Formerly known as "hyperkinetic impulse disorder", "minimal brain dysfunction", and attention deficit disorder, the American Psychiatric Association finally settled on ADHD in 1987.
Perinatal ischemic anoxic and prolonged anoxic insults lead to impaired dopaminergic signaling and are hypothesized to contribute, at least in part, to the pathogenesis of disorders of minimal brain dysfunction such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
In the 1940s, a variety of brain disorders were labelled "minimal brain dysfunction", which was refined to "immaturity" of attention and impulse control in the 1950s.
These observations lead to the intriguing hypothesis that intermittent hypoxia occurring during a period of critical brain development evokes behavioral and neurochemical alterations that are long lasting, and consistent with disorders of minimal brain dysfunction.
Attention deficit disorder and hyperactive disorder (both formerly known as minimal brain damage, but nicely renamed by the drug companies) do exist, and it would be cruel to withhold Ritalin from children who suffer from them.
The prevalence of central nervous disorders, such as epilepsy, minimal brain damage or mental retardation, was increased in the victims.
The recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association uses the term Attention Deficit Disorder to replace such terms as hyperactivity and minimal brain damage.
Due in large measure to Dr Conners' efforts, what was once an obscure condition (then called Minimal Brain Dysfunction), became the widely accepted and DSM official diagnosis, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Owing to minor neurological deficits and difficulties with complex motor tasks, he was diagnosed with minimal brain dysfunction at age 4. At the age of 6, he was diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorder and treated with methylphenidate.
The terminology used to describe the condition has changed over time and has included: in the DSM-I (1952) "minimal brain dysfunction", in the DSM-II (1968) "hyperkinetic reaction of childhood", in the DSM-III (1980) "attention-deficit disorder (ADD) with or without hyperactivity".
