ADHD

About 10 % of children have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — a chronic condition associated with attention problems, hyperactive behaviour, and impulsivity –- and in about half of them this condition will persist into adulthood (Polanczyk, de Lima, Horta, Biederman, & Rohde, 2007). While ADHD itself is usually treatable with a combination of behavioural therapy and medication, many affected persons also have a number of coexisting conditions that may be under-diagnosed. The most frequent coexisting problems are substance abuse, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and sleeping disorders.

Acupuncture is relatively simple, inexpensive, and safe compared with other conventional interventions and its use is increasing even in Western countries to lessen the severity of the core symptoms of ADHD. While a few publications have emerged to show the effectiveness of acupuncture in easing ADHD symptoms (Gross-Tsur, Lahad, & Shalev, 2003; Li et al., 2010), a comprehensive search for such evidence highlights the need for further high quality, large-scale, randomized controlled trials in this area (Li et al., 2011).