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Diseases » Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder » Glossary

Glossary for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a mental and behavioral disorder characterized by behavioral problems such as hyperactivity, inattention, concentration difficulty, and other mental symptoms. The related description Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be a more modern description of the disease.
Misdiagnosis of ADD is a well-known controversy in the sense that cases of hyperactivity in children may be over-diagnosed. There is a tendency for parents to seek and doctors to prescribe the drug Ritalin even in cases where the diagnosis of ADD or ADHD may be incorrect. Alternative diagnoses include normal child behavior (i.e. just an active child), food intolerances, or other behavioral disorders (see misdiagnosis of ADD).
On the other hand, ADD is under-diagnosed in adults, with a large number of adults having ADD without knowing it; see misdiagnosis of Adult ADD.
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental and behavioral disorder characterized by behavioral problems such as hyperactivity, inattention, concentration difficulty, and other mental symptoms. Typically, ADHD and associated hyperactivity is known as a childhood disorder, although ADD/ADHD in adults is known to be under-diagnosed. It is distinguished from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) which has a reduced focus on hyperactivity type symptoms.
Aarskog Syndrome: A rare genetic condition characterized by facial, hand, genital and growth abnormalities.
Addiction: Any of various addictions to substances or activities.
Adverse reaction: A reaction that is not anticipated and detrimentally affects the patient
Allergies: Immune system over-reaction to various substances.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Behavioral disorder with hyperactivity and/or inattention.
Auditory Processing Disorder: Failure of the brain to correctly process sound.
Behavioral disorders: Disorders affecting behavior and emotional wellbeing
Bipolar disorder: Cycles of mania and depression; commonly called "manic-depression".
Brain conditions: Medical conditions that affect the brain
Child abuse: Physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect of child.
Chromosome 17, trisomy 17p11.2: A rare chromosomal disorder where a portion of the short arm of chromosome 17 is duplicated.
Cognitive impairment: General loss of mental or cognitive ability
Conduct Disorder: Behavioral disorder with antisocial behaviors
Depression: Various syndromes with excessive anxiety, phobias, or fear.
Drug abuse: Addiction to any of various illicit drugs.
Dyslexia: Learning disorder from perception disorders rather than reduced brain function
Emotional disorders: A disorder of emotions
Emotional symptoms: Symptoms affecting the emotions.
Fetal alcohol syndrome: A pattern of mental and physical birth defects caused by excessive alcohol use during pregnancy. The range and severity of the symptoms may vary greatly.
Food intolerances: Any inability to tolerate particular foods.
Forgetfulness: Forgetting things or loss of memory ability
Hearing symptoms: Problems with the ear's hearing ability
Hyperactivity: Excessive action and lack of control.
Impulsivity: Lack of impulse control.
Inattention: Lack of attention or reduced attention span.
Irritability: Excessive feelings of annoyance or frustration.
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome: A neurological disorder which results in aphasia, epileptic seizures and inability to recognize sounds.
Learning disabilities: Various developmental problems impairing learning or schooling.
Lyme disease: Lyme disease is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia.
Mental illness: Any psychological syndrome
Middle ear infection: Infection of middle ear also called otitis media.
Mood disorders: Disorders that affect a persons mood
Neurosis: Variety of mental disorders with self-awareness
Oppositional Defiant Disorder: A behavioral problem that occurs in children and involves persistent disobedience, defiance and hostility towards authority figures. The behavioral problem is greater than the normal pattern of child misbehaviors. The severity of the problem affects the child's ability to perform satisfactorily in home, school and community environments.
Personality disorders: A group of psychiatric disorders that are characterised but abnormal dysfunctional personalities
Petit mal seizures: Brief seizures or changes of awareness
Potocki-Lupski syndrome: A rare chromosomal disorder where a portion of the short arm of chromosome 17 is duplicated.
Psychiatric disorders: Any condition that affects ones mind
Psychological disorders: Any condition that affects ones mind
Restless Legs Syndrome: A neurological disorder where legs develop and crawling, aching skin sensation which is relived by moving the legs.
School problems: Difficulty with learning or schooling as a symptom.
Social phobia: Excessive anxiety in social situations.
Soto's Syndrome: A rare hereditary disorder characterized by excessive growth during the first few years of life as well as various other mental and physical anomalies.
Temporal lobe epilepsy: A condition which is characterized by complex partial seizures
Tourette Syndrome: A neurological disorder involving vocal and movement tics where where uncontrollable movements or verbal utterances are made.
Under-diagnosed conditions: Any medical condition that is undiagnosed
Velocardiofacial syndrome: A genetic disorder which can present with a wide range of phenotypic manifestations which has lead to a number of different names being assigned to the various presentations e.g. DiGeorge Syndrome and Cayler Anomaly Face Syndrome. There are nearly 200 different symptoms that can occur and the severity of the condition is also highly variable depending on the nature and severity of the symptoms that are present.
WAGR Syndrome: A syndrome that is due to the deletion of chromosome 11.
Williams Syndrome: A syndrome characterised by mental retardation, facial abnormalities and emotional instability
Wilms tumor - aniridia - genitourinary anomalies - mental retardation: A syndrome resulting from deletion of genetic material from chromosome the short arm of chromosome 11 (11p13). The characteristic symptoms are partial or complete absence of iris, genitourinary anomalies, mental retardation and Wilms' tumor. The specific range and severity of symptoms is variable depending on the size and exact location of the genetic material that is missing.