15 Clues For Recognizing Hyperactive ADHD

Hyperactive ADHD is a problem with self regulation, specifically the inability to control ones physical movements. Some would argue that hyperactive ADHD is by far the hardest type of ADHD to manage and treat, and may do more to interfere with an individual's ability to succeed academically, socially, and personally than any other type.

When a child, adolescent, teen, or adult is impacted by hyperactive ADHD they most likely will not be able to sit still for any length of time at all, and are particular challenged in settings that require them to be quite and in control of their physical and mental actions. The most obvious example is the classroom where being quite and sitting still are not only expected but required.

As a child moves into adulthood his/her symptoms may start to moderate, and be observed as a state of restlessness rather than the full blow hyperactivity we may have grown to expect. Restlessness is much subtler and may be internalized rather than a fff cted out externally.

The internalization of hyperactive ADHD has lead some experts to suggest that adults may outgrow their hyperactivity. Recent research seems to be suggest otherwise, telling us that adults tend to grow into their restlessness rather than out of it. There may also be an element of adaptation involved as well where the hyperactive ADHD individual has become a master at disguising some of their most troubling symptoms.


Clues For Recognizing Hyperactive ADHD in Children and Adults


*Not being able to sit still for any length of time.

*Releasing their hyperactive behavior by talking nonstop.

*Being continually on the go, to a point where it is obvious that they may be slightly different than their peers.

*A propensity to go blank when challenged academically, such as during tests.

*Performs poorly when placed under pressure.

*A tendency to take over conversations, talk loud, and in general be seen as self centered or obnoxious.

*Always being on edge, seemingly only one step away from exploding into a fit of temper or rage.

*Over critical of others to a point of almost being ridiculous.

*Can dish out the criticisms or negative critiques, but can't take it in return.

*Constantly on the prowl, searching for stimulation, thrills, and excitement.

*Often initiate altercations or start arguments.

*May worry constantly, having a bad case of the what ifs.

*Fretting over even the most minor set of negative circumstances is not uncommon.

*May constantly doodle and squirm when asked to stay seated.

*Mental focus and clarity may be tied to their ability to move around.

In conclusion hyperactive ADHD is perhaps the most easily recognizable and arguably the most problematic of all the different types of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.





Source : www.articlesbase.com

ADHD - How To Assess Them Critically

ADHD - How To Assess Them Critically

You are probably besieged by articles on ADHD from a myriad of sources and you may have a few problems in sifting through the dross. Given that the United States manufactures and consumes 90% of the world's supply of methyphenidate (Ritalan and Concerta) which is basically an amphetamine, you can see the need to tread with caution in reading articles on ADHD. Those articles may be written by doctors and pediatricians who are in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies.

The second problem is that the World Health Organisation is alarmed at the epidemic of psychostimulant medication which is sweeping America and warns that overdiagnosis of ADHD is a problem. The second warning is that as ADHD is a complex mental disorder and varies so much from child to child, that many doctors and parents are looking for a quick easy solution by prescribing pills. The condition is about behaviour and no medication can treat that. Neither can it change a child's behaviour.

In assessing articles on ADHD critically, we can start at the top. Here we find scholarly and medical articles written in famous journals like Clinical Pediatrics, The American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Child Neurology. These articles are available on subscription but are usually directed at doctors or clinicians. These ADHD articles are usually very dense scientific reading and are not really directed at the general public.

The next layer of articles on ADHD are written by medics and experts and invade multiple sites which are sponsored by the drug companies. They are therefore quite biased and should be viewed as such. If you see the name of the company or one of their mind altering drugs, then you know that you are getting one side of the story. Nothing wrong with that but you need to get a broader more enlightened picture. Other government and public health sites tend to be less biased but not always.

Another group of ADHD articles or blog posts will be on the blogs and forums. You can see here which way the wind is blowing and you will get the full range from wacky treatments including yoga and meditation to endless posts on trying to find the right dosage for a poor child who simply cannot tolerate the side effects of amphetamines. Then there are articles sponsored by the alternative medicine brigade and they can be viewed with some suspicion if they are not upfront about where and how the alternative solutions are manufactured. Questions about FDA registered facilities and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice ) need to be asked and answered.

Not many articles will mention the fact that behavior nodification with or without medication is now the preferred method of treatment for ADHD. This is recommended by the major medical authorities such as the AAP. These then are some of the ways to assess articles on ADHD with a more objective eye.

Source : http://www.articlesbase.com/adhd-articles/articles-on-adhd-how-to-assess-them-critically-873310.html#ixzz0ucGbfCYu

Four Things You Can Do to Help Your ADD Child

There may be no greater frustration for well-educated parents than watching their children struggle in school. Most parents feel powerless, so they take their children to specialists who are quick to label them with ADHD and medicate them. There are three things you need to know to help. First, ADD and ADHD represent a cluster of performance problems. ADD and ADHD are problematic and misleading terms. Aside from making children feel bad about his or herself, the terms are inaccurate. These children rarely have an attention deficit, rather they have attention inconsistency. They are easily bored by some things, and almost mesmerized by others. Second, think compensation and accommodation, not just medication. Medication can be valuable for dealing with distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (excessive energy), but it doesn't necessarily address underlying performance issues. It does, however, address one of the most important aspects of attentional dysfunction, namely mental energy control. Unfortunately, medication fails to improve how children process information and perform assignments. Third, don't think of "ADD" as a disease as much as a different way of perceiving the world. You know the costs, but there are also benefits. Among the most commonly identified people with ADD are: Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Leonardo da Vinci. Also suspected of having ADD are: Alexander Graham Bell, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Ansel Adams, Andrew Carnegie, Malcolm Forbes, Henry Ford, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mark Twain, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is important to note that all of these people exhibited inattentiveness, impulsiveness, or hyperactivity, yet none of these people believed that they were defective. Clearly, seeing and engaging the world differently can be an advantage; but only if you aren't crushed by the weight of disapproval and disappointment.

Medication is not the solution; it may not even be a solution. Medication typically deals with an aspect of attention deficit called mental energy control, specifically inconsistent alertness and effort. It does little for processing and production control problems such as: the inability to tell what is important in listening or studying, remembering instructions, doing fine detail work in school work, delaying gratification, learning from mistakes, looking ahead and considering the consequences before doing or saying things, failing to complete projects, or making frequent careless mistakes without noticing. Managing these problems requires early diagnosis and thoughtful intervention—much of which can be accomplished by informed parents.

Parents have a few significant advantages in diagnosing and remedying problems that educators and medical professionals do not. They see their children many hours a day over long periods of time. This enables patients to be critical partners in remedying problems associated with school. They can identify patterns of behavior that indicate problems early. They know if Johnny has problems following directions, is impulsive, or never finishes projects. Unfortunately most parents lack the knowledge to identify more complex learning difficulties, but they have the capacity with a little training, background information, diligent observation, and careful note taking to become invaluable partners in the diagnosis process.

1. Figure out your child's sensory preferences. What does your child do well? Does he or she have musical ability? Do they have an interest in art, color, or have a "good eye" for fashion? Are they articulate or highly verbal? Are they imaginative and creative? These are all clues. Just keeping track of things that they do well or show an aptitude for is helpful to educators and professionals who might be called to assist you.

You may be seeing a pattern in the questions above. Children with a visual preference tend to reveal skills and aptitudes related to vision. They are your natural artists, designers, and readers. Those who have auditory preferences show aptitudes related to sound. They listen well and can repeat instructions back, like music (often words too), and tend to be talkative. Children with a preference for movement and action (such as dance and sport), or who are particularly sensitive and emotional tend to have kinesthetic preferences. The book Minds in Motion, which I published in 2009, provides information about the traits that identify people with each primary sensory preference, the strengths and weaknesses of each preference, and the communication styles of each preference.

Make notes on observed skills and aptitudes and identify primary and secondary preferences. Primary preferences provide information about how children take in information, strengths and weaknesses, and even values. For example, visual children (children with a strong visual preference) tend to like bright colors, be punctual and detail-oriented. They may, however, not be very good with at making friends or very demanding about how things should be done. Most people have a secondary preference, which they can use to either fall back on when their primary strategy doesn't work or they need to augment their strategy. For instance, a kinesthetic child with auditory capacity might prepare for a spelling test by reciting the letters of words while marching to a cadence.

