Confused by the claims and counterclaims by the learned doctors out there?

Attention deficit is not that difficult to understand if we have an open mind. We need to cut through the hype and separate the truth, the facts, and what are myths and assumptions. Most of the differences of opinion on ADHD are philosophical and not purely scientific.

The diagnosis of ADD and ADHD is only a list of behaviors. Interestingly the diagnostic manual used to diagnose Attention Deficit Disorder; the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Revision) leaves the term disorder open to interpretation, as the DSM-IV specifically does not define the word disorder (Introduction page xxxi).

Further, regarding a medical diagnosis for ADHD the DSM-IV states:

“There are no laboratory tests, neurological assessments, or attentional assessments that have been established as diagnostic in the clinical assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.”

(DSM-IV page 88)

So what is ADHD? This is a good question, especially as there are over 101 causes or conditions that have symptoms, which overlap, or mimic Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms. We need to unravel these issues and look at ADHD and the conditions and disorders that give ADHD-like behaviors and /or symptoms in a rational and logical manner. We need to translate some of the scientific gobbledygook into intelligible language.
What is confusing in the ADHD controversy is that assumptions are driving ADHD research, not facts. The facts are interpreted to fit the assumptions. The main assumption is that this is one condition with one treatment – medication.

What is the best cure for ADHD?

Medication has a valid place in the treatment of attention deficit and hyperactivity, mainly when the symptoms are so severe that alternative treatments are not possible. Apart from those cases, medication is a crutch, and a dangerous crutch at that. The symptoms disappear during the few hours while the ADHD medication is working, but then the attention deficit hyperactivity is back as it was before the drug was taken, together with any side effect.

Side effects of stimulant drugs last longer than the beneficial effects, sometimes lasting for life. That is not a cure. The long-term effects on mental health in later life of chronic use of stimulant drugs are unknown.

The doctors and scientists looking at alternative treatments for ADHD do have cures. Cognitive training is a cure. Taking supplements is like eating food; we need to eat. The reasoning behind supplements is that people with ADHD have a metabolism, which requires certain extra nutrients. These nutrients are natural (as in food) and so give no side effects, besides general wellbeing.

There are natural herbal and holistic products that are as effective as the conventional stimulant drugs. The best among these products are:

• Attend (for attention difficulties)
• Memorex (for memory and clear thinking)
• Extress (for natural stress relief)

These products have been scientifically tested and proved as effective as the stimulants, but without side effects, they work 24/7, and do not disturb sleep.

ADHD (as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is defined by a set of behavior patterns. A behavior is not a disorder, but can be a symptom. Symptoms are not disorders themselves, but are indications and guides to understanding, coping with or overcoming the underlying disorders. If you or your child, for example, has hyperthyroidism, s/he does not have ADHD, but symptoms caused by hyperthyroidism.

If we look at this condition as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder it seems quite negative. On the other hand we can look at the positive sides, the flipside of the coin. Then we see another picture.

People with ADHD if they are not constantly criticized and put down, but given an opportunity to develop their qualities, they tend to show:

• Enthusiasm
• Creativity
• Intuitiveness
• Empathy
• High energy
• An ability to hyperfocus

It comes as a surprise to many that the attention deficit person can hyperfocus in a way an average person is not able to. I have adult Attention Deficit Disorder, I did not think I had it before I was diagnosed because I can hyperfocus when I am busy with some project that fascinates me and I am left undisturbed. I get 100% absorbed by my task and become oblivious of the world around in that “zone.” This is the opposite of attention deficit.

My attention deficit comes to the fore when I have to do something boring an average person can manage easily. It is not laziness. It is an inability to concentrate on, focus on, or be on task, with something boring.

The ADD/ADHD mind is quite frankly boredom intolerant. We ADDers have to use our ingenuity and creativity to find coping strategies which work for us personally, so that we are able to carry out those boring tasks that we cannot delegate.

