Why?

[Kimmers]

We all know that our ADHD kids have several problems-

*sensitivities to foods, additives, preservatives, etc..
*nutritional deficiencies requiring supplementation
*problems with digestion and absorption of nutrients
*decreased levels of chemicals in the brain
*possible overgrowths of bacteria and yeast in the body

The list goes on and on and on...

I am interested in finding out WHY our kids are this way. Does anyone know of any article(s) that would explain this?

Is it something that goes wrong during pregnancy? Is it something we do wrong when they are infants? Do we not nurse them long enough? Do we not give them the right formula? Do we start them on solid foods too quickly?

I am just puzzled as to what goes wrong. I know women that drink and smoke their entire pregnancies, don't take prenatal vitamins, are unwed, live under welfare, have no means of support financially, emotionally or physically. Their children turn out FINE. No ADHD, no learning disablilites, no behavioral problems, no emotional instabilities, nothing. I am not saying that these women deserve to have children like ours, and I certainly don't want to offend anyone.

I am just trying to figure out why my son is the way he is...I took my prenatal vitamins every single day, didn't even drink caffeine, had the total support of my husband. We had good jobs and provided everything we needed to. I nursed him, even gave him liquid vitamins when he started solids and chewables as a young child.

We have always been loving and supportive, never any abuse, always try and build up his confidence by telling him how smart he is and how talented he is and how special he is and how lucky we are to have him as our little boy. Most importantly we tell him ALL THE TIME that we love him. And yet we have this child on our hands that has absolutely no respect for us, no regard for anyone else's feelings or privacy or space, no understanding of what it means to behave or be quiet or sit still or stop touching, is selfish, won't listen, won't share, won't comply, won't take his pills, won't take a bath, won't brush his teeth, won't sit at the table and eat, tells you he hates you, that you are mean for not letting him do whatever he wants, that he doesn't love you...

Well I guess this turned into a venting session...I had a terrible morning with my son!

But I really am interested in any articles that might help explain this "phenomenon!"

Thanks
Kimmers

[eaccae]

Kimmers

Here are a couple of articles I found talking about the actual size of the brain. There is increasing evidence to support that perhaps brain proportion and genetics have a role in adhd.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021009080635.htm

www.akidjustlikeme.com/id92.htm

[Mishamom]

I've been asking similar questions for awhile. My daughter has all kinds of sensory issues but I'm always told that isn't someone's specialties, they're really not all that bad or she'll learn to work around them. Not good enough for me. I also don't like the medication options ahead of us nor the stigma and battles throughout the school system. In short...I've looked for bigger answers.

I have made an appointment to take Emily to a Dr. Kendal Stewart in Austin, TX on April 16th. For once I am very very excited about something.

I went to a lecture he gave here in town this last month. I have found several other local families whose children are patients of his and have been amazed to hear the progress their children have made. One girl goes to rehab with Emily so I see her several times a week.

Basically, Dr. Kendall is a neurologist who started out in the surgical aspects of the field. Specifically, he repaired, cut, 'worked' on nerves per say and not just brain so he was very specialized in his field. This gave me some confidence that his knowledge of nerves, their function, limitations and healing process' is extensive. During his private practice he mostly treated adults but was asked to work with several autistic children. He began putting 2 + 2 together so to speak. He also began working with ADHD, ADD, LD, OCD, PDD, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Inner ear problems, Aspergers, etc. Eventually his practice was mostly children.

[Mishamom]

...continued

He says that a brain that suffers damage, injury or disease learns to adapt because it receives constant and regular input even if it is less than before...it is the consistency that allows the brain to adapt. Our children are receiving constantly fluctuating sensory input which does not allow them to adjust long term. Hence the symptoms that we see with ADD/ADHD, OCD, etc etc. The myelin sheath of the nerves is what controls the input and output of sensory processing and nervous response. He strongly feels that this is where the damage begins and where to begin healing it as well.

He feels that different things are responsible for causing this damage...genetic history of inflammatory or autoimmune disorders, environmental exposures, specific components of vaccines and the herpes virus...yup...the herpes virus.