The more kinesthetic you are the more challenging you will find determining your child's preferences. Not because the evidence is difficult to observe, but because it is important to be systematic. That means writing the information in one notebook while the information is fresh in your mind, and providing an adequate description of the event in terms of what you saw and heard.

2. Pay attention to subjects or topics that are difficult for the child. What within specific subjects or topics is difficult? It is important to break down areas of study into their component tasks to pinpoint specific problem areas. Do they have difficulty following directions? Are they always late for events? Do they have difficulty estimating time (they tell you that they will be finished in five minutes and you wait for twenty)? Do they have difficulty scheduling their work (they have two weeks to do it, but they start the night before)? Are they disorganized? Do they say whatever pops into their heads? Are they uncoordinated (slow to learn to walk, not very good at athletics)? Do they have difficulty finding words when they talk? Do they have difficulty writing a short essay? Do they have difficulty reading or writing? Is their handwriting difficult to read? Did they have difficulty learning multiplication tables? Not only should you note what is difficult, but also how it is difficult for the child. Reading and writing involve many steps, and a problem with any one step can render these endeavors unsuccessful.

Source : Dr. René-Marc Mangin www.articlesbase.com

3. Ask children what subjects in school they like and dislike, and why. Oftentimes, children don't like the subjects that either don't make sense to them or that they do not have aptitude for. Interestingly, learning exactly what people don't like about a subject can tell you a great deal about where problems in information processing or production may lie. Children cannot easily tell you what is wrong, but they can give you clues as they explain what they like or dislike. Responses like I can never take notes in class. I start a line and never finish it, and then start another and don't finish it either. By the end of the lecture, I've just got chicken scratches.

4. Lastly, work with the child as they try to do work associated with a difficult subject. Systematically watch how they approach the subject. Do they plan their work in terms of allocating their time and acquiring resources appropriately to complete the assignment? What parts of the process do they do easily and where do they get bogged down? It is important to identify tasks that they find challenging, and note what challenges or frustrates them.

If you were able to succeed in the subject, talk about your school experiences, especially if you struggled and then figure out a way to overcome obstacles. Sharing these stories work on several levels. First, they build rapport; second, the child realizes that they too can succeed and they may even think of a strategy for overcoming a problem. Parents sometimes get offended when I ask them what kinds of problems they had in school, but many learning problems have a biological root cause, so knowing their issues often gives me insights about where to look for problems.

Working through tasks with children also makes it possible to give teachers specific information about difficulties enabling to focus on specific issues. For example, just knowing that a child can't do long division is not as helpful as knowing that a particular procedure in long division is difficult for them. There are many steps in long division that need to be done correctly and in order to be successful. Your observation that the child seems not to be able to remember the order of the steps can allow the teacher to focus attention on how to enhance the child's memory of specific steps. In many circumstances once a problem is identified, parents can directly improve performance. For example, children who find it difficult to make the jump mentally from many particular examples to a general idea (known as incomplete concept formation) endure chronic misunderstanding in the school. Parents can help their children by discussing with them whatever key concepts they are currently learning in school. Parents can play critical concept games with them by listing some critical features and having the child try to name the concept.

Source : René-Marc Mangin, Ph.D. www.articlesbase.com

The ADHD Scam and the Mass Drugging of Schoolchildren (Transcript)

(NaturalNews) Today I am bringing you news from the world of ADHD, because scientists claim they have found a difference in the brains of children with ADHD versus "normal" children. The brains of these children who have been diagnosed with ADHD were scanned with an MRI machine. They compared 40,000 different points in their brains looking for signs of thickness in the brain tissue.

They discovered that the brains of children diagnosed with ADHD were a little behind schedule in growing. Yes, you heard that right. They said they are about three years behind the brains of other children. Everything else was normal. They said if they wait three years those children will catch up and turn out just fine.

Now who is "they?" Dr. Phillip Shaw from the National Institute of Health, which is probably the National Institute of Mental Health -- they are the ones who did this research and this research has been making the rounds in mainstream media. You hear stories about it all over the radio. I heard one on national public radio today.

It just blew my mind. I will tell you why in a minute. Headlines in newspapers and magazines, TV news, cable news networks all across the country -- they have experts on there now claiming that ADHD is a physical disease. There is something wrong with the brains of these children. Apparently they forgot to look at the research that came out just two days before. Do you know what that research shows?


The Drugs Don't Work
It was a team of American scientists researching what is called the "Multi-Modal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD -- MTA for short. They found that the drugs are useless over long-term. The drugs used to treat ADHD such as Ritalin and Concerta are useless. They have no benefits whatsoever after three years and even though they may show some short-term benefits depending on who is watching, and depending on their judgment of the child's behavior, the truth is there is no long-term benefit whatsoever. But here's the most important part.

They found that these drugs stunt the growth of children. "They were not growing as much as other children in terms of both their height and their weight," said the report's co-author, Prof. William Pelham from the University of Buffalo. "I think we exaggerated the beneficial impact of medication in the first study," he added in reference to a study they did a few years ago where they declared that these drugs were helping children.

"We had thought that children medicated longer would have better outcomes. That did not happen to be the case. The children had a substantial decrease in their growth rate," he continued. The second point was that there were no benefits to children taking these drugs whatsoever.


ADHD Drugs Stunt Brain Growth in Children
What they did not say in the results of this study is that the same drugs also stunt the growth of the children's brains. Now this is my assessment of the situation, having studied this issue for several years and knowing that this drug is stunting the development of the children. It is very reasonable to conclude that it also stunts the growth of their brains and guess what? This new study actually proves it, because these MRI brain scans of children's brains that found that these brains were three years behind schedule in development.

80% of the children who were looked at with those MRI scans were on ADHD medications. That's right. All that study did was prove that medication stunts the growth of children's brains. Amazing is it not?

How lousy the science has become out there in the world of ADHD when they are trying to push these drugs on to parents, children and school administrators. They come up with anything. They actually take a bunch of healthy children, they invent a fictitious disease, then they come up with a chemical called "Speed" -- it used to be called speed when it was sold on the street as a street drug. They give it to the children.

It harms the children, stunts their growth, and causes their brains to develop more slowly. Then they stick these children under an MRI machine, run some brain scans, and announce to the world that oh my goodness ADHD children have smaller brains that are behind schedule. How amazing is that? It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is really going on here.

This science is so bad. I remember when I was taking a science course in college one of the first lessons we had was how to interpret statistics and how to watch out for correlations that might not be causations or how to make sure that you do not have mistakes in reaching conclusions with your data. This is a classic mistake.

These drugs are causing the slow brain development. All the MRI scans are doing is proving that the drugs are harming the children. Notice they did not take children who were not on the drugs, put them under an MRI machine, and scan their brains. You know why? Because their brains would be normal. They had to take children who were doped up on speed and put them under the machines in order to get these results.

In addition, notice that they did not do this study before children started being dosed with the drugs. They did not say 20 years ago: "Oh, wow! Suddenly children are having this so-called disease 'ADHD.'" Let's stick them under a machine and see if there is anything wrong with their brains. They did not do that because if they had they would have found there was no difference.


The True Cause of ADHD
Nothing is wrong with these children other than probably their diet, a little too much refined sugar and too many food additives. In fact, that reminds me of the Southampton Study in the UK that showed that additives cause hyperactivity in children within an hour after consumption. That's right -- food additives, especially the artificial colors. Made from coal tar derivatives and synthetic chemicals, you feed these to children and guess what? Within an hour you get hyperactive behavior.

Is there anything wrong with these children's brains? No, there is something wrong with these children's parents, who probably keep feeding him or her chemical food additives. There is probably something wrong with the school administrators who keep dishing out school lunches that contain food items made with toxic chemicals. Maybe those people should have their brains scanned.

As long as we are talking about brain scans, and talking about retarded neuron development I think the only people in this whole study who probably have brains that are behind schedule are the researchers who announced these conclusions.

These people have stunted brain development. There is no question about it because how on earth could they not have realized that the only thing they did with these MRI scans was prove that these drugs stunt neural development in children? How could they not have considered that? They must be on crack or maybe, in this case, amphetamines because that is what they are giving to the children.

Maybe these researchers are really ADHD children who were treated with these drugs, then they grew up with stunted brains and now they have gotten involved in the research. They have drawn these conclusions and made these announcements and, of course, the editors at places like National Public Radio were probably on the same drugs because they ran this story as if it was fact.