Then we need brain food as well. We tend to use up certain nutrients faster than the average folk out there.
The one I have found to be best, like superfood are:

• Attend (for attention difficulties)
• Memorex (for memory and clear thinking)
• Extress (for natural stress relief)
• Magnesium and Vitamin B₆ supplements e.g. ZMA from NOW is ideal as it contains these elements and vitamin in the right quantities for attention deficit and hyperactivity

These products have been scientifically tested and proved as effective as the stimulants, but without side effects, they work 24/7, and do not disturb sleep. After all they are food (nutrients).

1. I am a chemist and I do not believe we should mess with our brains’ biochemical balance in an artificial way.
2. I have lived with ADD all my life, and only was diagnosed after my retirement. I learned coping skills by myself, as ADD had not yet been invented back then, so I know coping skills do work. I made some mistakes and bad decisions because of my ADD nature. Had I known about the effects of ADD I would have had a better self-insight and been able to control my impulsivity and make decisions based on understanding my impatience and frustrations. I would also have understood why I am different from most people and been able to relax more in concentrating on my strengths.

The Chemical Balance of the Brain

The chemicals we often hear about associated with ADHD, anxiety and depression are dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine.

When I read information on these chemicals in the context of ADHD, anxiety and depression, I shake my head in disbelief at how falsely the information is presented. Even most doctors do not understand. They have studied and have knowledge of the individual subjects, but are unable to connect the puzzle pieces and see the whole picture. They believe the sales spiel of the pharmaceutical industry. In fact many doctors get their knowledge of the drugs on the market from the pharmaceutical companies.

These are not individual chemicals acting independently in the brain, as is so frequently presented. Each one of these chemicals is a system of chemicals. Each system interacts with other organs in the whole body, not only within the brain. The systems also interact and are in harmony and balance with each other, or are thrown out of balance when one part of the harmony is disrupted. Only 5% (five) of Serotonin is in the brain, and the medicine affects the other 95% as well; which is the reason for side effects like weight gain, weight loss, nausea, stomach problems, etc.

Taking an antidepressant, or an ADHD stimulant drug, affects the reuptake of serotonin or dopamine. This means that you are artificially modifying one specific part of one of the system. This also means that that system is put out of balance. You may feel better, i.e. less depressed, but the side effects are the result of the system forced out of balance.

When one system is out of balance then the other systems are also affected. Taking a stimulant drug artificially helps you to focus, but your overall health is affected.

ADHD Natural Treatment

Supplements:

We who have ADHD do have certain stress factors in our lives and our individual metabolisms need more of certain nutrients than average folk do. Supplements are a good solution.

There are special formulations designed for Attention Deficit and hyperactivity. One such product, which has been shown in tests to be equal to stimulant medication such as Adderall and Ritalin, is Attend for attention and focus.

ADHD Coping Strategies

Coping strategies helping us to gain insight into the nature of our emotions and ways to proactively help us in this complex modern world are another natural remedy. There are ADD coaches to help guide us here. Many of them have ADD or ADHD themselves, and after being helped by ADHD coaching studied the subjet to become coaches themselves.

Allergies do cause ADD and ADHD symptoms in some people. These can be as unusual as tomato allergy or yeast allergy. If an allergy is the cause of ADHD behavior, then there is no ADHD after all.

The reason allergies are very controversial in the ADHD community is because the symptoms can appear sporadically. Food allergies are too complicated to be tested the way they are in ADHD tests. To find out if a child has an allergy, a standard allergy test is OK. But it is a very different matter to test if, when and how these allergies cause ADHD behavior.

There is a threshold level, below which the child does not react. This can fluctuate with the mood the child is in, its state of health, any deficiency in some significant nutrient or because of hormones, these changes making the child more, or less, sensitive. These thresholds vary from day to day and even within a day.

There is the add-on effect as well. The child may eat sweets with food colorants and not respond this time. Yet next time the child might eat the same number of sweets after eating a peanut butter sandwich, and the combined effect is a hyperactive reaction.

This is one of the reasons a parent can say something affects their child and be correct, despite of the lack of “scientific proof,” because the parent experiences the real life child. Observant parents are more likely to be able to find what is upsetting their children than clinical test.