He also believes that the age of the child when this damage or interruption occurs greatly determines the childs resulting diagnosis. IE...severe autism...0-3 months...ADHD/ADD 9-12 months, etc. The reason for this is that 0-3 months we are born with touch/feel reaction. Babies react to touch. As the myelin sheath develops we begin gaining ocular/visual reactions. Babies begin to react to what they see. At about 9-12 months babies begin to develop visual/inner ear (vestibular) reactions. For example...hold your thumb in front of your face and shake/wag your hand back and forth rapidly. You can't track your thumbnail with your eyes. Hold your hand out again and shake your head while holding your hand still...you track your thumbnail. This is needed so that we can walk and run and still keep our visual and spacial balance.

He said that vaccines have a heavy metal based component that binds the multiple vaccines together. The exposure an average vaccine gives a baby of that substance is 10,000 to 1 of the normal daily exposure. Most of us have normal response systems in that our bodies detect the agent, quickly generate a natural counteragent that binds to the substance and allows us to urinate it out. Some children do not have a healthy response and therefore accumulate toxic levels of heavy metals. This interrupts the development of the myelin sheath.

Also, 80% of the population has the herpes virus (many strains out there) and most of us have systems that deal with it effectively most of the time. There is no current treatment that can currently get rid of 100% of the virus but there are treatments that can substantially beat it back down to a level even a weakened immune system can deal with. The herpes virus lives in the myelin sheath of nerves. This is in part why our bodies cannot rid us of it. If our immune system attacked our nervous system it would not go well for us! The virus tends to become more active in the body when we have heavy metals, weakened immune systems or some hereditary difficulty with it. This prevents the already damaged myelin sheath from being able to repair itself normally.

He also has found that most of these children have low IGF (think I got that right) or human growth factor. A result of a body trying constantly to repair itself and defend itself.

He does a good deal of bloodwork to determine heavy metal levels, human growth factors, thyroid function (commonly is dysfunctional in these children) and saliva testing for the herpes virus. He also does a great deal of sensory reaction testing to get baselines to compare to down the road. The treatment consists of antivirals such as Valtrex, human growth factor patches for 3-6 months in most kids, treatments for heavy metal if needed and some slight stimulants for the kids who need them until they are farther into the process. He has had a 97% success rate in having children completely off medications permanently within a year with significant improvement in their sensory issues, education and behavior.

He says he can help heal the nervous system but that the brain still needs to be taught the correct way of doing things. He is a big supporter of wanting speech and occupational therapy for those children who need it.

He has a website at www.neca.us for those interested.

[eaccae]

Mishamom,

Interesting - the articles above talk about "white matter" and the myelin sheath - this is what they say medication helps - I am really interested in his therapy!!!! You definitely have to report your progress!

[catatonic]

Kimmers, I've asked myself "why" plenty of times, too. And, like you, it's normally when I'm having a terrible time with my son. I'm sure parents of children with cancer ask themselves the same thing. I wish to God I could say I've ever found an answer, but the best I've been able to manage is to stumble upon a few treatments that seem to work. I think there is an enormous number of possible answers to that question, running the gamut of being doomed by genetics to maternal nutritional deficiencies to environmental factors. It seems doubtful any of us will every really have an answer to the question of why our kids are the way they are. I just remind myself regularly that I truly love my impossible child and that once we get over whatever the current problem happens to be, I'll also recall that I like him! Whatever the cause, keep in mind that IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. You are a caring, loving, smart mom doing the best you can and your little pain in the b*tt is lucky to have you.

[mctavish23]

+Hi.

This is a somewhat contorversial subject in that there really hasn't been any longitudinal research to support diet and allergies as specifically affecting ADHD.In other words, theres no long term research that connects the chemical imbalances associated with ADHD( deficits in dopamine and norephinephrine) with food or any type of allergies. That doesnt mean that sensitivity to food or allergies doesn't impact behavior because they obviously do.What the research is saying is that the behavioral changes are artifacts of the alleriges themselves and not ADHD. Do they make it worse?, that rates an obvious " Duh." The US Surgeon Generals Report on Mental Health (Chapter 3 ) does a good job of discussing it as do Kate Kelly & Peg Ramundo in ...You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?