They did not question it one bit. No one out there in the mainstream media questioned this. They did not say, "Gee, could it be that the medication caused the stunted growth in the brains of these children? Could that be?" No, they did not question it at all. No skepticism anymore when it comes to psychiatry or Big Pharma and you know why, of course, because they have an agenda to push.

They have to keep pushing these drugs onto more children. They have to keep those parents in a state of fear. That's how they sell more drugs. They have to keep people believing in this fictitious disease. That's the only way they are going to make money. This is an industry that makes money by exploiting the bodies of children, and the evidence is very clear.

Even the NIH is now saying that these drugs stunt the growth of children. That is a scientific fact announced by a mainstream medical research organization. This is not fringe science. This is not alternative medicine. This is not conjecture on the part of some person who has an axe to grind with psychiatry. This is mainstream medicine announcing that this stuff stunts the growth of children. How could it not stunt the growth of their brains?


Why the Mainstream Media Cannot be TrustedWhen I was listening to a report on this issue on National Public Radio just the other day, a woman called into the show and she asked a very good question. She said: "I am an adult who has been diagnosed with ADHD, is my brain also stunted in its growth?" Do you know what the reply was?

They had a doctor on that show. One of the doctors that does news reporting for National Public Radio -- kind of the in-house idiot there, who has no training in nutrition, does not understand a thing about health but knows all the disease names and all the chemical names. Do you know what this doctor told that woman?

He said, "Well, researchers are not sure but they suspect that your brain may be behind in its development too and that eventually your brain will catch up and then you will be fine but right now if you have been diagnosed with Adult ADHD your brain growth maybe a little behind schedule."

That is what he said to this woman. I am thinking are you kidding me? Is this person really saying this on the air? You have to be a complete idiot to come up with that.

The research said that ADHD is a disease where children lag behind a few years in developing their brains, and if you read the research they said the brain cortex of children reaches peak thickness at an average of 10.5 years for ADHD children compared with age 7.5 years in normal children.

This person was talking to a woman who is probably in her 40's and he is saying even in your 40's you are probably still a few years behind. Are you kidding me? Where does he come up with any evidence for this -- nowhere, he pulled it out of his hat. He just made that up right there on the air -- just made it up.

He had no evidence whatsoever -- not even any logic behind it and no reason to say that other than the fact that in order to keep up the illusion that this disease has something to do with slow brain development, they had to make an excuse to say "Oh, why are they diagnosing adults with this disease?"

They had to come up with a reason -- another fictitious reason and this was all they could come up with. This doctor on the radio on the spot, this was all he could think of. Oh, well your brain must be behind too.

They are reaching deep aren't they? What will they come up with next? It's like catching a politician in a lie and that politician has to keep the lie going. The lie gets more and more outrageous every time he tells it to a different group in a different city when he is touring around trying to get elected.


The Pharmaceutical Credo: Sell, Sell, Sell
This is what the ADHD industry is like. It is as if they have to carry on this outrageous lie, and they cannot really tell the truth because then the whole house of cards would collapse and everybody would realize this is all one giant fraud.

They cannot tell the truth so they have to keep coming up with new lies to try to market this to more people. First, it was just a children's disorder. Then the drug companies realized they could sell this same speed drug to adults. I mean think about it. Children are only a small part of the total market.

What if we could convince adults that they too have ADHD then we could sell this drug to them also? They came up with a test. That's right -- a paper test to try to convince adults that they had ADHD.

You know what this paper test is made of? It's a few questions like: Do you feel like you are juggling too many things in your day? Do you have too much on your mind or too many projects that you cannot finish? Do you feel like the stresses of modern life are distracting you? Do you have trouble finishing projects or trouble concentrating on your work? These are the kinds of questions they ask.

Well it turns out that virtually everyone has ADHD according to those questions. This is what they used to diagnose adults. See there is no test. There is no blood test. There is no body chemistry test. There is no MRI scan. There is nothing physically wrong and nothing chemically wrong. They just take a test and it turns out that 80% of American adults who take this test end up diagnosed with ADHD -- that is 80% or four or five adults that walk into this room and answer these questions gets slapped with a label. You are ADHD.

What a quick quack diagnosis, is it not? Drag a bunch of adults into a room, tell them they have a disease, and then give them a drug. That is what this industry is all about.

Now they have to back this up and they have to say, "Well, gee, adults must have slow brain development too." They cannot think of any other reason to justify their fictitious disease so they are just dragging the stuff out of nowhere -- out of absolutely nowhere.


'Treatment' as a Marketing Term
Even Dr. Phillip Shaw who is the head researcher on this study at the NIH, said in a quote published on Reuters: "What I would not take away from this study is just sit and wait three years and your child will be okay," he said.

In other words, he is saying that even though his own research shows that the brain development of these children is three years behind, your children will not just grow out of it. He is saying, in fact, they need to be treated with chemicals -- or he is implying that.

He says, "We know ADHD is a real problem for children and their families and the schools and it does need treatment." Now treatment is the word that this industry uses for marketing. When they say "treatment" what they mean is get out your wallet. When they say too many children are going untreated, what they mean is not enough children have bought our drugs -- not enough parents have given in. Not enough prescriptions have been written.

When they say that more children need treatment that is what they mean. They need to sell more drugs. They have managed to change the language. They have managed to phrase all of this so that their marketing campaigns sound like compassionate public health campaigns. Oh, we care about these children so much that we have to sell them our over-priced monopoly prescription drugs that used to be sold as street drugs and would, in fact, get you arrested for a felony if you sold them to a child.

That is how they bypass those signs in front of the schools that say this is a drug-free school zone. They go right over that sign. They jump that fence, get into the administrator's office, get into the heads of the teachers, counselors, get them to start prescribing drugs or pushing them onto those children. Then they come up with this self-reinforcing MRI scan to say that there is a difference in brain development.

Well, of course there is. These children have been on speed. You take a bunch of crack babies and you put them in the same MRI machine, you are going to see something wrong with their brains too. Make no mistake about it. You take a bunch of heroin junkies, you put them in that machine, same thing. You are going to get some strange looking results.

It does not mean that they had some disease that was treated with heroin or crack and that the disease caused the brain problem. No, it means that the drugs they were taking were the most likely cause of these problems.


Flawed Children or Flawed System?

Let us get back to the doctor with the study -- the Multi-Modal Treatment Study of Children. The report's co-author I mentioned earlier is Professor William Pelham at the University of Buffalo. He is the one who found out that these drugs do not help children at all in the long run. He says, "In the short run, medication will help the child behave better. In the long run, it will not and that information should be made very clear to parents."

Dr. Tim Kendall, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (the person who is working on some new guidelines about ADHD for the NHS) says, "A generous understanding would be to say that doctors have reached the point where they do not know what else to offer."

He says, "I hope we will be able to make recommendations that will give people a comprehensive approach to treatment…" there is that word "treatment" again. He continues, "and that will advise about what teachers might be able to do within the classroom when they are trying to deal with children who have difficult problems of this kind. I think the important thing is we have a comprehensive approach that does not focus on just one type of treatment."

Good for him to dare to say that we have to have a comprehensive approach. Well I have a solution for you that is comprehensive. How about nutrition? How about we stop poisoning our children with processed foods and chemical additives in those foods? How about we stop poisoning the brains of our children by dosing them up on speed? There's an idea for you.

We could cure children of this so-called behavioral disorder by doing two things -- making the children healthy and making education a lot more interesting. These children do not have attention deficit problems. You set those young boys down in front of a Wii or an X-box or a Playstation and they can pay attention for about 12 hours straight. They do not even pee or eat.

They sit there in front of that machine on that TV and they can focus and master a game. You go out and find a game called "Guitar Hero," put a 13-year-old boy in front of that game and you got the whole weekend done. Their whole weekend is focused on that one game and that child will master that game with hand/eye coordination.

That child will be a genius in that game by the end of the weekend. He goes back to school on Monday bored out of his mind. Why? Education is pretty darn boring the way it is done today in most schools. I know there are exceptions and my hat is off to those teachers who make learning fun. I had a few of those in my educational experience, but largely most of them were boring as heck.

History is reduced to just a series of names and dates to memorize and regurgitate onto paper so that you can be called smart and to say that you know history because you have memorized a bunch of stuff. Are you kidding me? That is not an education, and that is not interesting. No wonder these children cannot pay attention.

