The ADD Answer, Dr. Frank Lawlis

[bunny]

Anyone read this book? "Dr. Phil" was promoting it on his show today (as usual, the show was so full of advertising, that they didn't get to much of the issue).

Is it worth the $17??

[Linda]

I saw the show and wasn't impressed!

[rosyred45]

I don't care for Dr Phil

But what he says makes sense, so I give him that much

[catatonic]

I haven't read that one. Do you know, in general, what kind of "answer" he provides?

[DenverSarah]

I never like Dr. Phil. As far as the book goes I haven't read it but even so I can guarantee it doesn't say anything that that can't already be found on this website: www.feingold.org or adhddiet.com

[catatonic]

Did you ever see the Mad TV spoof on "Survivor"? Dr. Phil was one of the Survivor contestants and he ran around naked the entire time. He ended up winning because he went up to everybody and shook his thing at them until they got grossed out and quit. I thought it was hysterical.

[PJD1120]

I asked the doctor about EEG and spectogram to determine ADHD. He said the guy doesn't know what he is talking about. He said EEG wouldn't show anything and never heard of spectogram.

[catatonic]

The whole EEG thing is actually rather interesting. Those who try to market it as a diagnostic tool for ADHD (like Lexicor with their EEG interpretation service) grossly exaggerate its predictive value, and oversimplify the differences between ADHD and "normal" brains a well as the similarities between ADHD brains. It's not nearly that clearcut, and it's much too soon to use EEG as a diagnostic tool, I think.

Nevertheless, research is accumulating that EEG abnormalities are associated with ADHD. Not all ADHD children have the SAME abnormalities, and not all ADHD children have ANY abnormalities, but there are some trends. It's one of the reasons I think neurofeedback may hold some promise as a treatment.

Just for fun, you can look at an advertising brochure for services based on the Datalex ADHD Indicator Report, developed by Lexicor. It's a service to interpret EEG results, based on the premise that ADHD children have identifiably different brainwave patterns than the rest of us.
www.lexicor.com/datalex.asp

But be sure to take those claims with a grain of salt. As one study in the medical journal "Clinical Neuropsychology" summarized it:

"Results indicate that children with ADHD do not constitute a homogenous group in EEG profile terms. This has important implications for studies of the utility of EEG in the diagnosis of ADHD. Efforts aimed at using EEG as a tool to discriminate ADHD children from normals must recognize the variability within the ADHD population if such a tool is to be valid and reliable in clinical practice."
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=11682348

Still, a number of medical facilities are convinced that the EEG diagnostic tool is a good idea (or at least a profitable one), as you can see from this hospital ad a friend sent me since she's considering taking her child here:
www.hsc.unt.edu/news/newsrelease.cfm?ID=226