Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 30 November 2018

Younger school entry could set stage for ADHD diagnosis

By CARLA K. JOHNSON class while those born in
Associated Press September are the oldest.
The youngest children in Overall, from birth to the
kindergarten are more like- first few years of school,
ly to be diagnosed with at- the number of children di-
tention deficit hyperactivity agnosed with ADHD was
disorder in early grades, a low. The researchers cal-
study shows, an intriguing culated that the rate of
finding for parents on the ADHD diagnosis was a third
fence about when to start higher in August-born kids
their child in school. than in September-born
The study found younger kids, based on 309 cases
students, especially boys, among about 36,300 with
are also more likely to be August birthdays and 225
started on medications cases among about 35,300
for ADHD and kept on the born in September.
drugs longer than the old- There was no group dif-
est children. The medica- ference before age 4; it
tions are generally safe, showed up after school en-
but can have harmful side rollment.
effects. The researchers also looked
"Doctors and therapists at asthma, diabetes and
need to factor that into In this Sept. 8, 2015 file photo, a reluctant student is pulled into the first day of kindergarten at an obesity rates and found
their decision-making," said elementary School in Clio, Mich. they were the same for the
study co-author Dr. Anu- Associated Press August and September ba-
pam Jena of Harvard Medi- bies. And no other month-
cal School. They should ask, ity. The rate of diagnosis is waiting a year to give a They used insurance claims to-month comparison
"Does he really have ADHD, climbing. child time to mature. to compare more than showed a sharp difference
or is it because he needs six The study, published "The parents were think- 71,000 students with August in ADHD.
more months to mature? Wednesday by the New ing about whether or not and September birthdays Finally, using insurance
That extra year makes a big England Journal of Medi- to hold their child back in 18 states with Sept. 1 data for more than 400,000
difference." cine, stemmed from a an additional year," Jena cutoffs. A child who turns 5 children in all 50 states,
About 6 million U.S. children lunchroom conversation recalled. That led the re- before Sept. 1 can start kin- the researchers looked at
and teenagers have been about "kindergarten red- searchers to ask, "What dergarten. If not, the child states that don't use a Sept.
diagnosed with ADHD, shirting" for a co-author's happens to kids who are waits until the next year. An 1 cutoff and the effect
which causes inattention, son. The term is borrowed in the same class who are August birthday can mean disappeared.q
hyperactivity and impulsiv- from athletics and means perceived to be different?" a child is the youngest in
Tumor-free flounder: Study underscores Boston Harbor rebirth

By PHILIP MARCELO tumors anymore," he said. The results have been
Associated Press Moore has been monitor- dramatic, with porpoises,
BOSTON (AP) — A canary in ing harbor flounder since seals, humpback whales
a coal mine? How about a 1986, when the poor health and other marine animals
flounder in a harbor? of the once-bountiful, bot- that had been rarely if ever
In a study published last tom-feeding fish became seen in the harbor now
week in the journal Diseas- emblematic of the harbor's regularly popping up, says
es of Aquatic Organisms, broader environmental Tony LaCasse, the spokes-
scientists at the Woods Hole challenges. man for the New England
Oceanographic Institution The health of the flounder Aquarium that overlooks
in Massachusetts declared that generations of Bosto- Boston Harbor.
that flounder in Boston's nians had fished helped "The people of Massachu-
once notoriously polluted spur a series of lawsuits. setts spent billions of dollars
harbor are now tumor-free. A landmark federal court to reclaim their harbor, and
It's turnaround from the late decision in 1985 compelled it worked," he said.
In this Aug. 25, 2016 file photo, Boston Light flashes in outer 1980s, when more than Massachusetts to properly The turnaround of the har-
Boston Harbor. three-quarters of the spe- treat sewage dumped bor — once considered
Associated Press cies in Boston Harbor were into the harbor, resulting in the country's dirtiest —
found to have signs of liver billions of dollars in public can also be seen in the
disease, including cancer- works projects. improved water quality
ous tumors. Chief among them was the in the rivers that feed into
But Michael Moore, the completion of a new sew- it and the high marks its
Woods Hole biologist who age treatment plant on the beaches have received for
authored the study pub- harbor in the 1990s and the cleanliness in recent years,
lished in the academic opening of a massive un- according to the Massa-
journal Diseases of Aquatic derground tunnel directing chusetts Water Resources
Organisms, said his team discharge from the sewage Authority, the drinking wa-
hasn't found a tumor on a plant nearly 10 miles out of ter and sewage agency
flounder since 2004. the harbor into Massachu- created in the wake of the
"The fish aren't getting liver setts Bay in 2000. 1985 decision.q