Education needs to be experiential. These children learn in a multitude of ways. It is not just auditory through a lecture or it is not just visual through a book. These children need to learn hands-on. They need to learn in a 3D space. They need to be able to move their bodies as they learn.

That is why "Guitar Hero" works, friends -- because they are moving. They are jamming out on these video game guitars -- the mind/body connection is solid. They are focused. They are learning. They master that game. We need to make public education more fun like that. I mean let's face it.


ADHD Drugs are a Crime Against Children
This is really about the Ritalin game, this is about making students easier for teachers to handle. It is about society not being willing to handle the energy of young children and instead of letting these children express that creative energy in a variety of ways and giving them a useful outlet for that energy, they want to turn our children into zombies.

You would think with a drug called "speed" that it would actually make them more hyperactive, right, but no it has the opposite effect. It is called "speed" but it makes them mellow. You can ask any ex-junkie who used to take that drug and they will tell you the same thing. Now, I remember when I was in the third grade, we had a baseball star come in and give a lecture about being hooked on drugs. He played for the Kansas City Royals.

He had been busted taking drugs. Part of his sentence was community service. He had to go into the schools all over town and talk to the children about how terrible an experience it was being hooked on drugs. He came in and he told us how he was hallucinating, what these drugs did to him, his sleep habits, and how they harmed his life and his health. I was really impacted by that speech but today guess what? You might as well have drug reps going into the schools telling children how good speed is for them.

That is what is going on. The drug reps go in and talk to the administrators, talk to the counselors, they brainwash those people, and then those people talk to the children and say you need these drugs. In one generation, we have gone from telling children "Just Say No to Drugs" to "Just take this pill and then you will be healthy" -- one generation.

Now, we have a new generation of children who are being raised on speed. Worse yet they have been given a label -- a label of a disease. They have been told that they are abnormal. Why? Because they have a whole lot of energy, because they can probably do 50 things at once. It is quite a skill. I have mastered it as an adult personally.

I can do 50 things at once and I do not have any disease. I have incredible creativity. I have fantastic mental focus. I can read a book a day if I want to. I can photo-read ten books a day, and learn multiple languages as an adult much better than I ever could as a child. If I were to walk into any of the psychiatric centers, they would diagnose me with ADHD no question about it. Why? Because I am doing many things at once. It fits their pattern. That is what these children are doing. They can do many things at once.

You say they cannot calm down. Of course they can't. They are too excited to be alive. They have stuff to do, stuff to learn, stuff to touch, hear, feel, taste, experience, stuff to categorize in those brains. Those brains are working and if you take them off those junk food additives those brains will work even better.

We have to start looking at the gem of what is in these children's heads. That brain is a gift and that brain needs to be cultivated, not shut down with drugs. This is a disgrace to the next generation what we are doing to our children. This is disgusting. In fact, I have often described it as a crime against humanity.

That is what I really believe it is. I believe to be a type of chemical castration to these young children that we are damaging their brains and now the MRI scans prove it, we are damaging their brains. We are stunting their growth. We are creating a generation of mutants because we are putting them all on speed. The industry has said, "Well we are not treating enough of them." They have said, "There are children still out there that do not have treatment. We must treat them all."


How the Drug Game Works
I read an article recently where the estimates were that only one-third of the children who have ADHD are currently "receiving treatment." The implication in this article was that they needed to put three times as many children on these drugs as there are now.

Think about that -- that would put the number at well over 10 million children in the United States being put on speed. A nation of drugged children -- stunted growth and what other side effects might we learn about this in the years ahead?

Nobody knows -- the researchers certainly don't know. This is all one giant experiment using our children as guinea pigs. This is a giant marketing experiment designed to generate profits, to scare people into believing in a fictitious disease, to label children with a fictitious disease name that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Make them a victim of a system of medicine that has no purpose other than to extract profits from bodies.

ADHD will not be the only label they will get. No way, perhaps the side effects of these drugs will cause liver damage and then they will get another disease name -- liver disease. Then after liver damage is in place for a long period, they will have toxicity in their blood and that might cause heart disease. It might cause sleep disorders. It might cause depression and guess what? Big Pharma has a drug to treat all of those too.

What are the odds? Just imagine a lifetime of popping pills. One side effect after another and it all starts with a fictitious diagnosis based on nothing but the opinion of a psychiatrist who has most likely been bribed by the drug companies himself or herself.

Try to find a psychiatrist practicing today who is not taking money from Big Pharma. Just try to find one. Try to find a decision-maker at the FDA who is not financially involved with the pharmaceutical industry. The situation is so bad that the FDA recently announced they were going to limit the amount of bribery allowed by the panel members who make the safety decisions for the FDA.

You see before there was no limit to the amount of bribery allowed. The FDA believed two things. They believed (1) that there should be no limit and (2) that none of this should be made public. In other words, no one needed to actually declare any conflict of interest nor declare how much money he or she had been receiving from pharmaceutical companies.

These are the people sitting on the boards making the decisions for the FDA about which drugs to approve or reject. Of course, all the high profit drugs were approved. Well, now the FDA has decided to clean up its act a little bit and limit the amount of bribery to $50,000 a year per person sitting on the panel. How is that for integrity? This is an agency so corrupt, so steeped in dishonest practices that it believes integrity means limiting bribery to $50,000 a year per person sitting on these panels These are the people making the decisions on drugs like Ritalin.


The Grand Experiment
Here is another fact you probably do not know: Most drugs that are prescribed to children have never been tested for either safety or effectiveness in children.

Anti-depressants, for example, are commonly prescribed to children. There are millions of children in this country who are on anti-depressant drugs -- SSRI's they are called -- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. They are the ones that have been linked to suicides, to violent behavior, violent thoughts. Many of these have been banned for use in children in other countries including the UK, but here in the United States it is perfectly okay to prescribe them on children even though they have never been tested on children -- never! Not one shred of evidence that they are safe on children -- not one.

This whole system of medicine that the FDA claims is the "Gold Standard of Medicine" -- this whole system is a sham. There is no real evidence behind most of what goes on and the evidence that you do see? A lot of it has just been fudged. It has been fraudulently created in order to achieve some level of cover so that the corrupt officials who have been bribed making decisions at the FDA can go ahead and put their rubber stamp on that drug. They can then approve it and release it into the marketplace.

That is when the grand experiment really begins. That is when we start seeing what happens when you unleash this drug onto a population that has never really been tested for? We are just now starting to learn the answers to that question. One of the answers that we just learned is that these drugs for ADHD stunt the growth of children. We know that now. What else might happen?

Might it cause them to be unable to reproduce down the road? What if it stunts the growth of sperm development, as these children become men? What if it interrupts the development or the release of eggs in the ovaries? What if it causes reproductive problems? What if we are, in fact, creating a generation of children who cannot reproduce?

We do not even know if that is the case or not. We will not know for many more years because this is a grand experiment. No one knows. No one can tell you what is safe. No one can tell you that the scenario I just described cannot happen because they do not know. It has never been tested.

Psychiatric drugs only have to be tested for a few weeks -- sometimes as little as six weeks before they are released onto the public and can be prescribed for a lifetime. That is right. This is true. You can Google this and find it yourself. The FDA has rules about this and the rules state that psychiatric drugs -- even those for schizophrenia -- only need to be tested for a few weeks and then they can be released to the public and prescribed for years or decades.

How do they know that these drugs are safe for use over a period of years or decades? They do not know. No one knows. If you allow your child to be put on these drugs then you are giving up your power and you are in a sense playing the role of a servant to this industry. You are giving up your money. You are compromising the health and safety of your child.


Diet Affects Behavior
You may say "Well, my child has behavioral problems, he is difficult in school," or "The teacher has told me that I should put him on Ritalin. What do I do?" It is very simple -- change the child's diet. Take all the processed foods out of his diet. Take away the food additives -- the artificial colors, artificial flavors and processed sugars. Take all that out and fill his diet with wholesome foods -- fresh produce, super food nutrients.

Emerald Balance has another product made for children called "X-Balance." It is chocolate flavored. Children love it. It is loaded with super foods. You can blend it up into some chocolate milk or some kind of super food drink. Give your child one of those every day. It will change his life.

