The Elisabeth d'Ornano Association for ADHD

Pediatricians

• What is ADHD?
• Recommendations
• Brief guide
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Editorials

Other diseases that may seem like ADHD

In the medical history of the child, the doctor should ask anything that will help him or her rule out that what happens to a child is due to ADHD and not another disease. Most of the time testing is not necessary to rule out organic problems. Only if there are signs of symptoms in the history and / or the child's physical exam that signal some concrete disorder should complementary tests be used. That is to say that there is no test necessary for a diagnosis or for a screening for other diseases that must be done on a routine basis.

The following must be ruled out (as stated previously, many times only with a clinical history):

• Sensory problems (sight, hearing)
• Sleep problems (the absence of a good night's sleep, due to seizures, due to apneas, etc.., resulting in a behavior similar to that of hyperactive children.
• Neurological disorders such as epilepsy
• General pathologies (systemic), such as allergies, malnutrition, hyperthyroidism, genetic syndromes, etc.

The presence of any sign or symptom of physical impairment justifies a neurological evaluation or general medicine of the complementary tests as needed by the suspected pathology.