First biological test for ADHD unveiled

[HuckleB]

First biological test for ADHD unveiled

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6886

"The first biological test for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has been developed. The researchers claim the diagnosis, based on examination of eye movements, is more than 93% accurate and could lead to earlier identification and treatment for children with the condition.

Scientists analysed the eye movements of 65 children aged between four and six in Thessaloniki, Greece. About half of the children had been diagnosed as having ADHD through the standard method of psychological assessment and the use of questionnaires. The children were placed in front of a computer screen while wearing special goggles to monitor their eye movements and asked to use their eyes to "lock-on to" and follow spots of light that traversed the screen during a 10-minute test.

"Children with ADHD show large difference in eye movements compared with normal children. For example, those without ADHD could follow the light spot for 30 seconds to as much as five minutes, whereas the children with the disorder could only follow the stimulus for about three to five seconds," says Giorgos Pavlidis at University of Brunel, UK, who led the study.

The group analysed eye movements according to various criteria, these included fixation on the stimulus, saccades - jerking between two focal points - and smooth pursuit. The computer was able to correctly diagnose 93.1% of the children.

..."

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. 65 children does not make for validity of a test

No where did I read that there were other factors taken into account such as race, demographics, emotionality, e.g., known physical, emotional, verbal abuse, and the IQ range, whether definitive or approximate, of these children.

Also, should the test standards and double-blinds be expanded, mitigating factors have to be taken into account, compared and reported, including the average amount of screen time (TV and video/dvd) each child spends on a daily/weekly basis.

IMO, this "report" holds no real accountability or validity.

[HuckleB]

4. Indeed.

More questions than answers came out of this.

Of course, that's the norm for initial research. Alas, the press, even the science press, doesn't report that reality.

[Mountainman]

13. What is you opinion of ADHD

I would like to know how you feel about people saying there children have ADHD or that they have it?

Do you believe that this is a real mental illness that can be treated successfully with psychotropic drugs?

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. My personal and professional take re: ADHD

is that the etiology is extensive, as well as the circumstances that surround it, including studying the prenatal history of the mother, the biological and historical records of the parents, the home/living conditions of the child, and more.
As a retired SpEd teacher, have seen and worked with so many children that came to me with a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, or that the SpEd team referred for further testing. For many children, I fought the fight to get them off drugs. Many parents abused the drugs by giving too much, not on time, thus not coinciding with slated dosage time during the school day, and for some of the kids, I saw it as a way to control behavior that actually needed addressing from a totally different vantage point, such as the home, the known abuse, the IQ level, etc. My opinions regarding this approach did help some, but for some kids and their families, whether biological or foster parents, the withdrawal and the necessary time to restructure the life of the child "took too long" and would hamper the school's ability to send the child through the progression of moving forward regarding grade/school career.

IMO, too many kids are drugged when the longer term, more intense personalized programs that take personal commitment for all involved with the child, to not take the route of drug use to "control" or "fix" a child. I'm not saying there aren't people who do not have ADD/ADHD, and that there are times when drug treatment seems to be the answer, but my question is, who's hell is being offset? The hell of the parents/teachers? Or the hell of being that child who is developmentally reactive to circumstances obviously beyond their control?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. Categorizing broadly

isn't fair to those parents who are actively involved in finding cause/effect and reason to seek ways to deal with their child/children who exhibit ADD/ADHD within the symptomatic presenting parameters. ADD/ADHD, as well as other childhood problems such as abuse, have no demographic, social or stereotypical boundaries.

[Greyskye]

24. Thanks for the insults

My wife and I, as well as our son, lived through years of hell before he was diagnosed with ADHD. We could have easily ignored our sons problem, as it mostly manifests when he is in an environment that has more than 5 or so people in it - think school. He had a complete lack of impulse control when in that kind of environment. He was miserable and angry all the time, his teachers were miserable and angry all the time, and his schoolmates were miserable and angry all the time because our son isn't pleasant to be around when his brain gets the impulse that "throwing a rock is fun" before it had a chance to think "but someone might get hurt if I do that". (Extreme example that has actually happened in the past)

We were very anti-medication, thinking that we could do everything we needed to through behaviour modification, etc. You know what? If one of us was around, and there weren't over 5 or so people people in the room, we could pretty much maintain age-appropriate behaviour. Get a few more people in the room, and stand back while he went into Tazmanian Devil mode.