Symptoms of ADHD will vanish usually within just a couple of weeks once you change their diet. This is not difficult stuff. Take the Aspartame out of their diets. Stop feeding them soda and diet soda. Put wholesome foods and nutrition back into their diets and they will change. They will do better in school and they will resist infection. They will be far less likely to ever be diagnosed with diabetes, cancer, or heart disease. You will in fact be creating a very positive future for that child by changing their nutrition today.

That is how you eliminate so-called behavioral disorders for the most part -- 80% success rate with a couple of weeks just by changing what they eat. It's very simple. This is not complicated. Here is why.


Food as Fuel
The brain is a physical organ. The brain needs blood, it needs oxygen, and it needs blood sugar to operate. In fact, the brain uses up a whole lot of oxygen and blood sugar. The brain burns up some calories. It is that big CPU on top of those shoulders.

The body invests some real resources in keeping that brain active because, of course, the brain is our main advantage. That is why our species has flourished -- at least by some measures. We have at least been able to populate the planet. We have not really taken care of it but we have been very successful at spreading and we did that because our brains worked better than the other animals -- the other mammals on this planet with which we were competing. The brain takes a lot of energy, many resources. Well the brain runs on what is in your blood.

The blood is pumping fuel to your brain and the blood is removing metabolic waste materials from the cells in your brain, right? The brain is a physical organ and that means whatever is in your blood is affecting the functioning of your brain. It makes sense, right? You drive up to a gas station to put fuel in your car. You have three grades of fuel to choose from.

You have your regular, your premium and your super premium. The difference between those grades of fuel is performance. You put in a higher-octane fuel you are going to get more mileage per gallon out of that car because there is just more energy in that fuel. Well you would not drive up to a gas station that had budget fuel for your car.

Budget fuel is 50% water and 50% gas. Would you put that in your car's gas tank and then expect to drive away and have great performance out of your car even if that gas were say half the price of all the other gas? Of course not, no one would do that but what do we do with our children?

We feed them junk food -- cheap processed junk food that lacks the nutrients the brain needs to operate at a high performance. It is like putting water in your gas tank and then expecting the car to work correctly. It will not work that well.


How to Feed Your Brain
You have to feed the brain the nutrients that it needs. It needs essential fatty acids. It needs DHA. It needs Omega 3 oils, vitamins, minerals, and all of these plant-based phytonutrients from things like berries and micro-algae such as spirulina and chlorella. All of these super foods -- even cacao. The brain needs these nutrients if you want it to run at high performance. It only makes sense. Do you want a child's brain to work correctly? Feed the brain right.

That means getting the right nutrients into the blood, and you know the human body has a very cool system for getting the right nutrients into the blood. It is called "digestion." It is called eating it or drinking it. Get that stuff down your throat -- all that good nutritional stuff, high-density super foods and guess what? The digestive system will take those nutrients.

It will pull them out of those foods. It will put them into the blood stream, and then the heart will pump that blood right to the brain. The brain will absorb that and whoa, wham. The brain is working. Suddenly it is working right.

This is not rocket science to figure out. This is kind of common sense. Common sense that is completely missed by the whole system of organized medicine today -- psychiatry has no clue about the link between nutrition and brain health. They imagine it does not even exist.

They think that all behavioral disorders are a result of some kind of brain chemical imbalance that has to be corrected with an artificial, synthetic chemical put into the body. It's ridiculous! Your brain has everything it needs to operate perfectly and so does the brain of every child born in this country.

It has everything it needs to operate perfectly -- barring, of course, some bizarre birth defect where they were born without half a brain or something. That is the rare exception. Maybe one in a million -- everybody else has everything they need. They just need to feed that brain correctly. Give it the nutrients that it needs and stop poisoning the brain. Stop poisoning it with toxic food additives that you find in manufactured foods. Stop poisoning it with all the toxic chemicals that you find in personal care products today.

Stop poisoning it with environmental chemicals. That is the key. You want to keep the brain healthy. You want to see it work. Give it the nutrients it needs. Stop poisoning it with toxic chemicals and for goodness sake give it some water. You know the brain is at least 75% water. Many of these children are just dehydrated. That is why they cannot think because the brain does not have the liquid in there. It needs the water. The neurons will not work right without the water.


ADHD and the Standard American Diet
Instead of drinking water, they are chugging down processed juices, sodas, sugary drinks -- stuff like Ensure and Slimfast -- and those infant formulas that are made with about 50% sugar, and I am not exaggerating. I saw one that is 42.6% corn syrup solids plus 10.5% sugar. You put that together that is over 52% refined sweetener. This is a baby formula sold at Wal-Mart and it is half sugar. That is unbelievable.

This is what parents are feeding their children too. They are guzzling down the Gatorade. It is sugar water with artificial colors and some salt in it. That is what Gatorade mostly is.

Why are we feeding our kids this stuff? Girl Scout cookies contain partially hydrogenated oil, which contains trans fatty acids that promote heart disease. Read the labels on this stuff folks; you will be shocked to find out what is in it. Once you do, you will know then the real reason why children might have some behaviors that someone could interpret as a disease.

Their diets are messed up. Their nutrients are atrocious. They are not getting enough water and they certainly are not getting right nutrition. If you turn that around -- you turn around the health of these children.

What they definitely do not need is speed. They definitely do not need amphetamine drugs on top of their malnourished state. You take a child that is dehydrated, that is suffering from numerous nutritional deficiencies and then you feed that child amphetamines of course you are going to see stunted development of their brain on an MRI scan.

Of course, why would you expect anything else? You would have to be insane to expect anything else. Of course, it is going to harm those children. Why has it come to this in this nation? Do you ever wonder that? How did it get to the point where our children are now guinea pigs being drugged up instead of being fed correctly?

Why is it that these companies are pushing infant formula made with sugar but they denounce breast milk? Why is that sunlight is being discredited? It is these companies that sell sunscreen want you to coat your children with sunscreen chemicals rather than to allow them to have decent exposure to the sunlight? Sunlight, which would generate vitamin D and improve brain function, improves immune function, prevent cancer, improve blood glucose metabolism to help prevent obesity and prevent Type II diabetes and so on.


Selling Out the American People for Profit
Why has it come to this? There is one answer to all of this. It is the common thread that runs through everything I have said here and that is the profit motive of corporations. These corporations are out of control and they are behind all of this. They are the drug companies and the food companies and sometimes it is the same company.

They want to exploit the bodies of your children just to make money. That is all there is to it. They don't care who dies, who is harmed. They don;t care about ethics. They don't care about the environment. They don't care what happens when these drugs are eliminated from the body, get flushed downstream, and enter the aquatic ecosystems of our planet. They don't care about that. They don't even think about that. They are not concerned.

They do not care about any of the impacts of what they do as long as they can keep people alive long enough to make sure they keep buying their drugs and that is it. They will market these drugs to anyone -- infants, children, adults, senior citizens. They will market them to people who do not need them.

They'll even just invent diseases and market those diseases and they will buy off anybody they need to buy off. They'll buy off the psychiatrists. They'll buy off FDA officials. They'll buy off the media with advertising money.

They will pay money to anybody they have to pay to get this message out and get this propaganda cemented in the minds of the American consumer. Once that happens they know they can push these drugs for at least a generation before someone will finally catch up with them and expose this whole sham for what it really is. You see Big Pharma is a lot as Big Tobacco used to be.

They are selling a product they know harms people. They are distorting all the science to try to cover it up. They are buying off everybody to keep this gimmick going for as long as they can. They're buying off the lawmakers. They're buying off the regulators. They're buying off the media. They're buying off scientists and the ones they cannot buy off they intimidate. We have documented numerous cases of that kind of intimidation of scientists on our website, www.NaturalNews.com. That is where I encourage you to go to learn more about this issue.


False Media vs. Independent Media
Stay informed, stay empowered, and stay skeptical. Do not believe what you hear in the mainstream media. It is all influenced by this corporate agenda because the media takes money from these companies.

How do you think they pay their bills and their salaries? They take money from pharmaceutical companies who are pushing these drugs onto children. You cannot trust their information. You can only now trust information from independent sources. That is it.

Sources like the Environmental Working Group Online or the Organic Consumers Association or sites like www.NaturalNews.com. That's where you can get information that you can trust because I have nothing to sell you here other than ideas, I do not sell nutritional supplements. I do not make any money on nutritional supplements. I do not sell drugs.