The clinical test is necessary to confirm any suspicions.

However, there are different types of food allergy. The immediate to type 1 allergy is easily recognized because of the quick and dramatic symptoms. Hay fever is the most common type 1 allergy and can be diagnosed by allergy skin tests. Some food allergiesare also type 1 and show up on skin tests.

The second type is the delayed patterns food allergies, which are not so obvious and generally go unrecognized. Allergy skin tests, also referred to as an “IgE” response, do not show this allergic reaction. Symptoms are delayed many hours after eating foods and chronic disease is often the result. To spot this we need to know ourselves and our children.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficite Hyperactive Disorder are characterized by the psychiatric profession as neurological disorders that tend to attack children producing the following symptoms: (ADD) cannot stay focused, cannot pay attention, easily distracted and (ADHD) same symptoms as ADD, but also hyperactivity and impulsiveness. These symptoms are generally observed in school.

Dr. Phil, on a recent show, outlined the cause and treatment plan, which included seeing a specialist, such as himself (licensed psychiatrist and or psychologist). The treatment plan was 1. Medication, in general: Ritalin (amphetamine, stimulant drug), Adderal (amphetamine), etc., 2. Counseling, 3. Therapy and 4. Training, including simple things (parents be clear and consistent, teach children to stick to a schedule, organize, etc.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) would diagnose the child, symptoms as poor diet and lack of discipline. There no diagnosis of ADD and ADHD in TCM and Ayurvedic medicine, both 5,000+ years old. Neither would define the symptoms as a neurological disorder. Nor would they recommend stimulant drugs, amphetamines to a child, unless it was a serious life threatening emergency, as the mususe of amphetamines can create neurological disorders and or drug addiction.

The Chinese physician would recommend the following treatment plan.

1. Better diet: Most inattention, hyperactivity disorders are caused by poor diet: too much sugar, starch: sodas, desserts, snacks, candies, cookies, cereals, etc.) and or too much or too little protein and fat. Protein and fat build and fuel. Too much overbuilds, over fuels creating hyperactivity, impulsiveness, etc. Too little under builds, under fuels reducing attention, ability to stay focused, becoming easily distracted, etc. The correct, daily diet, meal plan would be as follows: 1/3 protein and fat, 1/3 grain, 1/3 vegetables (3- 5, cooked, raw), spices, fruit (1), soup and or tea, two to three times per day, preferably breakfaat and lunch. For more info: read “Energetics of Food” on this blog.

2. Parents: more discipline, time spent with children, to make up for the lack of discipline, attention in today’s schools, overcrowded classrooms. Parents eat the same healthy diet.

That is it. No drugs, therapy, counseling, special diagnoses, etc, just common sense, good diet and mature, disciplined parenting. You do not need a specialist. You just need to eat better and spend more time in the kitchen and with your children.

The following case history is one example.

One of my customers came to see me about her eleven year-old daughter. Her school wanted to put her daughter (extremely thin) on Ritalin in addition to the drugs (4 months of Adderall and Dexedrine) she was already taking: She did not know what to do. I told her to bring her daughter in and let me question her. I had never counseled a child before but I did not think it would be any different from an adult. She brought her daughter in. I sat and questioned her. There was nothing wrong with her except for poor diet (under built) and lack of attention, at home and in the schoolroom: overcrowded classrooms. I told her mother to start feeding her more protein, building foods (red meat, hamburgers, eggs, chicken, etc.) especially for breakfast. She was already eating grains and vegetables. I also advised fish liver oil (capsules) in addition to greater personal attention. Months later she wrote me a letter thanking me saying that her daughter was now getting all A’s and one B (math) without the use of Ritalin or any other drug.

Author Resource:- Web: http://www.wordpress.com/richardheft, Acupuncture Physician (FL 1992- 2002), owner, operator, Food and Thought health food store, Hollywood, FL (1984- 2001), author, Hot and Cold Health (c) 2003

Article Republished From: Liberated Press Releases a web site that DOESN’T use Google Adsense text links in or around articles.

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