He's now on a non-stimulant blood level medication that doesn't cause 'crashes'. He's reading 3-4 grade levels higher than his grade, his teachers and schoolmates get to see the loving personality that my wife and I have always had the pleasure of seeing, and he's happy now.

So excuse me if I ask you to take your "Casual Observations" and stuff them away until you have something of value to contribute.

[DukeBlue]

27. Wrong

My son was diagnosed, by a neurologist I went to school with. He works for john Hopkins and was kind enough to show me the difference on a PET brain scan of a ADD/ADHD patient and a non add patient.

My wife raised our kids in an ideal situation. It is as real as Depression, or Cancer.

My son is an engineer and does well.

EDIT: New, trying to respond to ill informed poster you were replying to.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mountainman]

25. From personal experience, if untreated a lot of unnecessary abuse is

put on the child.

I have had ADHD from childhood through adulthood. I only started drug treatment as an adult because I was not aware there was anything as ADHD. My doctor had diagnosed me two years before he told me anything.

My childhood was hell because my ADHD symptoms were taken to be character defects. Something I should have been able to control or something I could "snap out of".

As an adult my ADHD symptoms helped me get fired job after job. That all was before I took medication. Now my life is sort of normal except for the effects of what my passed life was like.

My point in this is this. To discourage treatment has just as bad effect on a child only in the reverse if there is real mental illness.

[niceypoo]

47. I had a simular experience

I had it as a kid but since I wasnt destructively hyper.......I was more outwardly silly......it was never diagnosed and I was abused by a principal (religious right school) who thought it was "satan" and repeatedly told me "Your going to hell and theres nothing you can do about it". I remember sitting there as he said this thinking "Man, what a fucking wierdo....". WHen I was older and started college and had trouble concentrating when I read textbooks my doctor recognised it. I have yet to be 'treated' for it. Just knowing I have it helps (The school took steps to acommodate me as necessary)and I have no scars from my past but it sure did explain a lot when i found out.

[Mountainman]

50. People with ADHD learn coping mechanisms. Maybe you do alright

by coping with it.

I cannot control my temper or keep from acting or talking impulsively without medication. Basically I lack the ability to think before I act.

It has gotten me in trouble all my life.

[tavalon]

66. Here's my "me too"

I wasn't diagnosed until I was 37 as I have the form that is more common in girls. I wasn't bouncing off the walls but neither was I paying much attention at all. Luckily, being highly intelligent, I was able to come up with some fairly good coping mechanisms and have managed to do fairly well. But since beginning medicine along with learning some other, better coping mechanisms, I am doing much, much better.

I think it is abusive to just drug a kid into submission. I also think it's abusive to refuse the child a medicine that might help him to learn the coping mechanisms that will allow him to be as successful in life as he can be.

It's a brain chemistry difference, folks, and it never, ever goes away. You don't grow out of it, though most of us mask it better as adults.

Now, as an amusing aside, my morning (which started at 4pm - I'm a nightshifter) got messed up today as I had a followup with my doc and I didn't do my morning routine. Ergo, as soon as I finish this note, I have to go take my Concerta. It's really ironic to expect someone with ADD to remember to take her medicines.

[Donailin]

99. I think it's a bunch of BS

and a way for pharmacuetical companies to peddle drugs to our kids, make square pegs fit into round holes and give a pass to parents and teachers who don't have the time or skill to use different approaches to different learning abilities and organizational behaviors.

Look at our culture. It is completely abnormal. It is a rush, do as you're told, fall in line, don't think outside the box, both parents working society. The US is the number one consumer of ritalin and prozac. There's no kids left to peddle ritalin to so now they're pushing the drug on adults by creating a new illness "Adult ADD", I see the commercials frequently now.

[Demeter]

44. Vision Problems Could Cause Same Results

My daughter couldn't do that--until she had several months training the small eye muscles to work together. Before that, she used her peripheral vision to see. She also has scotopic sensitivity (inherited from me) so that glare impedes her vision without lenses that filter out the excess light.