The only thing I sell is information. You can buy books on my website. You can buy audio programs if you want, but guess what? Those same audio programs are also available free. The only thing I have to offer you are ideas and information and I hope you have enjoyed this information. I hope you found value in it. I feel passionate about this.

I think what is going on in America today is a crime against our children and I hope that the justice department will round up a bunch of law enforcement officers and march into the offices of these drug companies and start making arrests. These people should be tried for their crimes against the children of this country.

There should be a massive public hearing and a prosecution attempt against the CEO's of these drug companies and the corrupt officials at the FDA and the people in psychiatry who are committing these crimes or allowing them to happen. These people should all be held accountable for their actions in harming our children. We do not even know what the final cost of this is going to be down the road.

If these drugs stunt the growth of these children right now and cause their brains to develop more slowly than normal children what will be the long-term consequences here? We do not even know. Maybe some day we will find out.

Maybe some day there will be prosecutions, maybe even convictions against some of these people but first we have to have the will to move in that direction as a society. We have to stand up and say what is going on today is wrong -- that turning the bodies of these young children into chemical profit centers is morally wrong, ethically wrong. It is wrong in terms of health policy. It is wrong in so many ways that even this hour is not enough to talk about them all. We have to be willing to do that in society.

I have a six CD course available at www.TruthPublishing.com that is very reasonably priced for these Health Ranger reports because I want to give you the opportunity to listen to these in your car while you are commuting or while you are driving your children to the naturopath. I hope that you are not driving your child to a conventional medical doctor or a psychiatrist. As you are taking them to a naturopathic doctor, you can listen to these programs in your car. You can find those at www.TruthPublishing.com.


Parents Must Protect Their Own ChildrenI hope you agree with most of what you have read here and I hope you remain skeptical with everything that you read. I hope you check this out. Go to Google. Start Googling this information. Teach yourself the truth about this issue. Find out the truth.

Do not just get your information from some doctor who has been taking money from the drug companies and certainly do not get your information from the mainstream media because they are taking money from drug companies left and right.

No one in their right mind trusts the FDA anymore except, of course, the drug companies because the FDA is doing their bidding. So remain skeptical, remain informed and please do everything in your power to protect your children from these dangerous drugs and these evil corporations.

Protect your children. That is the best way that you can thank me for putting forth this effort to get you this information and to keep www.NaturalNews.com going is to just protect your children. Help me make a difference. Spread this information around.

I do not want to see more children stunted in their growth and harmed by these dangerous drugs and in fact, I would like to see this whole industry overturned. This whole sham of psychiatric medicine should come crumbling down real soon now. It can only do so if people like you -- intelligent consumers like you continue to stay informed and continue to voice your concerns.

Speak out! Take a stand! Do not be rolled over by these dangerous corporations -- these powerful entities who seem to be in control in society today.

They will not last much longer. Trust me because the truth is coming out about these issues and as this truth comes out that house of cards is going to come falling down. Stand up, voice your truth, and protect the health of your children.

Source : www.naturalnews.com

ADHD "experts" are ignoring evidence of dangerous drug side effects and defending increasing prescription rates

Apparently, medicating kids from childhood through adolescence wasn't quite enough, though. "We also realized that children could take medication more than once a day. They can take it in the morning, in the afternoon and evening, and even late in the afternoon when they come home from school. ... So all these factors combined to cause a rise in the prescription rates of medication today," Parker said.
Note the lack of any indication that the higher prescription rate is a bad thing. Also note that a recent review of previous studies on whether or not ADHD drugs stunt growth concluded that the stimulants do, in fact, stunt growth, by an average of three-quarters of an inch and about 2 pounds of body weight for 10-year-old boys.

Essentially, kids are being massively over-prescribed ADHD drugs that come with possibly deadly side effects, and the government is doing little to nothing to warn parents of those dangers. However, it seems that yet again, it's the U.S. government that is dragging its feet to protect consumers -- and in this case, millions of children -- from dangerous medications.

In late May 2006, Health Canada issued warnings of heart risks -- including sudden death -- on all drugs used to treat ADHD. "The effects are usually mild or moderate, but in some patients, this stimulation may -- in rare cases -- result in cardiac arrests, strokes or sudden death," the agency warned. Health Canada issued the warning even though no deaths caused by ADHD drugs have been reported in Canada.

The FDA is being sluggish to issue warnings on the newest risks ADHD drugs pose to users, the majority of which are children. It forms committees such as the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory committee, which convened in February 2006, and the Pediatric Advisory Committee, which convened in March 2006 and was attended by FDA epidemiologists and physicians, as well as two representatives from Big Pharma, to discuss if and how patients should be warned about the dangers of ADHD drugs. Notably, both committees did not find the need for a black-box warning "warranted."

One might wonder why Canada -- which has suffered zero deaths because of ADHD drugs (thus far) -- found the need for a warning "warranted" and acted quickly to issue it, while the United States, which has suffered 25 deaths (19 involving children) because of ADHD drugs, has effectively done nothing to warn its citizens of the dangers of such medications.

While the United States has a few lobbyists on the side of public health arguing for strong warnings and patient education on ADHD drugs, it seems no one has considered the third alternative: That ADHD can be prevented, rather than treated.

In an August 2004 News Target article, Mike Adams writes that ADHD is caused by harmful food additives such as the chemicals used in food coloring, as well as refined carbohydrates like white flour and the high fructose corn syrup found in soft drinks. Adams says the so-called "disease" is merely a result of children (and adults) consuming these toxic food ingredients, which eventually poison the brain and affect behavior, leading to a misdiagnosis of "ADHD."

"When you eat processed foods containing additives and artificial colors, you are introducing toxic chemicals into your bloodstream," Adams' article states. "Those chemicals find their way into the brain and alter brain function, and in the case of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, it alters their behavior to make them restless or to have a shortened attention span. It can also cause children and adults alike to display other problems derived from their mental state."

The remedy? It's simple, according to Adams: "If you feed your children foods that enhance their health -- that is, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and superfoods -- then they won't exhibit these behavioral problems."

The sad truth is that many Americans will never subscribe to the idea that ADHD can be prevented or reversed through dietary changes. They would rather go to their doctor or psychiatrist and get a prescription for a little bottle of pills that will ostensibly "cure" their or their child's behavioral problems. It is on behalf of these people, as well as the people who never hear about the simple dietary solutions for ADHD, that the FDA and all its "advisory committees" must stand up for the public good and -- at the very least -- issue strong warnings with these drugs to warn patients that the stimulants their doctor prescribes them or their children may come with side effects ranging from stunted growth and skin irritations to strokes, heart attacks and sudden death.

Source : http://www.naturalnews.com/

While scientists clash over the dangers of ADHD drugs, the U.S. government does nothing to protect children

Since the Vioxx scandal broke in late 2004, most Americans are all too familiar with the idea that prescription drugs can be dangerous and even deadly. But how would America react if it were to discover that a class of drugs being primarily prescribed to children was also dangerous and sometimes deadly?
According to a May 2006 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, side effects and "problems" with widely prescribed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs send 3,100 people to the ER every year -- 80 percent of them children.

"Problems" most often include overdosing or accidental use, and side effects can include chest pain, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, stroke and sudden death. Between 1999 and 2003, 25 deaths linked to ADHD drugs were reported to the FDA, 19 involving children. In addition, 54 cases of other serious heart problems were reported, including strokes and heart attacks.

Considering that roughly 3.3 million Americans who are 19 or younger, and 1.5 million who are 20 and older, are currently taking ADHD drugs -- with those numbers constantly rising -- it is safe to assume that the number of ADHD-drug-related hospitalizations will also continue to increase. Given these revelations about the risky nature of ADHD drugs, one might wonder what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is doing to warn consumers of these popular stimulants.

In February 2006, an FDA advisory panel voted 8-7 in favor of including its most serious "black box" warning on ADHD drugs, but the very next month, a different FDA panel instead voted to put information on cardiac and other risks in a new, special "highlights" section of prescription drug inserts.

Dr. Steven Nissen, chief of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, criticized the FDA's decision in the April 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine: "I believe that the appearance of information in the 'highlights' section of the drug label will have virtually no effect on prescribing practices." Think back to the last time you picked up a prescription from the pharmacy. Did you look at the information pamphlet inside the bag, or did you go straight for the pill bottle, assuming that your prescription was safe?