Now, having said all that Ineed to tell you that I take Omega 3's daily and eat a high protein diet. Does it help? I think so but its hard to tell sometimes. There's been some exciting recent research out of Harvard on diet and nutrition affecting ADHD. I believe it was on Omegs '3, but I'm not sure.It shows great promise but science moves slowly when it comes to determining logitudinal reliability and validity.Without trying to bore you further, that means simply that the "gold standard" for all scientiific research is.....does it measure what it says it does and can complete strangers come in and replicate the study and get the exact same results over time. When that happens people take notice.

One of the very best books on diet and ADHD is by John F Taylor, PhD. It's called Helping Your ADD Child and is available on his webiste of ADDplus. I think thats right but if not, you shouldnt have any trouble finding it. If for some reason you do, I'll be glad to look for it as, I have some info at work.

Dr Taylor is a disciple of Benjamin Feingold; a much maligned researcher when it comes to ADHD but respected for his work on diet and food allergies in the 1970's. In a nutshell(no pun intended), his diet did NOT work for ADHD. Nonetheless, Dr Taylor is still a proponent. The best thing about this is that he is a truly nice/ wonderful man and is dedicated to helping kids with ADD. Please check out his work if you get the chance.

Take care and thank you.

mctavish23(Robert)

[catatonic]

Robert, take a look at the Feingold Association website at www.feingold.org where there is a substantial section devoted to research demonstrating that the Feingold diet DOES work. There are a number of us here on this forum who can attest personally to its success as well. Most of the research "refuting" the Feingold program was conducted a couple of decades ago under the auspices -and financial backing - of the "Nutritional Foundation"...a rather amusing name, since it's a confederation of food additive manufacturers and major packaged food producers. Much of that research was poorly designed. For example, the maximum quantity of artificial color tested on subjects was 30mg. That's like giving a subject an eighth teaspoon of arsenic and then concluding arsenic isn't poisonous. A single tablespoon of green catsup contains 150mg artificial color. A child's birthday cake with all that pretty colored frosting can provide 300mg artificial color. Anyway, don't let me get going on this soap box or I won't quit!

The promising Harvard research you mention is, I believe, a study recently published in Alternative Medicine Review, which you can read in its full-text version here: www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/gant.pdf

What the researchers who conducted the above study concluded is that dietary changes (Feingold diet) in combination with nutritional supplements proved to be as successful as Ritalin in treating ADHD symptoms. Small study, not even an attempt to double-blind, nonetheless the results are worth taking notice of.

There is a distinct lack of longitudinal decent research when it comes to non-pharmaceutical treatment of ADHD. Who's going to fund it, after all? Even academic institutions we could once rely upon for basic research -- for the sake of INFORMATION as opposed to being PRODUCT-oriented -- are now in bed with the pharmaceutical industry, since that's where the money is. Unfortunately, this means we must cull our way through small, crappy studies searching for the nuggets of truth hiding there. Hand somebody a pill for a few weeks and that's an easy experimental design to replicate. An altered diet and a handful of supplements are more difficult to mimic and darn near impossible to conceal via double-blind methodology. I, too, would like to see this type of research conducted, but unfortunately PhRMA not only won't fund it, they do their darndest to make sure researchers conducting such studies aren't in the running for pharmaceutical research dollars either.

I don't know that anyone can tell us why our kids are the way they are. Maternal deficiency of essential fatty acids during pregnancy? Exposure to environmental toxins? Systematic poisoning by the packaged food industry? But it is baffling that ADHD strikes where you'd never expect it to and spares those that, logically, ought to have tons of problems. Maybe if scientists become able to answer the "why" they'll then be on the track to knowing how to prevent ADHD.

[mctavish23]

I wasnt attacking Feingold( or anyone else for that matter). Your feedback is much appreciated tho.
Im glad they have their research section because they're under constant attack it seems'


Last summer I had a chance to see Russ Barkley present. One of the many things that he challenged was that Feingold's data has only been done by them and that no independent researchers have been able to replicate those data.
If it truly works then someone outside of their association should be able to get the same results by doing the exact same study.So far, it hasnt happened.

He also said the same things about Jean Ayers and Sensory Integration research.
The bottom line on Barkley is that hes a pure scientist; meaning he backed every word up with data to prove it (and it wasnt just his research)..All Im doing is passing along the info to you.What you do with it is entirely up to you.You might check out Surgeon Generals report as well.

Until someone outside the circle of Feingold associates successfully replicates those data, the mainstream scientific community wont buy it.That holds true for all research.

