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ADHD is the medical phenomena of the new century, with thousands of children and adults diagnosed in the past 8 years.

Could enlarged tonsils be the cause of ADHD? Repeated tonsillitis is accompanied by high fevers, sore and inflamed throats, enlarged tonsils and adenoids. Children with tonsillitis have difficulty sleeping as pain and fever impair their ability to sleep deeply.

Over time, the child's enlarged tonsils and poor breathing ability while sleeping could lead to classic sleep deprivation. Without the necessary deep sleep the brain needs each day, the child's brain cannot perform properly.

The sleep deprived "sd" child functions as best they can, having trouble paying attention, and excessively sleepy during the day. Showing an inability to concentrate, finish tasks, the "sd" child is irritable, finding simple things difficult if not impossible to do. Forgetful, seemingly bored, daydreaming, the child is in daily survival mode of fight or flight.

The symptoms of a sleep deprived child mirror many of the ADHD child's symptoms, with one critical difference. Taking out the tonsils of an ADHD child won't make a difference because there are neurological difference in the brain which creates the attention deficits and impulsivity. The wiring is simply different.

For an ADHD diagnosis of a child, many physicians look to the parents first - because there is a predisposition for one of the parents to have this disorder, most often undiagnosed. Where there is an ADHD child, there is very often a parent exhibiting the same classic symptoms. This is the person described as "on the go", a multi-tasker, compulsive talker or highly creative.

Symptoms of ADHD include scattered thinking, impulsivity, inattention, careless mistakes, trouble finishing tasks, the person not listening when spoken to. The ADHD child often loses or misplaces toys or schoolwork, does not follow instructions in schoolwork, failing to finish the schoolwork, or not doing it at all.

ADHD children have trouble organizing activities or tasks, and avoid tasks with multiple steps or requiring a lot of thought. Often the child is very forgetful and distracted with simple schoolwork or home chores. This is the attention deficit or the "AD" part of the ADHD.

So what about the "HD" in ADHD? Have you ever known someone who fidgets constantly, talks incessantly, taps their feet, drums their fingers on the table, or jiggles their leg constantly while seated? Meet the hyperactive adult, most often a workaholic, one who is driven to succeed through overwork.

A child with hyperactivity is in constant motion, often running or climbing. The ADHD child has trouble sitting for any length of time, seemingly motorized. Mothers of these children are exhausted from trying to keep up with a whirlwind. Combine constant motion with excessive speech, impulsivity, butting in, blurting out the wrong thing, and you have the ADHD child.

This is the child who is not invited to birthday parties, the child that other parents avoid because they are far too much work to be around. No play groups for the risk taker, the attention seeker and the highly active ADHD child . Parents face social isolation as well.

Because the symptoms of sleep deprivation and ADHD are so similar in a young child, the question of the child's enlarged tonsils would be a good place to start, with a pediatrician. Early intervention makes a critical difference in lifetime outcomes.

Learn more about this author, Margret Carswell.
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