It is a crude scan--not specific enough.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. That's a "biological" test? What they measured....

i.e. tracking a stimulus with the eye.... is, to me, a behavior. Not a biological process.

[DukeBlue]

8. Eye motion/Reaction

is directly related to brain state. The Romberg test is an example of this.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. Then what's the explanation for ADHD kids' video game ability?

I've read that kids with ADHD are on average more adept at video games than non-ADHD kids.

[meow2u3]

16. That's because video games are not boring to them

What the scientists are really talking about is that ADHD kids (and adults, for that matter) cannot focus for more than a short time on dull tasks.

In other words, make an ADHD kid--or even an adult--focus on something boring, uninteresting, dull, tedious, etc., and you'll get a miserable failure in terms of paying attention to that task.

[tavalon]

69. Even medicated, sadly

I had hoped that I would automatically show more discipline while on ADD meds but it is much more that I have the option to show more discipline, but I still have to apply my own discipline to it.

I've said for a while that ADD is mislabeled. It should be ARD - attention regulation disorder. I've spent 12 hours straight on fascinating tasks, completely forgetting to eat, drink, pee or rest my back to my great detriment. OTOH, getting me to spend five minutes on a boring task is hugely difficult. And of course, as a child I was berated for that and told that I obviously could concentrate but just wasn't trying. Needless to say, they were wrong.

[DukeBlue]

31. My son

did well with tennis. My friend from college, now a neurologist, says lots of people self medicate for add by drinking coffee. Works on brain function similarly to Ritalin. Doesn't make them sleepy, they actually are able to concentrate better with 5 cups of coffee than with none.

[HuckleB]

12. Yup. Exactly.

Still, this is a bit shady, as it's not just testing an immediate reaction.

[izzybeans]

51. And a brain state is directly

related to a social stimulus.

[fshrink]

9. Exactly right. Furthermore,

this is likely to be a learned behavior. A developmental dysfunction rather than an innate, biological, problem. Research is useful though, in part because it will inevitably bring up references to development. Let's also remember that the so-called "ADHD" is a syndrom, not a bona fide "illness". Even as a syndrom, it is not very well defined: most symptoms are also found in various other conditions, such as dysthymia or anxiety.

[DukeBlue]

34. ADD/ADHD

is a illness recognized by the government and medical community.
ADD/ADHD shows up on brain activity scans just like an epileptic brain or a brain suffering from clinical depression.

Anxiety disorders are quite real and are caused by chemical actions going on in the body. This can be physically monitored.

This is Psychiatric medicine, not Psychology.

[fshrink]

45. For your information:

when you hit yourself on the head with a hammer, it will also show up on "brain activity scans". It will also modify the neuro-transmitters' activity in your "body". Now, you can say that your subjective experience is caused by such changes. That's your problem. However, I would recommend you stop hitting yourself on the head with a hammer.

[DukeBlue]

49. Simply Put

Yes if you hit yourself hard enough your body's physical reaction will show up in many ways.

ADD and Depression are real diseases that have physical tangible effects. Morons attach a stigma to them, other morons insist they are not real. I lump these people in the same group with people who say HIV does not cause aids. Funny I bet none of those people would inject live HIV into their body.

As I said PET has been used to study psychiatric diseases for years. This is documented in medical journals. My wife is a doctor and my roommate from college is a neurologist at Hopkins. Check JAMA and NEJM if you don't believe me.

I didn't just make this up.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

77. Is depression associated with any sort of nutritional defect that may be

caused by a genetic flaw? Think carefully.

[DukeBlue]

80. I am

a chemist and have a background in physics. I am not an MD. I have a son with ADD who is grown and living on his own. To be blunt I can't give you an answer. If you are really serious I can ask my wife when she gets off of work. What are you getting at?

I do not study depression but know it is a medical disease. You don't cure depression with psychotherapy. You can't talk your way out of clinical depression any more than you can talk yourself out of cancer.

Heart disease can be caused by genetics or diet, or both.

[HuckleB]

81. Actually...

brain scan studies of patients going through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy do show marked improvement. Further, brain scan studies of patients taking both medication and going through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy show far more marked improvement than patients who simply take medication alone or simply go through CBT alone. At this point, one cannot discount the possibility that other types of talk therapy may show similar improvements in the brain, as there are no completed studies.

