Natural Supplements Suffer Another Biased Media Report
My friend, Tara Parker Pope, one of the best science reporters in America, recently wrote a column in the New York Times on non-drug options for ADHD. About 2 and 1/2 million (!!) kids in the US alone take stimulant drugs for this condition. But nearly one-third experience really problematic side effects. As Ms. Pope points out, a 2001 report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that for more than 10 percent, the effects could be severe. (How severe? In 2006 the FDA ordered that Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta and other stimulants carry warnings of risk for sudden death, heart attacks and hallucinations in some patients.)
No wonder parents are looking for natural alternatives.
Many try dietary changes- giving up sugar, processed foods and food additives. Fish oil is one of the most promising. Andrew Stoll, MD at Harvard has found that nearly all these kids (as well as people with behavior and attention problems in general) are nearly all extremely low in omega-3's. (It's amazing the things that can improve when you take a gram or two of fish oil every day.) My friend Daniel Amen, MD, designed a supplement called Neuro-Link which can be very effective. It's designed to support neurological and cognitive function and optimize neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and GABA, and it's not just for kids.
But don't expect natural treatments to get a fair hearing in the press anytime soon. Recently, the conservative Journal of the American Medical Association- a major source for most of your doctor's information- published a study of St. John's Wort and concluded that it worked no better than a placebo to counter ADD. But, as Ms. Pope points out, the trial lasted only 8 weeks. Even prescription drugs can take up to three months to show a measurable effect.
Talk about stacking the deck.
But don't get me started.
I don't doubt that pharmaceuticals are life saving for some- emphasis on some- of these kids. But why not try a less problematic intervention first? I'd certainly try a whole foods diet, plenty of protein, no sugar or processed foods, fish oil and Neuro-Link before I went to a pharmaceutical that comes with a warning on the possibility of heart attacks and hallucinations.
No wonder parents are looking for natural alternatives.
Many try dietary changes- giving up sugar, processed foods and food additives. Fish oil is one of the most promising. Andrew Stoll, MD at Harvard has found that nearly all these kids (as well as people with behavior and attention problems in general) are nearly all extremely low in omega-3's. (It's amazing the things that can improve when you take a gram or two of fish oil every day.) My friend Daniel Amen, MD, designed a supplement called Neuro-Link which can be very effective. It's designed to support neurological and cognitive function and optimize neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and GABA, and it's not just for kids.
But don't expect natural treatments to get a fair hearing in the press anytime soon. Recently, the conservative Journal of the American Medical Association- a major source for most of your doctor's information- published a study of St. John's Wort and concluded that it worked no better than a placebo to counter ADD. But, as Ms. Pope points out, the trial lasted only 8 weeks. Even prescription drugs can take up to three months to show a measurable effect.
Talk about stacking the deck.
But don't get me started.
I don't doubt that pharmaceuticals are life saving for some- emphasis on some- of these kids. But why not try a less problematic intervention first? I'd certainly try a whole foods diet, plenty of protein, no sugar or processed foods, fish oil and Neuro-Link before I went to a pharmaceutical that comes with a warning on the possibility of heart attacks and hallucinations.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health and is the author of several best-selling books.
As a former Kindergarten/Pre-K teacher, I can tell you first hand what some of those side effects are. The scariest to me was a complete change in personality. Some of these children turn in on themselves so far you would have a hard time picking them out from children with autism. Drugs are simply too easy to get for these children. What they need most is coping skills for both children and parents alike. So many of these children could learn to handle this if only they were taught the skills instead of the "quick fix miracle drugs" that the doctors seem so eager to pass out.
Management and coping skills don't cause heart attaches and hallucinations.
While my son was never hyperactive, he always had trouble focusing and staying on task in school. We tried everything we could think of. Our pediatrician's only suggestion was medication. I resisted. But he guilted me into it -- told me that my son was suffering. So when he was in fourth grade, I gave in. Yes, his focus improved, but he still had a lot of trouble reading. He also suffered from insomnia and stomachaches.
Towards the end of the school year, a friend of mine (a preschool teacher) casually mentioned that Red #40 causes behavioral problems -- as though it was common knowledge. I had never heard such a thing, but I started researching and was shocked at what I found out. I finally discovered the Feingold organization and from them, purchased a book called "Why can't my child behave." This book changed everything for us. It is full of conditions that are misdiagnosed as ADD.
After reading this book, I learned that if my son truly had ADD, he'd have it all the time, not just under certain conditions (like when its time to do homework). So I worked with the doctor to take him off the medication and decided to try some of the strategies in the book.
The first strategy was to remove all the artificial color from his diet. Once he was home from school for the summer, this was pretty easy. We did it for a week and he was very even tempered. When the week was up, we experimented by letting him have a can of orange soda and a bag of Skittles. Within a half hour, he was a wreck. He was argumentative, emotional, unreasonable -- he ended up storming upstairs, slamming the door, screaming I HATE YOU and I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF!!!
I didn't need any further convincing. After he settled down (a couple of hours later), I explained to him what had happened. We went through the entire kitchen reading labels and all foods w/ artificial colors went in the trash. And from that day to this, they have never been allowed in the house or in our diets.
But it turns out that this was only part of the problem. Another condition that the Feingold book discusses is Vision problems -- another thing that I had never heard of. As I've come to learn, there is more to good vision than a 20/20 eye test. You can have 20/20 vision and still have trouble reading if your eyes are not "teaming" correctly.
With the information from that book, I was able to locate a Behavioral Optomotrist and have my son's vision checked. This doctor rated Eye teaming on a scale from 0-20 - w/ 20 being perfect teaming. My son scored 6! He went to weekly vision therapy for about 9 months and now his eyes are fine.
The really infuriating thing about this whole experience is that my pediatrictian -- the first person that I went to for help -- had no clue about any of these options. When I told him, his reaction was "Really? Well, I'm glad that worked out for you." !!! Sorry, but he's a pediatrician and this is a very common childhood problem. He should have known better. I feel like I was doing his job.
Finally, I have to say that I don't believe that ADD is a disease. Diabetes, for example, is from a lack of insulin. Depression is (or can be) from a lack of seratonin. Etc. Is ADD from a lack of Ritalin? No. ADD is a way to describe a collection of symptoms, but, as I learned from the Feingold book, those symptoms can be any combination of dozens of issues. Ritalin is just a dangerous band-aid. We owe it to our children to take the time to find the real answers.
I applaud you for doing your own research and for being so proactive. As Shakespeare said, "there are more things in heaven and earth... than are dreamed of in your philosophy". Meaning- we don't know everything! When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Docs are great, sometimes meds are great (even ocassionally Ritalin), but not always. And certainly not in your son's case. Good for you
warmly
jb
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