treat ADHD could have exciting implications for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries. If you or someone you know has developed a traumatic brain injury, please contact my office today at (530) 392-9400 for friendly, free legal advice. Those who are contacting me from beyond the greater Redding area are welcome to use my toll-free line, available at (800) 404-5400.
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Source: Neuropsychopharmacology, a subsidiary of Nature
Image Source: via Wikimedia Commons, used under the Creative Commons Attributions 2.0 Generic License
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