[DukeBlue]

82. CBT

Is great for coping skills. But it can not fix a chemical problem. To answer one post up Omega3 has been shown to have an effect on depression. Fish oil pills.

One of the medical periodicals had an article can't remember which.

The brain is a medical mystery. No one claims to have a firm understanding of it.

[HuckleB]

86. Except that it has shown to change the chemical make up of the brain.

As I noted in my post above. No, it doesn't work for everyone, but neither does medicine.

[DukeBlue]

88. I agree

In conjunction with drugs CBT was helpful for my kid. By themselves I don't think he would have done as well coping.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

84. What are you getting at?

getting at is what is presented HERE: www.hriptc.org

If you read the posts further on down the line... you will see that there are issues with magnesium uptake and metabolism, heavy metal issues due to a weakened metallothienein protein (in some individuals) and potentially sensitivity to dairy, in particular casein.

http://www.napa.ufl.edu/99news/autism.htm
UF RESEARCHERS CITE POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN AUTISM, SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DIET

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15294752

Not that this is important at this point (it may be) but this site does list (in similar fashion to the one above) some of the issues that are now known to be a consideration when determining the biological factors involved in an individuals syndrome.
http://www.biohealthcenters.com/html/autism2.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11875286
In harm's way: toxic threats to child development.

Stein J, Schettler T, Wallinga D, Valenti M.

Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [e-mail]

[DukeBlue]

85. Very interesting.

I have read articles about depression treatments in conjunction with high dose of omega3.

I understand the chemical reactions here but not what they do in the body. Pig and the pocket watch kind of thing for me.

I do formulation.

I also believe nature has many hidden cures for us. Some of the most powerful advances in medicine are straight from biological sources.

No insult meant.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

96. It's simple. Trans fatty acids have a molecular structure that isn't

"curved" When the body cannot find natural fats that are, it uses this poor imitation. Cellular respiration is not enhanced by these poisonous fats. Natural healthy fats enhance cellular respiration. This is true in the nervous system as well, including the brain.

www.dhadepot.com

[izzybeans]

3. I'll give it

two weeks before a refutation is published. "Eyes down, now focus. I said focus! Eyes down. Quit looking around you disease ridden child."

[tom_paine]

5. Looks like Tiberius* New Freedom Initiative is having the testing designed

as we speak.

As if we aren't Prozacced already into submission NOW!

In the future, each child will be run through Der Fuhrer's New Freedom Initiative and Enemies of the State will be drugged heavily.

For every child that requires medication, you can make book that 20 who don't need it will be drugged.

[HuckleB]

6. UK/Greece Study.

Can't blame the Bum in Chief for this bit.

[Doremus]

7. That may be truer than you think

With the law passed a couple of months ago, children will have mandatory screening in school for such maladies.

Rep. Ron Paul tried to get an addendum to provide for parental permission, but apparently the repugs think that's only appropriate for abortion, not the wholesale screening of children in school ...

Hey, the drug companies need more profits, yanno?

[gumby]

10. Blade Runner......

One of my favorite movies where the "skin jobs" were detected by eye scans....... and then eliminated.

[Mountainman]

14. I would like to know how many of those who posted to this story have

any knowledge about ADHD because of your profession or knowledge gained from schooling?

I think most of these responses are anecdotal in nature. I'm not saying people should not have a point of view, I just wander how educated it is.

[Ilsa]

40. Just because people have anecdotal information,

it doesn't mean they haven't studied the issue, and probably harder than some professionals. I know more about alot of ADHD behavior and drugs than some professionals who have the ability to prescribe them, and I'm only a nurse, but I'm also the mother of a child with autism and ADHD. Our accounts of experiences shouldn't be taken for granted.

[Mountainman]

52. My concern was with people who write of ADHD as a character flaw.

That is what happened to me all my life and I have suffered immensely and still do. Just last week I got written up because I impulsively said something that should have been more tactfully.

[tavalon]

73. Yep

Having a degree in a field doesn't automatically, especially in this day and age, make someone an expert. The people who are affected are the ones who are most likely to know the most current information and research. Anyone who discounts the interested laypeople is making a serious mistake borne of hubris, IMO.

