Recent studies about the effects of nature on ADD/ADHD symptoms have yielded surprising results. Consider the following: * A wide-ranging survey asking parents about the effects of different settings on the ADHD symptoms of their children consistently showed that these symptoms were less severe in green settings than indoors. * An even more surprising insight can be found in the results of an experiment where children with ADD/ADHD were taken for a walk in different outdoor settings (a downtown area, a neighbourhood and a park). The positive influence of this activity on the ADD/ADHD symptoms was directly proportional to the amount of interaction with nature! (With the downtown area scoring lowest and the park the highest) Could it be that something in our natural make-up predisposes us to paying more attention and feeling more alive in natural settings? There are certainly many people who believe that this is exactly the case. One of them is Richard Loev author of a groundbreaking book called Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. (It should be noted that the title could be a little misleading. Loev does not attribute all cases of ADD/ADHD to a lack of contact with nature, nor does he teach that contact with nature is the only thing that this required to overcome the condition). Loev’s work has led to the growth of a movement called ‘No Child Left Inside’. Although not exclusively focussed on the treatment of ADD/ADHD the principles and methods advocated by this movement could prove invaluable to those struggling with the condition. At its most basic the message is: Make sure that your child has sufficient ‘green time’! Please check back next week for a more detailed and practical summary.
Overturning High ADHD Prescription Rates: Is it Possible?
Citizen activism: The West Australian population is fairly small (only about 2.2 million people). Perth is also a very isolated city, about four hours flying time from the other major Australian population centres. The drugging of 20,000 children in such a relatively small and isolated population attracted widespread attention. The drug companies tried their usual tactics in trying to reassure people that their products were perfectly safe, but there were many people who refused to stop asking questions. The main question that they kept asking was why Western Australia had perhaps the highest stimulant prescription rate in the Western world. This led in 2004 to a full parliamentary enquiry into the issue. This enquiry conducted by the West Australian Parliament was the beginning of the end of high prescription rates in the state. The lesson is clear: In a democracy we have the privilege of bringing issues to the attention of our political leaders and doing so thoughtfully and persistently can sometimes result in radical changes. Tightening up prescription rules: The enquiry by the West Australian Parliament yielded some surprising and disturbing results. It seemed that only a handful of paediatricians were behind the massive spike in prescription rates. These paediatricians wrote prescriptions under a system called ‘Block Authorisations’ under which: “…a practitioner was able to apply to the (West Australian) Department of Health and be granted blanket approval to treat any number of patients with stimulant medication, without further notifying of changes to individual patient details or dosage.” The rationale behind the system was that people who often worked with a specific kind of medication would be more familiar with it and that it would therefore not be necessary to check the reasons for every prescription. The unintended consequence was that it handed certain doctors (whom the state thought could be trusted) a blank check to write as many stimulant prescriptions as they wanted without being accountable for them. The enquiry made it clear that this trust placed on doctors was abused on a massive scale by some of them. One of the major recommendations of the enquiry was that physicians should be able to account for every single stimulant prescription that they write. Paediatricians would in future have to: “…apply to the (West Australian) Department of Health and obtain a unique Stimulant Prescriber Number (SPN) to initiate stimulant treatment in any patient. The practitioner must provide individual patient details, including age, gender and dose required, thus enabling the collection of data for future analysis of stimulant use in Western Australia.”
The Rollercoaster that Keeps on Going!
A central plank of my advice on getting off the blood sugar rollercoaster is the avoidance of high-sugar and high-fat foods. Now it turns out that this advice is not only sensible when it comes to the short term avoidance of blood sugar spikes and the long term avoidance of weight gain. It seems that consumption of junk food could also be harmful in the medium term. A recent research project at the Southwestern Medical Center of the University of Texas tested the response of lab rats to different kinds of fat. Dr. Deborah Clegg (the lead researcher) reported that palmitic acid (commonly found in butter, cheese, milk and beef) had the effect of ‘convincing’ the brain that the body needs more food, thus effectively suppressing signals that sent the message that the bodies’ needs have been met! It does this through causing the brain to ignore the hormonal signals sent out by leptin and insulin (the usual appetite suppressants). Dr. Clegg summarises her findings as follows: "What we've shown in this study is that someone's entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets 'hit' with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin. Since you're not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat."
The Complex Neurological Picture behind ADD/ADHD
This ‘popularization’ of ADD/ADHD in North American culture helps no one. Not the people trying to rationalize their own behavior and certainly not those who are actually affected by the condition. Trivializing the condition can have some very significant negative outcomes including the following: * Over and Misdiagnosis: We are fast approaching a point where the existence of any behavioral or attention problems will be automatically ascribed to ADD/ADHD unless proven otherwise! This is obviously a very unhealthy situation as it leads to people being unnecessarily medicated and also to potentially serious conditions being missed due to hasty and sloppy misdiagnoses. * Increased rates of medication: Increasing rates of diagnosis will inevitably lead to more and more people being medicated in an attempt to combat the condition. This is not a hypothetical danger. The increased rate of prescription for ADD/ADHD drugs over the past few decades is nothing short of staggering. This would perhaps not be so much of a problem if the drugs were essentially benign and effective. I am convinced however that they are neither. They do not treat the root causes of the condition and they have some very dangerous side effects. * Lack of help for true ADD/ADHD cases: The massive rates of ADD/ADHD overdiagnosis in our society are having profound negative effects on those who are actually suffering from the condition. This is because the media paints ADD/ADHD as a very simple problem with a very simple solution (i.e. medication!). This simplistic approach means that the condition is often not addressed properly as people buy the line that band-aid solutions would be sufficient to counter it. One of the best ways out of the quagmire of ADD/ADHD misdiagnosis would be the application of much more stringent criteria before a conclusion is reached. After such a conclusion is reached care should also be taken to address the condition with a multi facetted and individualised approach. Thankfully it seems as if the day of accurate diagnoses (hopefully with a corresponding decrease in misdiagnoses) is drawing nearer.
Adult ADD, Avoid ADD Drugs, Special Reports
Growing Awareness of the Potential Effectiveness of Drug-free treatments for ADD/ADHD
Most major drug companies would like us to believe that there is only one possible route that we can take after the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. This route is the one that always ends in the prescription of powerful drugs with which to ‘manage’ the condition. There is, however, a growing realisation that these drugs are not the miracle cures that parents are so often promised. Research is pointing to the following very troubling consequences of long term ADD/ADHD drug use: • Stunted growth • Loss of long term motivation • Mood swings (Leading, in very extreme cases, to suicidal thoughts) • Substantial risk of abuse and addiction As if the above were not bad enough it is becoming clear that the effectiveness of these drugs decrease over time. They are therefore often not much more than temporary ‘band aids’ and do not make any difference to the underlying causes of the condition. These facts are causing more and more people to ask the question: “Is there not a better way!?” Here at ‘3 Steps ADD’ we have always answered the question with an enthusiastic ‘Yes’. This is, in fact, exactly what the three steps are about: A better, natural, way to cope with and triumph over ADD/ADHD. Pharmaceutical companies tried very hard over the years to paint those who advocate natural responses to the condition as being part of a lunatic fringe. This is getting harder and harder to do as modern research is pointing to some real successes with natural approaches. The fact that there are a number of treatment options that can produce positive outcomes points to the fact that every person is unique. Different techniques will therefore work for different people. It is also a confirmation of the emerging scientific consensus that ADD/ADHD is not a single unified condition but rather a range of conditions. It therefore makes perfect sense that different ' types' of ADD/ADHD will have to be treated in different ways.
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