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Inattention



Inattention: Introduction

Inattention: Lack of attention or reduced attention span. See free access online books about Inattention below. See detailed information below for a list of 32 causes of Inattention, including diseases and drug side effect causes.

» Review Causes of Inattention: full list

Causes of Inattention

See all 32 causes of Inattention

Causes of Types of Inattention:

Review causes of types of Inattention in more specific categories:

See full list of 10 types for Inattention

Inattention: Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Inattention, as listed in our database. Visit the Symptom Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Symptom Checker

Symptom Checker

See full list of 1055 Symptom Checker combinations related to Inattention

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Inattention

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Inattention:

Diagnostic Guides for Inattention

Medical Books Excerpts Read excertps from published book sections related to Inattention from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Inattention. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Inattention

Medical Books Excerpts
  • "Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition)" (2005)
  • "Handbook of Diseases" (2003)

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Inattention: Self Assessment Tools

Inattention: Medical Mistakes

Inattention: Undiagnosed Conditions

Conditions that are commonly undiagnosed in related areas may include:

Hospitals & Clinics: Inattention

Research extensive quality ratings and patient safety measures for hospitals, clinics and medical facilities in health specialties related to Inattention:

Research Hospital & Clinic Quality Ratings » »

Inattention: Research Related Doctors & Specialists

Other ways to find a doctor, or use doctor, physician and specialist online research services:

Misdiagnosis and Inattention

Parental fears about toddler behavior often unfounded: There are many behaviors in infants and toddlers that may give rise to a fear that the child has some form of mental health condition. In particular, there is a loss of fear of autism or ADHD...read more »

Rare epilepsy misdiagnosed as ADHD: The less common disorder of temporal lobe epilepsy is a type of epilepsy without physical seizures. Some patients suffer...read more »

Various conditions misdiagnosed as ADHD: The hyperactivity type symptoms that are often diagnosed as ADHD, can also be caused by a number of physical conditions, as reported in the book A Dose of Sanity. Some possibilities are chronic long-term exposure to low...read more »

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from sudden inability to speak. This was...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease, it can also occur...read more »

ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHD in children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults. Some adults can remain...read more »

Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder) often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians. Many patients with bipolar seek help from...read more »

Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient with an eating disorder is female. The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be diagnosed or have a...read more »

Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be undiagnosed in teenagers. The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe medical depression to be overlooked. See misdiagnosis of depression or symptoms of...read more »

Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression) may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see symptoms of anxiety disorders). Failure to diagnose these...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Inattention

Inattention: Related Rare Diseases

Rare types of medical conditions and diseases in related medical categories:

Diagnostic tests for Inattention:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Inattention. Some of these are listed below :

  • Neurodevelopment assessment - is an important part of the evaluation of children who are thought to be "hyperactive" and inattentive in order to exclude developmental weaknesses.
  • Mental state examination (to help detect bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and personality disorders) - including appearance, behavior, rate and continuity of speech, mood, affect, thought content, evidence of any hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, orientation to time, place and person, attention and concentration, short-term memory, insight and judgement.
  • Spinal tap - may be required to diagnose Multiple sclerosis.
  • Electrophysiological tests such as visual-evoked response (VER) - may be required to diagnose Multiple sclerosis.
  • more tests...»

See full list of 4 diagnostic tests for Inattention

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Inattention. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

  • How long has inattentive behavior been a problem? - to determine if acute or chronic.
  • What is the age of the person with inattentive behavior? - causes of inattentive behavior vary with age. Note however, that normal young children are often very active with short attention spans e.g. most parents of 2 year old children become exhausted by the activity level, try to adjust to the frequent changes of activity and modify their houses and vigilance to cope with the impulsiveness.
  • Childhood disorders or disabilities? - e.g. fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, microcephaly, Williams syndrome, brain damage, attention deficit disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, hearing impairment, vision impairment, learning disability.
  • Family and environmental factors? - e.g. risk factors for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders in children include disrupted childhood care; socially disadvantaged; lack of warm caring family; family violence (physical or sexual abuse); antisocial peer group exposure.
  • Past psychiatric history? - e.g. bipolar disorder , depression, anxiety.
  • more questions...»

See Diagnosis Checklist for Inattention (15 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Inattention) may include:

  • Learning disability? - A number of children have problems in focusing attention and maintaining concentration. In addition, many are described as being inattentive, overactive, fidgety, impulsive and distractible. All of these behaviors may contribute to problems in learning in the classroom, as well as social problems. Conversely children with learning disorders may tend to have increasing difficulty with peer relations, tend to withdraw from social situations, or exhibit acting out, hyperactive and difficult behavior.
  • Hearing deficits? - probably the largest group of children with hyperactive behaviors and with problems with concentration and attention are secondary to hearing deficits.
  • Symptoms of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? - e.g. impulsivity, inattentiveness, over activity, irritability, poor concentration and school learning problems.
  • Symptoms of Bipolar disorder? - e.g. episodes of depression (often psychotic in intensity) and at other times episodes of psychotic excitement (mania or hypomania). Symptoms of psychotic excitement may include elevation of mood, hyperactivity, inattentiveness, grandiose ideas, irritability, disinhibition (which affects social, sexual and financial behavior), rapid speech and racing thought, delusions (persecutory or grandiose) and sometimes hallucinations.
  • Symptoms of anxiety? - e.g. nervousness, shakiness, tremor, restlessness, hyperactivity, irritability, insomnia, poor concentration, heart palpitations, racing heart, sweating, dizziness, diarrhea, lump in throat and frequency of urination.
  • more symptoms...»