[tavalon]

72. I'm an RN

I've studied this area extensively. It's one of my hyperfocuses. I know far more about it than I would ever regurge here. I hate seeing the wholesale dismissal of medication, especially stimulant medication by folks who haven't really looked at the disorder. I think there are a lot of kids who are being inappropriately medicated but that there are many, many more who are not being appropriately helped. Medication for ADD is not the be all and end all but it is a cornerstone of treatment and few people will be able to adequately learn the coping mechanisms they need to learn without the medicine, at least at the beginning of treatment.

If any of you are interested in where one of the smoking guns of ADD diagnosis is, check out Dr. Daniel Amen's work. If you want to be called a conspiracy theorist but also want to know a large piece of the puzzle, check into thimerosal. If you want a reason to fear the pharmaceutical companies, it's there rather than in Ritalin.

[Fridays Child]

15. Then, possibly, retraining ADHD patients' eye movements could rewire...

...the affected brain circuits, reducing, or even eliminating, the need for drugs. (This idea NOT brought to you by the makers of Ritalin.)

[chomskysright]

36. see J. Lubar's res: UTenn: neurobiofeedback...

he has been engaged in this for a couple of decades now. You can find some information associated with this also as associated with American Biofeedback Association.

[tavalon]

74. Yes

this is actually one of the most promising areas of nonmedication treatment. It requires a commitment that few manage to devote but for those who do, the results have been very encouraging.

[Fridays Child]

94. Interesting. I'll look it up.

[Igel]

53. Probably not.

There's a 200 ms lag between when the brain shifts its attention and when the eye starts to move to the new object of attention. I don't think you can get it to go the other way 'round.

[Redstone]

18. I think they're on to something (and I should know)

For years, I've been hoping that someone would look into a pet theory of mine. I truly believe that a majority of ADD people have unusually good peripheral vision (I and my two sons do).

Not that this means ADD is not the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain (it is), but I think the "wide field of view" distracts from what's in focus in front of you, and contributes to the distractibility.

I think the methodology and findings of this test go some way toward validating my theory. It would especially do so if they checked the subjects' peripheral vision.

Redstone

[Smarmie Doofus]

23. To extend this thinking just a bit,

isn't it possible that this "condition" may actually simply be a normal variant in the human spectrum? In other words could there be some value, in evolutionary terms, in not being able to focus for extended period times..... PARTICULARLY if , as you suggest, ADD people may have unusually good peripheral vision?

I'm thinking of the herd animals... buffalo, antelope zebra... the survival of the herd depends upon the ability of some members,( and presumable it's better-developed among some than others) to scan the surroundings for danger ( predator), then warn the herd.

But the "chemical imbalance" plays havoc with my theory. What's the evidence that ADD kids suffer chemical imbalance?

Let's look for some ADD zebras to get to the bottom of this.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. I have often wondered if there is a good side to it

People with ADHD (Yes that is me) have the ability to concentrate on things they want to do longer and harder... also I have the abilty to multi task.

For the record all the meds I take (since it is mild enough and Ritalin is pricey) is coffee... caffeine is a low level stimulant and so far it works.

There are other techniques used, but when it comes to the adaptive side... think multi tasking.

[Redstone]

42. Yes, there is a good side

For must of us ADD people, the periods of hyperconcentration that alternate with the times of scatterbraindness are a gift.

Astonishing thing happen when you are immersed in a task (especially a creative one) for four hours, and you only realize it's happened when you get leg cramps or back pain from being in your office chair for so long.

Trust me on this one.

Redstone

[Merlin]

30. Very interesting ! n/t

.

[tavalon]

75. Take your pet theory a step further

You're actually on a correct path here, I think. Go look into autism. You'll find some intriguing information around this there. Sadly, even though ADD is on the autistic spectrum, little solid research has been done about the similarities between them but what little has been done is, well, thought provoking.