In a letter appearing in the same NEJM issue, the heads of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association -- Dr. Thomas Anders and Dr. Steven Sharfstein -- contradicted Nissen's argument that a "black box" warning on ADHD drugs was necessary for patient safety: "We agree that patient safety is paramount and that the long-term benefits and risks of stimulant treatment are not known definitively, yet we are concerned that such a warning will discourage patients and their families from using effective treatment."

In his rebuttal in the April 6 issue, Nissen replies, "I strongly disagree. I cannot accept the paternalistic notion that patients and caregivers are better off without information about drug risks. The presence of a black-box warning and a mandatory patient guide would probably stimulate useful discussions among patients, parents, and physicians about risks. An appropriate warning might also slow the exponential growth in the use of amphetamines and similar stimulants, which has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, resulting in the treatment of nearly 10 percent of preadolescent boys."

The "exponential growth" Nissen refers to has garnered national attention in recent years, and has left many wondering what brought it about. Was there a sudden outbreak of ADHD in the past decade? Was there something in the water causing children to suddenly fall victim to this behavioral disorder? In September 2000, PBS Frontline ran a special called "The Ritalin Explosion," during which the show interviewed child psychologist Harvey Parker, co-founder of the non-profit organization Children and Adults with ADD (CHADD). Frontline asked Parker what had changed among the general public to bring about the rise in ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions for medical treatment.

Parker replied that "several things" caused the increase in ADHD drug prescriptions, including more parents having their kids examined, and doctors understanding that "medication was an appropriate treatment for ADHD, not a last-resort treatment, but in some cases, a first-resort treatment." Parker continued, "We realized that kids with ADHD don't have to stop taking medication when they become adolescents. We used to think that stimulant medication would stunt growth. We realize that that doesn't happen. So we continued prescribing medications to these children through adolescence."

Source : Source : http://www.naturalnews.com

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children

Childhood ADHD

The behaviors must appear before age 7.
They must continue for at least six months.

The symptom categories of ADHD in children yield three potential classifications of ADHD

Inattention : Do not seem to listen.

Do not finish tasks.
Have difficulty playing quietly.
Is easily distracted.
Does not follow directions or finish tasks
Does not appear to be listening when someone is speaking
Does not pay attention and makes careless mistakes
Is forgetful about daily activities
Avoids or dislikes activities that require sitting still or a sustained effort
Often loses things, including personal items
Has a tendency to daydream

Hyperactivity : Are in constant motion.
Squirm and fidget.
Talks excessively

Impulsivity : Interrupt or intrude on others.
Are easily distracted.
Often talk excessively.

Education of the child and family is an essential component of any treatment plan, which may encompass special education programs, psychological intervention, and drug treatment. Be sure to discuss all options with your child's health care provider to find the best treatment for him or her.


Source : http://www.medicinenet.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/

Drug Treatment of ADHD

The long-term treatment with a combination of medications and behavioral therapy is far superior to just medication treatment, or no specific treatments in managing hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention,


and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Those kids treated with both ADHD drugs and therapy also had better social skills.

Drug Treatment of ADHD


Some stimulants are approved for use in children over 3, while others are approved for children over 6.

Side Effects of ADHD Drugs.

ADHD drugs sometimes have side effects, but these tend to happen early in treatment and are usually mild and short-lived.

The most common side effects of ADHD drugs include:

Sleep problems

Decreased appetite/weight loss

Headaches

Jitteriness

Social withdrawal

Before you or your children start taking any ADHD medication, make sure you talk to a doctor about all of the potential risks.

Always consult your health care provider before making any changes in your ADHD treatment regimen.

Use of medication in preschoolers

Growth Delay and Weight Loss

The stunting of growth in children has been a concern. Past studies suggested that "long-term use of the drugs could stunt children's growth.

One notion is that psychostimulant medication can decrease appetite which may result in loss of weight and may be a factor in stunted growth.



Source : http://www.medicinenet.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/

Behavioral Treatment for ADHD

involves adjusting the environment to promote more successful social interactions.
Such adjustments include creating more structure and encouraging routines.

Children with ADHD may need help in organizing their lives. Therefore, some simple interventions to try for childhood ADHD include:

Create a schedule. >>> Make sure your child has the same routine every day.

The schedule should include homework time and playtime.

Post this schedule in a prominent place in the home.

Making simple house rules and making sure that your directions are well understood also helps an ADHD child. When you make simple house rules, you should let your child realize the reason behind it as well as the consequences once broken. In a way, this is also a great way to instill discipline. If you are giving directions to your child, make sure that you maintain eye contact and make them understand in a clear and calm voice what you want. You might want to keep instructions short and simple and let the child repeat the instructions back to you to see if they really understood.

Help your child organize everyday items >>> Work with your child to have a place for everything.

Create a Point or Reward >>> Note that children with ADHD need consistent rules that they can easily follow. When your child follows rules, they should be rewarded.

**Reward-based incentives tend to be the most effective, and a point system which sets up the value or expectation for each step is very concrete.

Congratulating and rewarding an ADD child because of good behavior and also for completion of task makes the child feel special and would want to do the deed again. It is also very important for you to make sure that your child has adult supervision all the time. Since children with ADHD are highly impulsive, they may do some things that may cause harm without even realizing it.

Children with ADHD usually have challenges when it comes to socialization. For you to be able to help them improve their social skills, you have to watch and learn how they interact with friends and other people and reward them for good behavior. It does not have to be a material reward, giving praise and recognition often times work better than material rewards. Lastly, most ADHD child results to having learning disability and we have to make sure that we focus on the effort and not grades.

You could however give rewards for getting better grades for motivation as well as it is important for you to set homework routine. Work hand in hand with their teacher and get to know their progress. ADHD is a condition that can be beaten with a help of a loving parent.



Source : http://www.medicinenet.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

The ADHD Magnesium Connection

Low iron and zinc levels are often associated with ADHD. Magnesium, though lesser known for its connection to ADHD, is of equal importance. There are also a number of studies linking low magnesium levels to ADD and ADHD symptoms.

Iron and zinc deficiencies have been connected with Attention Deficit Disorder. Magnesium, though lesser recognized for its relationship to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is also a mineral to look at. There are a number of studies connecting low magnesium levels to the conditions of Attention Deficit Disorder. Researchers are not sure if magnesium deficiency leads to Attention Deficit Disorder or if the magnesium supplementation helps reduce the symptoms. Either way, if you have attentional problems, you will want to add magnesium to your diet.

A 1998 examine issued in "Alternative Medicine Review" connected low magnesium levels to Attention Deficit Disorder signs and symptoms. Researchers examined magnesium levels in over 100 ADD students and found that 95% were magnesium deficient. Half of the children were then put on a six-month regiment of 200 mg of magnesium daily. Scientists noted a significant decrease in hyperactivity. This specific analysis was not double-blind so placebo was not taken into consideration. Regardless, the conclusions were considerable enough to reinforce magnesium as a go-to nutrient for ADD.

The mineral magnesium aids in the transmission of messages through the nervous system. Magnesium also calms the nervous system and is also a critical component in the formulation of serotonin. With sufficient amounts of the mineral magnesium in the body, you can think more clear, concentrate better and feel better. These components can help take care of complications like Attention Deficit and hyperactivity.

This potent mineral is critical for neurological energy and is one of the initially minerals reduced during stressful times. Typical signs of magnesium lack include frustration, depressive disorders, nervousness, weakness, mood swings, migraine headaches, trembling, muscular weakness or cramping, nervousness and sleep disruption. Additionally, people with magnesium deficiencies are inclined to be hypersensitive to noises and light. The occurrence of Attention Deficit Disorder and symptoms of asthma can also indicate insufficient magnesium levels in the body. Tourette's syndrome has also been linked with a magnesium lack.

One examination found that over 60 percent of the US population does not meet the suggested daily allowance for magnesium. The body is not able to store magnesium so it has to be received day-to-day. Magnesium is best attained through diet, though supplements are also a viable way to boost magnesium levels in children and adults. The Attention Deficit supplement Attend contains magnesium, coupled with 70 additional ingredients to boost the brain's effectiveness.

