ADD_ADHD

ADD/ADHD
ADD = Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
For the sake of simplicity, I will use just the acronym ADHD in this web page. I encourage you to know that there is every reason to be hopeful in regard to finding non-drug solutions to ADHD.

ADHD plagues millions of school-aged children and their teachers and sends parents to the doctor’s office in search of a solution. Far too often, frustrated parents demand the quick fix - such drugs as Ritalin™ - rather than taking the time, effort, and expense to search for a real solution.
Be assured that many adults also live with ADHD.

COMMON CAUSES OF ADHD
-Food allergy and food sensitivity
        Dairy, wheat, and sugar are common, but many more exist. We are all unique.
-Nutrient deficiencies
        Essential fatty acids (fish oil), minerals, B-complex, anti-oxidants
-Heavy metal toxicity
        Mercury is the most common.
-Environmental allergies and sensitivities
        Mold, plastics, animal dander

THE BEST TREATMENTS FOR ADHD
-Remove foods that are allergens or cause food sensitivity
Elimination diets and/or allergy testing using a blood sample.
-Supplement with nutrients
-Assess and remove heavy metals
-Remove environmental sources of allergy and sensitivity

DRUG TREATMENT OF ADHD
    There is no question in my mind (Dr. Young) that drug treatment should be used as a last resort, only after food and vitamin improvements have been made, and appropriate testing has been done. Very few individuals will need to use medications if they and their families thoroughly commit to making lifestyle changes designed to resolve ADHD.
    "…there is virtually no clinical research on the consequences of pharmacologic treatment of behavioral disturbances of very young children," admonishes Joseph T. Coyle, M.D., of Harvard Medical School, in an editorial which raises serious questions about this burgeoning healthcare trend.
    These drugs have not been evaluated for long-term safety and effectiveness in very young children, Dr. Coyle points out, and it’s still unclear whether the drugs may pose some risk to healthy brain development in children. Animal studies show that early exposure to some psychotropic drugs can affect the formation of neurons and synapses in the brain, and can even alter the activity of important neurotransmitters like dopamine years later in adulthood.
    According to Dr. Coyle, young children may be the victims of an "assembly-line" healthcare approach increasingly designed to move patients through the system quickly and cheaply, particularly for those receiving public assistance. "…it appears that behaviorally disturbed children are now increasingly subjected to quick and inexpensive pharmacologic fixes as opposed to informed, multimodal therapy associated with optimal outcomes," writes Dr. Coyle.

WHAT TO READ
Healing the Hyperactive Brain - "through the new science of functional medicine"
by Michael Lyon, MD
About the Author: Dr. Michael R. Lyon, M.D. is a medical researcher and the Director of Education and Research at the Oceanside Functional Medicine Research Institute on Vancouver Island, Canada. Dr. Lyon is an internationally recognized authority on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). His breakthrough research is helping to change lives and bring hope to countless parents and adult ADHD sufferers.

Fatty Acid Therapy Shows Promise In Treating Learning Disorders
Could dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood actually be rooted in deficits of key fatty acid nutrients in the brain? A recent pilot study by researchers from Oxford University in England provides more evidence to back this possible association.

The study evaluated the effects of fatty acid supplementation in a group of 41 children between the ages of 8 to 12. All the children had significant reading and writing disabilities, such as dyslexia, which caused their reading skills to lag nearly 3 years behind normal. Although of average intelligence, the children also had difficulty with working memory and phonological skills.

To ensure accuracy, the study was randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled. One group of children received a daily placebo capsule containing olive oil. The other group received a daily supplement of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs). The mixture contained 186 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 480 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), 96 mg gamma-linolenic acid, 60 IU vitamin E, cis-linoleic acid, and 42 mg arachidonic acid (AA). These highly unsaturated fatty acids have been linked to proper brain development and function, with the ability to modulate the signaling process that occurs between brain neurons.

After twelve weeks, researchers reevaluated the children using objective ratings scales designed to assess ADHD-related symptoms. As expected, the children treated with the placebo showed no improvement from baseline. But the children treated with HUFAs received significantly improved scores on a wide range of ADHD-symptoms, including inattention, restlessness, and cognitive problems.

Results from this small intervention trial seem to bolster previous evidence linking fatty acid imbalances with learning disorders in children. "Blood biochemical evidence has suggested that a relative deficiency of certain HUFAs may contribute to some of the behavioral and learning problems central to ADHD," the researchers commented.

Although study conditions prevented the researchers from measuring fatty acids in the children’s blood before the supplementation trial, "this would obviously have been useful in order to obtain objective measures of fatty acid deficiency," they pointed out.

Still, their results suggest that HUFA deficiencies may be a key physiological predisposing factor in children with learning disorders, particularly those with overlapping conditions such as dyslexia and ADHD.

Thus far, clinical trials suggest that a combination of HUFAs, particularly those that contain EPA, may be more effective in these children than any single HUFA given alone. No negative side effects have been reported. Twelve weeks is the minimum intervention period needed to see clinical results, the researchers estimated, because it takes at least 10 weeks for supplementation to adequately raise fatty acid levels in brain cells.

Source: Richardson AJ, Puri BK. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2002;26:233-239.

(Note: It may be necessary to use PMID number 11817499 to locate this abstract on Medline.)