What Exactly is ADD/ADHD?
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) involve a cluster of symptoms that include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behaviors. Often, children with the conditions may struggle in school and with relationships, and suffer from low self-esteem.
The term ADD has largely been replaced with ADHD, as it describes two of the most common symptoms of the condition, inattention and hyperactive-impulsive behavior.
Most children display a combination of these two traits, and may show the following symptoms:[iii]
Frequent fidgeting or squirming
Feels restless or often runs and climbs excessively, or leaves his or her seat in the classroom when not appropriate
Has difficulty playing quietly
Talks excessively, interrupts often, and may blurt out answers to questions at inappropriate times
Always seems on the go
Has difficulty waiting his or her turn
As you can see, many of these “symptoms” could describe most all children at one time or another. As such, those who display these symptoms at school but not at home or with friends are not considered to have ADHD. Likewise, with children who display symptoms at home but not at school.
Only children who struggle with inattention and hyperactive or impulsive behaviors around the clock are deemed to have ADHD, and if not dealt with properly the symptoms can continue well into adulthood.
What Causes ADD/ADHD?
Many parents and spouses are at their wit’s ends trying to cope with the relentless and upsetting behaviors caused by their unhappy, troubled children, teens, or adults. Adding to their frustration is not knowing the cause of the symptoms, nor what to do to fix them. It is no surprise that those dealing with ADD/ADHD-affected individuals can become desperate for answers.
But most experts are just as perplexed as everyone else.
One theory behind ADD/ADHD is that it is caused, at least in part, by inherited genetic factors. Some scientists are now aiming their research at finding genes that may make a person more susceptible to this disorder.[iv]
Another plausible theory is exposure to environmental toxins.
A 2006 study found that a mother's use of cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs during pregnancy could increase the risk for ADHD. [v]
That same research also suggested that exposure to lead may cause ADHD symptoms, and the industrial chemicals polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have also been named as a potential culprit.
But as usual, few are focusing on nutrition, which I believe is a key factor. We know food choices of most children -- and adults -- today are incredibly poor. How can you possibly expect a child to have normal behavior if he is fed refined grains, sugars, processed foods loaded with chemicals, and juices and sodas instead of pure water?
Add to that the substandard amount of vegetables in most people’s diets -- up to 90 percent fewer than what is required for health -- an overabundance of omega-6 fats and a deficiency of omega-3 fats, and you can see a real pattern emerging.
If you are a nutritionist or dietician, you will know this is a recipe for disaster. You simply cannot have a child or adult with a healthy functioning brain, when the proper ingredients to develop or maintain a healthy brain are not being given!
Renowned children's health expert Dr. Lendon Smith, who passed away several years ago, was really one of the pioneer physicians in this area, and he had been effectively using nutrition and dietary interventions to help relieve the symptoms of ADHD for decades.
He realized that drugs like Ritalin were not the answer for ADHD right from the start. As he said in an interview I did with him back in 2001:[vi]
“It is too bad psychiatrists have failed to recognize that if a stimulant acts as a calming agent, then they must shore up the flagging enzyme that is under-producing. This all fits with the damage that we have done to the top soil. It is washing and blowing away and with it, the magnesium. The psychiatrists have made ADD/ADHD a disease, like pneumonia.
It is actually a syndrome due to a defect in the screening device of the brain. I understand that since they had made it a disease they can be compensated for treating it. Another rule they have used: 'If the Ritalin works, they need it.' Sort of like a Ritalin deficiency.”
According to Dr. Smith, stimulant drugs like Ritalin have a calming effect in children with ADHD because there is not enough norepinephrine, a hormone and neurotransmitter, in their limbic system, the part of the brain that is supposed to filter out unimportant stimuli.
Because of this, one common denominator that Dr. Smith often used as a diagnostic criterion for ADHD was being extremely ticklish.
In other words, they were unable to disregard unimportant stimuli.
Some people may also have ADD/ADHD symptoms due to allergic reactions to chemicals in the environment or their food. Chemically-sensitive people who have their clothing washed with perfumed and chemical-laden soap that they not only breathe in, but that their skin comes into close contact with daily, could likely have ADHD symptoms.
In addition, a number of people may be allergic to the chemicals that are added to clothes in the manufacturing process, such as permanent press or stain-resistant products. These too may initiate ADHD or ADHD-like reactions in sensitive individuals
Would You Give Your Child Cocaine?
For years, drug companies have been churning out various medications to try to stem this growing epidemic.
Ritalin®, Concerta®, Adderall®, and Strattera® have been the main drugs of choice.
These products, with the exception of Strattera®, all contain different formulations of methylphenidate, a powerful psychostimulant drug that is in the same class as cocaine.
In fact, a 2009 study shows that methylphenidate behaves similarly to addictive drugs like cocaine.
Investigators, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, showed that methylphenidate can cause physical changes in neurons in the “reward” regions of mouse brains -- and in some instances, these effects overlapped with those of cocaine.
The researchers exposed mice to two weeks of daily injections of cocaine or methylphenidate, after which reward areas of the brain were examined for changes that have been implicated in the long-term actions of addictive drugs.
Both drugs showed evidence of addiction in the brain, although each drug’s pattern of expression was unique. Interestingly, in some cases, methylphenidate produced even greater effects than cocaine![vii]
Ritalin has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine, yet its effects are even more potent. Using brain imaging, scientists have found that, in pill form, Ritalin occupies more of the neural transporters responsible for the “high” experienced by addicts than smoked or injected cocaine!
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