Ads from Google:


Google ad
End of ad
Google Adsense ad
End of ads.

ADHD Lab Tests

Abstract: Are there any physical tests to make the diagnosis of ADHD?

Web4Health logo
psychologist Independent medical expert answers on psychiatry and psychology

ADHD Lab Tests

Intelligent natural language question-answering in the area of psychology and psychiatry. Ask a simple question  Local help Info


Go the top of the page Top Forum iconDiscuss this Forum iconGet expert advice Printer Print
Question(s): 
Written by: Martin Winkler
First version: 22 Jul 2008.
Latest revision: 24 Jul 2008.

Are there any physical tests to make the diagnosis of ADHD?

Answer:

There are no lab-tests that can determine or exclude ADHD. But it might be important to rule out some other relevant causes of hyperactivity or attention problems. So the doctor will do a physical and basic neurological clinical examination of the patient. Using his eyes and ears and doing some basic tests of reflexes, motor functions, coordination and testing the senses of the patient will give a lot of important information.

Then a blood test of the thyroid functions (TSH and maybe thyroid hormones T3, T4) should be considered. This will normally be done within a routine check of the patient.

If the patient (or family) has a history of seizure the doctor will do an EEG. This will not show specific signs of ADHD but might exclude specific forms of seizures. If the doctor and you decide to use psychopharmacological treatment an EKG should exclude significant heart problems.

A scull X-ray (Computer tomography, NMR) can be useful to exclude rare other causes of attention problems (like malformations of blood vessels, tumour, hydrocephalus). But these are very rare conditions!

Some parents think very specific diagnosis of functional imaging (SPECT, PET) will show specific signs of ADHD. At the moment these diagnostic tools are mainly used for research. You have to consider possible side effects of nuclear medicine especially for children. So these diagnostic tools cannot be recommended for a routine diagnosis of ADHD.

Intelligent natural language question-answering in the area of psychology and psychiatry. Ask a simple question:
Local help Info
Google ad
End of ad
Disclaimer: The documents contained in this web site are presented for information purposes only. The material is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified psychiatrist or psychotherapist. It can not and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment. If you find anything wrong, please notify us at .
Go to top of page To top of page
Web4Health in other languages: Finnish German Greek Italian Polish Russian Swedish

adhd-diagnosis-lab Copyright 2003-2017 Web4Health
Copyright 2003-2017 Web4Health.
Web4Health was selected as finalist for the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Award
Translate Web4Health
We seek voluntary translators who are interested in translating Web4Health to new languages. We can provide the servers, and pay you 50 % of the income from ads on pages, which you have translated. We are especially interested in translators from German To English, From German, Swedish or English to French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Finnish, Polish, Farsi, Russian.
web4health.info/en/tr/

Advertise here
Reach 300 000 visitors reading one million pages for a cost of 600 US $/month.
/en/ad/