See Diagnosis Checklist for Inattention (15 listings)

Home Diagnostic Testing and Inattention

Home medical tests possibly related to Inattention:

Stories from Users for Inattention

Real-life user stories relating to Inattention:

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Inattention or relevant symptoms:

Videos for Inattention

Treatment Risks in Adult ADHD

Treatment Risks in Adult ADHDLearn more about treatments for adults with ADHD, and some possible risks associated with these treatments.

What is Childhood ADHD?

What is Childhood ADHD?If left undiagnosed or untreated, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can prove frustrating for kids and their families. Watch our video...

 

What is Adult ADHD?

What is Adult ADHD?If an adult with ADHD does not seek help, there can be serious consequences. Learn the ADHD basics and how it affects some adults.

Treating Childhood ADHD

Treating Childhood ADHDIf your child has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learn about the treatment options available.

 
See full list of 13 related videos

Patient Surveys for Inattention

Definitions of Inattention:

Inattention: Lack of attention; negligence.
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Organs affected by Inattention:

The list of organs typically affected by Inattention may include, but is not limited to:

Detailed list of causes of Inattention

The list below shows some of the causes of Inattention mentioned in various sources:

See full list of 32 causes of Inattention

How Common are these Causes of Inattention?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Inattention. Of the 32 causes of Inattention that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

  • 1 causes are "very common" diseases
  • 3 causes are "common" diseases
  • 1 causes are "uncommon" diseases
  • 2 causes are "rare" diseases
  • 2 causes are "very rare" diseases
  • 26 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 32 causes of Inattention

Conditions listing symptoms: Inattention:

The following list of conditions have 'Inattention' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

A

  • Aarskog Syndrome ... attention deficit disorder
  • ADD ... Inattention, poor attention span
  • ADHD ... Inattention, poor attention span
  • Adult ADD ... Inattention
  • Adult ADHD ... Inattention
  • Alcohol abuse ... poor attention span
  • Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders ... distractibility
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ... careless mistakes, Inattention, getting bored too easily, poor attention span, easily distracted

    B

  • Bipolar disorder ... distractability, distractibility

    C

  • Chromosome 17, trisomy 17p11.2 ... attention deficit disorder
  • Cocaine abuse ... inattention

    F

  • Fetal alcohol syndrome ... inattention, distractibility
  • Frontotemporal dementia ... distractibility

    G

  • Global developmental delay - osteopenia - ectodermal defect ... poor attention span

    H

  • Huntington's Disease ... inattention

    L

  • Learning disabilities ... inattention

    M

  • Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ... Inattention
  • Multiple Sclerosis ... attention difficulties

    O

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder ... inattention

    P

  • PANDAS ... distractibility
  • Pfiesteria piscicida poisoning ... distractibility
  • Pfiesteria poisoning ... distractibility
  • Pfiesteria shumwayae poisoning ... distractibility
  • Pick's disease of the brain ... distractibility
  • Potocki-Lupski syndrome ... attention deficit disorder

    S

  • Schilder's Disease ... poor attention
  • Strauss syndrome ... distractibility

    W

  • WAGR Syndrome ... attention deficit disorder
  • Williams Syndrome ... attention deficit disorder
  • Wilms tumor - aniridia - genitourinary anomalies - mental retardation ... attention deficit disorder

    Z

  • Zunich neuroectodermal syndrome ... Poor attention span
  • Zunich-Kaye syndrome ... poor attention span

    Join in at the forums

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  • Doctors and specialists: Who should I consult about Inattention?

    Depending on the seriousness of the onset of Inattention, you may want to consult one of the following medical professionals.

    Important:In extreme cases, always seek advice from emergency services :

    Classifications of Inattention:

    Medical Conditions associated with Inattention:

    Personality symptoms (3350 causes)

    Symptoms related to Inattention:

    Concentration difficulty (265 causes), Hyperactivity (179 causes), Depression (335 causes), Mania (80 causes), Bipolar disorder, Chronic pain, Cancer, Personality disorder (1 cause), Schizophrenia, Pseudodementia, Generalized anxiety disorder, Panic disorder

    Medical articles on signs and symptoms:

    Doctor-patient articles related to symptoms and diagnosis:

    These general medical articles may be of interest:

    See full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

    Medical News summaries about Inattention

    Our news pages contain the following medical news summaries about Inattention and many other medical conditions:

    News Archives for Inattention

    Medical news articles related to Inattention include:

    Source: HealthDay News

    More Ways To Research Medical Signs and Symptoms:


     » Next page: Causes of Inattention

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