ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Did you know that it has now been determined that approximately one out of every three ADHD cases among United States children are thought to be linked to tobacco smoke before birth or to lead exposure afterward.

This new research was written up in California's Orange County Register Wednesday, September 20, 2006 in the "Health" section. They went on to say that even levels of lead that the government considers acceptable could be linked to a child's risk of having ADHD.

This all adds to previous research linking attention problems, including ADHD with childhood lead exposure and smoking during pregnancy. Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is quoted as saying that this study is a "landmark paper" that actually puts a number to cases of ADHD cases and this exposure to smoking and/or lead.

If this study doesn't point the finger of suspicion on the detrimental effects of low-level lead exposure, nothing will. Researcher Joe Braun of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee said that this study underscores the profound behavioral health impact of these exposures and higlights the need to continue the campaign against smoking as well as childhood lead exposure.

The study can be found on the internet in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Oddly, exposure to tobacco smoke after bith was not associated with ADHD risks, and researchers are saying that there are different "periods of vulnerability to different toxins" directly related to different phases of the developing brain as the possible reason.