I'm not attacking Feingold here. I'm just the messenger if you will.If you havent checked out Dr Taylor's book (and site), please do so.He has lots of research too; many of which Ive seen and read.Once again, the same situation applies.That still doesnt stop me from taking Omega 3's or knowing I have a bad case of whatever Sensory Integration isn't.It also doesnt mean I don't respect Dr Taylor because it's obvious I do.

I appreciate the feedback.Thank you.

mctavish23

[mctavish23]

Hi again,
I wanted to say what an excellent post that was cat.I was very impressed with it.I hope we can get a chance to chat sometime as well. I would like to have the opportunity to meet ya'll.

I do respect what you said. Im a creature of habit tho when it comes to research.The best way to look at all of this is that the jury's still out on a lot of stuff.

Dr Taylor has lots to say about enviornmental toxins, which I think you'd find interesting.

I also read somewhere like Readers Digest that George Du Paul , who is very well respected. published a study showing how a behavior mod environment was as effective as meds in controlling ADHD. The only caveat there is that it has to be 24/7,because stopping an intervention with an ADHD population means you immediately return to baseline(everytime).

Thanks again. I forgot to say this in the first post and wanted to make sure not to forget it.

[foley]

Wow, what a great discussion.

I have one thing to add about the Feingold program that isn't often mentioned, but was one of the key reasons I tried the program in the first place--after medication failed us miserably. I was really desperate and skeptical at first, but then had I an epiphany: It can't hurt.

And although it sounds simple it blew me away. The Feingold program despite the controversy on if it works or doesn't etc. doesn't hurt your child. It has no side-effects. Instead of having your child ingest something, you eliminate things they ingest, or breathe, or get on their skin. Apart from the adjustment of switching products, and getting used to cooking more, which I'll admit can be overwhelming initially for the person in charge of the grocery shopping and cooking, there is really nothing 'bad' about the Feingold program.

As far as I can tell it's the most non-invasive approach a parent can take in treating ADHD.

I've always found this fascinating, but maybe I'm just wierd. *lol*

Kimmers, I'm of the opinion that people are genetically predisposed to ADHD and that some of the other causes like metal toxicty, or food additives, or omega deficiencies trigger it.

Foley

[mctavish23]

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback Foley. I hope that Feingold was helpful to you and your family.

Here's another alternative treatment that won't hurt either, and of course, it's controversial.Please check out: www.advancedbrain.com. Thats a site that offers auditory retraining/stimulation programs based in part on the work of Alfred Tomatis,a French Ear Nose and Throat doctor and a pioneer in early auditory
stimulation and brain development research.

They make no medical promises and the programs have come under attack. I myself have taken The Listening Program and found it helpful . I also use The Sound Health Series CD's in my car and at the office. I cant offer any data on effectiveness and the whole thing might be placebo effect.Either way, I got more paperwork done and was better organized, so I really don't care...lol.

I do have some info on genetics esearch but this isnt the place to post it. I will however do that shortly.

Take care and thanks again.

mctavish23(Robert)

[foley]

Robert thank you so much for the link! Anything non-invasive that may help is something I'm interested in!

:-)
Foley

[Kimmers]

Well thanks everyone for your opinions...

I guess when I have a bad day with my son I start getting a million thoughts in my head and start blaming myself and thinking back on what I could have done wrong or differently with him. Thanks for reassuring me that this is not the case.

Foley-
I guess I tend to agree with you on the idea that genetics play a big role in the predisposition of getting ADHD and that all of these things just seem to make it worse. I guess I am just puzzled as to why they are so sensitive to so many things, it just doesn't make sense to me.

And Cat, I agree with you on the fact that no matter how bad the little bugger is, I still love him and want to do what's best. And you're right-some days it is very hard to like him, he is just intolerable.

Mishamom-
Dr. Kendal Stewart sounds interesting and worth doing more research on. However, he is in Texas and I have no way of being able to travel that far to see him. Keep us posted on what kinds of things he comes up with for your daughter and how it works. Best of luck to you guys!

As we stand now, I just need to keep plugging away at what we've been doing and try and make things better. There are so many things I need to try yet (Feingold, Sensory-type exercises, etc.) that I guess I can't complain until we've tried it all. I hope you all understand my frustration and will forgive me for going psycho for a moment!

Kimmers