There were two articles in NY Times in the last 2 days that caught my attention. The first is an Op-Ed To All the Girls I've Rejected by Jennifer Delahunty Britz, the Dean of Admissions in Kenyon College. The basic thrust is that there is now a disproportionate number of female applicants who are more qualified. If colleges strictly admitted students based on objective criteria like grades, SAT scores and recommendations, they would end up admitting many more women than men. Here is quote (emphasis mine):

The reality is that because young men are rarer, they're more valued applicants. Today, two-thirds of colleges and universities report that they get more female than male applicants, and more than 56 percent of undergraduates nationwide are women. Demographers predict that by 2009, only 42 percent of all baccalaureate degrees awarded in the United States will be given to men.

And here is a story on the psychotic effects of drugs like Ritalin, widely prescribed for treating attention deficit disorder & hyperactivity in young kids, disproportionately boys. The news story Panel Advises Disclosure of Drugs' Psychotic Effects is not really about AD/HD or boys at all, but it tangentially reports that (emphasis mine):

The panel members said they hoped the warning would prevent physicians from prescribing a second drug to treat the hallucinations caused by the stimulants [like Ritalin], which one expert estimated affect 2 to 5 of every 100 children taking them.
...
Since Ritalin was first approved in the 1950's, stimulants to treat attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity have become among the most widely prescribed medicines in the world. In the United States alone, about 2.5 million children and 1.5 million adults take them; as many as 10 percent of boys ages 10 to 12 do

In addition to Ritalin, two other stimulants, Adderall and Concerta, are popular.

So we need to medicate 10% of boys aged 10-12 so they can attend school normally. I am pretty sure there a connection would be dismissed, but could it be possible that the college admission numbers reported could have something to do with such extensive medication needed in boys at an earlier age?

It is worth drawing the connection to the fact that boys suffer from autism at rates 4 or 5 times greater than girls. I don't know the ratio of boys to girls in AD-HD but I wouldn't be surprised if it is at least 2 to 1. Now, here are my questions.

1. Clearly the number of children diagnosed with AD-HD, prescribed stimulants like Ritalin, has increased massively in the last few decades. Could all this increase be pegged to "better diagnosis"? Kids with AD-HD are very difficult to teach in school, because they are disruptive. Did teachers put up with disruptive kids before, and now they don't? Particularly in an age when "discipline" in kids was more valued than it is now?

2. Could the rise in AD-HD have anything do with the decline in qualified male applicants to colleges?

3. What could cause the increase in AD-HD in boys?

Let me offer some speculation [no claim to originality made]: there are some things that have changed in the last 25 years. One is that the rising levels and the rising number of vaccinations given to kids. Yes, I know, quack theory, fed by frustrated parents. I just took a look at the vaccination schedules for my new-born niece in India, and there were no less than 14 separate shots in the chart, starting on day 1 of her life. 30 years ago, kids were probably given 3 or 4 shots in total, starting much later.

The hypothesis [to many of us parents of kids with autism, it is getting closer to being proved] that many of us are working under is that there is a connection between the dramatic increase in vaccinations, the associated overall rising levels of toxic exposure in children, and disorders like autism and AD-HD. It is by now clear that boys are the weaker sex - they are disproportionately affected by environmental assaults.

The medical establishment insists that vaccinations are perfectly safe. But are there any long term behavioral consequences? I am sure they will dismiss any such connections like the ones drawn above. I am not against vaccination per se. I was lucky to survive Diphtheria as a kid, which has killed millions and millions around the world, and still kills. I know many people in my age group in India afflicted with polio. But it is still worth asking Are we going too far? Are we being too aggressive with vaccinations?

I hope the medical establishment would at least start to investigate these connections. The numbers are staggering.