Magnesium is plentiful in green produce, dehydrated fruits, nuts and seed products. Magnesium is also abundant in whole-grain products, brown rice and wheat germ. Magnesium is most commonly found in unprocessed foods, which tend to be in many instances lacking in the usual American eating routine. Additionally, magnesium is typically omitted from multivitamin formulations. Magnesium is a bulky mineral that makes the tablet big so multivitamin formulations typically leave magnesium out in order to keep volume down.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For additional information about natural alternatives for Attention Deficit and ADHD, visit http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com

ADHD Treatments help Reading Disorder

By Expert Author: Anthony Kane MD Article Abstract

About 30% of children with ADHD also have some form of reading disorder, such as dyslexia. Recently, a study was done to examine whether or not ADHD treatment helped these children with their reading problems. The study was funded by the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly and Company and was done using their flagship product, Strattera.

In this 16 week study compared two groups of ADHD children. The first group consisted of 20 children with ADHD who had no diagnosed reading disorder. The second group consisted of 36 ADHD children who also had a diagnosed reading disability.

After taking Strattera for 16 weeks, both groups of patients showed almost 50% improvements in their ADHD symptoms like inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Additionally, children who had a reading disorder jumped two years in reading skills from their level before the study. Interestingly, the children without reading disabilities also improved their reading skills by almost a year and a half. Improvements in reading ability as well as reading comprehension were shown in both groups. Also, advances in spelling ability were recorded for both groups. The ADHD group jumped almost nine months and the group who had a reading disorder along with ADHD jumped almost 10 months.

This study is important for many reasons. First of all, up to 30% of ADHD children also have reading disabilities. While there is no real evidence that having a reading disorder makes a child's ADHD symptoms any worse, it definitely has a negative impact of school performance. The study also shows that even if your child does not have a known reading disability, treating his ADHD may still improve his reading ability significantly.

The results of the study were not all good, however. A number of children had side effects from taking the medication, though none of them serious. Yet Strattera is known to cause some serious side effects, including abnormal mood fluctuations and even suicidal thoughts.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that a child's ADHD interferes with the child's normal ability to read. I say this because even children with no known reading disability were able to make significant gains in reading level just by receiving treatment for their ADHD. This being true, it shouldn't matter how the ADHD is treated, as long as it is in fact treated.

With that in mind, significant improvements in reading ability should occur when you use other treatments for ADHD, such as Ritalin, other stimulants, or even natural ADHD treatments. Since no one has yet to investigate the use of other treatments for treating ADHD and reading disorders, no one can say for sure whether or not this speculation is true.

All that we really know so far about the connection of ADHD and reading disorders is that in one small study, ADHD children both with and without reading disabilities were able to make significant gains in their reading level when their ADHD was treated. This study points out that it is extremely important to treat ADHD and that such treatment should help school performance.

Source: http://www.articlesphere.com

Meditation Helps Students With Adhd New Study

Meditation Helps Students With Adhd: New Study

The Transcendental Meditation technique may be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical aid for treating ADHD, according to a promising new study published this month in the peer-reviewed online journal Current Issues in Education.

The pilot study followed a group of middle school students with ADHD who were meditating twice a day in school. After three months, researchers found over 50 percent reduction in stress and anxiety and improvements in ADHD symptoms.

Effect exceeds expectations

"The effect was much greater than we expected," said Sarina J. Grosswald, Ed.D., a George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist and lead researcher on the study. "The children also showed improvements in attention, working memory, organization, and behavior regulation."

Grosswald said that after the in-school meditation routine began, "teachers reported they were able to teach more, and students were able to learn more because they were less stressed and anxious."

Stress interferes with the ability to learn

Prior research shows ADHD children have slower brain development and a reduced ability to cope with stress. "Stress interferes with the ability to learn-it shuts down the brain," said William Stixrud, Ph.D., a Silver Spring, Maryland, clinical neuropsychologist and co-author of the study.

"Medication for ADHD is very effective for some children, but it is marginally or not effective for others. Even for those children who show improved symptoms with the medication, the improvement is often insufficient or accompanied by troubling side effects," Stixrud said. "Virtually everyone finds it difficult to pay attention, organize themselves and get things done when they're under stress. So it stands to reason that the TM technique which reduces stress and organizes brain function would reduce ADHD symptoms."

While in some cases a child cannot function without medication, there is growing concern about the health risks and side effects associated with the common ADHD medications, including mood swings, insomnia, tics, slowed growth, and heart problems. In 2006 the FDA required manufacturers to place warning labels on ADHD medications, listing the potential serious health risks.

These high risks and growing concerns are fueling parents' search for alternatives that may be safer for their kids.

The study was conducted in a private K-12 school for children with language-based learning disabilities. Participation was restricted to 10 students, ages 11-14, who had pre-existing diagnoses of ADHD. About half of the students were on medication. The students meditated at school in a group for 10 minutes, morning and afternoon.

To determine the influence of the TM technique, at the beginning and end of the three-month period, parents, teachers and students completed standard ADHD assessment inventories measuring stress and anxiety, behavior and social competency, and executive function. Students were also given a battery of performance tests to measure cognitive functioning.

"The results were quite remarkable"

Andy and Daryl Schoenbach's daughter was diagnosed with ADHD in second grade. Like most ADHD children she was taking medication. "The medication helped but had mixed results-she still lost focus, had meltdowns, and the medications affected her sleep and appetite," said Andy, who lives with Daryl in Washington D.C. "She was not performing close to her potential and we didn't see the situation improving. So at the end of seventh grade when her doctor recommended increasing the medication, we decided it was time to take a different course-stopping the medication and using Transcendental Meditation."

"The results were quite remarkable," Daryl said. "The twice daily meditations smoothed things out, gave her perspective, and enabled her to be in greater control of her own life when things started falling apart. It took some time, but it gradually changed the way she handled crises and enabled her to feel confident that she could take on greater challenges -in her own words, 'climb a mountain.'"

"Everyone noticed the change," Andy added.

Grosswald explained that there is substantial research showing the effectiveness of the TM technique for reducing stress and anxiety, and improving cognitive functioning among the general population. "What's significant about these new findings is that among children who have difficulty with focus and attention, we see the same results. TM doesn't require concentration, controlling the mind or disciplined focus. The fact that these children are able to do TM, and do it easily shows us that this technique may be particularly well suited for children with ADHD," she said.

This study was funded by the Abramson Family Foundation and the Institute for Community Enrichment.

A second, recently completed TM-ADHD study with a control group measured brain function using electroencephalography (EEG). Preliminary data shows that three months practice of the technique resulted in significant positive changes in brain functioning during visual-motor skills. Changes were specifically seen in the circuitry of the brain associated with attention and distractibility. After six months TM practice, measurements of distractibility moved into the normal range.

A third, $2 million TM-ADHD study, to be funded in part by a grant from The David Lynch Foundation, will more fully investigate the effects of the technique on ADHD and other learning disorders.

Facts about ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

" The Center for Disease Control reports that nearly 50 percent of the 4.5 million children (ages 4-17) in the United States diagnosed with ADHD are on ADHD medication-and the majority of those on medication stay on it in adulthood.

" The rate of prescriptions for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the U.S. has increasing by a factor of five since 1991-with production of ADHD medicines up 2,000 percent in 9 years.

" The commonly used drugs for ADHD are stimulants (amphetamines). These drugs can cause persistent and negative side effects, including sleep disturbances, reduced appetite, weight loss, suppressed growth, and mood disorders. The side effects are frequently treated with additional medications to manage insomnia or mood swings. Almost none of the medications prescribed for insomnia or mood disturbances are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with children.

" The long-term health effects of ADHD medications are not fully known, but evidence suggests risks of cardiac disorders and sudden death, liver damage and psychiatric events. It has also been found that children on long-term medication have significantly higher rates of delinquency, substance use, and stunted physical growth.

Facts about The Transcendental Meditation technique

" The Transcendental Meditation technique is an effortless technique practiced 10-20 minutes twice a day sitting comfortably with the eyes closed.

" TM is not a religion or philosophy and involves no new beliefs or change in lifestyle.

" Over 350 peer-reviewed research studies on the TM technique confirm a range of benefits for mind, body and behavior.

" Several studies have compared the effects of different meditation practices and found that Transcendental Meditation provides deeper relaxation and is more effective at reducing anxiety, depression and hypertension than other forms of meditation and relaxation. In addition, no other meditation practice shows the widespread coherence throughout all areas the brain that is seen with Transcendental Meditation.

" The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught in the United States by a non-profit, educational organization.

By: Tom Ball