[Emillereid]

21. My daughter was diagnosed many times with ADHD

throughout her childhood and given various drugs, which she didn't like taking. In her early twenties she began to suffer mood disorders and IBS -- for which the doctors piled on more drugs. Finally not seeing her get any better I took her to a 'holistic' MD. First of all I was extremely impressed that he spent a full 2 1/2 hours getting to know everything about her and her conditions. He asked us to submit her blood for a test of food sensitivities. The results indicated that she mounted an IgG response to many foods. Within the first week of staying off the offending foods her IBS disappeared and within several weeks her mood problems and ADD problems disappeared! No longer did I have to wonder whether Dr. Jekyll or Ms. Hyde would come down the stairs in the morning and her inability to focus and her other learning problems evaporated. The first semester after resolving her food issues she received straight A's in all her college classes -- the first time we ever saw such grades from her. Presently she is in her junior year studying psychology while working full time -- and has been able to maintain excellent grades. If she eats the forbidden foods too much she reports that she feels irritable, jumpy and has trouble focusing -- what she used to consider 'normal,' We can also tell the difference -- generally within hours of her eating the offending foods everyone in the family can see a marked personality change come over her.

I don't have a clue whether all cases of so-called ADD are food related -- but I do believe that if medicine spent as much time on trying to find underlying causes as on refining their labels for conditions we might actually advance the cause of human happiness.

Wearing the ADD label all her life as well as the ongoing struggle to learn and adapt that my daughter suffered, and the debilitating low self esteem she still deals with, could have been avoided had just one of the many doctors she saw in her childhood thought to look outside the 'doctoring by label' box and do more than 'treat the symptoms' medicine. Maverick doctors have been claiming that at least some ADHD cases were food related but mainstream medicine just scoffs.

[Whoa_Nelly]

22. Kudos to you and your daughter!

I am going to assume that due to the testings, findings, and reports during your daughter's life, it became increasingly difficult to make decisions of what seemed a situation beyond your understanding and control. (Feel free to correct me if am worng...)
Have dealt with many parents who don't know what else to do but to go with the information and recommendations received from all sides.

Your post offers hope that others who may read it will seek alternative approaches, and will deal with personal confidence that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to a "diagnosis" of ADD/ADHD.
:toast:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. Great post!

I hope she continues to do well!

[DukeBlue]

29. ADD

is a neurological disorder and should be diagnosed by a neurologist. There are biological tests that exist other than this one listed. PET imagery will show add acting on the brain. My son was diagnosed 16 years ago and successfully treated.

General pracs should never diagnose any mental disorder, EVER.

I'm glad your child is doing well, however, I do like to stress that ADD is a real disease, like depression, cancer, and the flu. It is not a behavioral trait.

[Merlin]

35. But if GPs didn't diagnose ADD and Clinical Depression...

it would never be treated for the vast bulk of the public who would never dream of going to a specialist for such vaguely defined syndromes which have the severe drawback of being categorized as a "mental illness" when treatment is sought specifically for them from a neurologist, psychologist or psychiatrist.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. that is a problem of access and stigma

My ADD was diagnosed by a Neurologist. I still have all the darn tests they did many years ago. My mom took me to the doc. Now here is the part of the story she never quite understood. They never told her what I had, or why I needed ritalin... when I was taken off it, with no other recourse, my grades dropped and my social interaction went down the tubes.

Now mine is mild and I have learned to deal with it, more or less... and can be succesfully treated with coffee, very mild stimulant. Granted Ritalin works wonders, and I could get off my coffee... but lord it is expensive.

Of course my philosophy is treat whatever you happen to have wiht the minimum ammount of intervention possible. Oh and there are days that coffee is not enough... those are bad days...

[Merlin]

91. Do you find yourself coping better with age?

I've heard three people who have this (adults in the 30s and 40s--two successful businessmen, who obviously didn't realize what they had until after they were grown) say that with drugs they learned coping behavior and as they grow older they found it less of a nuisance.

[DukeBlue]

104. My child

is 26 and an civil engineer. He copes well with drugs, a low dose of ritalin er, and coping skills. Orginization and structure always helped him out.

[DukeBlue]

38. IMHO

GP should not make those diagnoses. They should refer patients to specialists.

The effects of the diagnosis is lifelong and should be made by a specialist. If your gp told you you had cancer you would get a second opinion right? I would not take a psychoactive drug for any amount of time with out consulting a psychiatrist

My wife is a GI doc and has seen lots of misdiagnosis by well meaning gp docs.

Psychiatric medicine is real and the stigma attached is irrational.

It is all in your med records anyway. If you are diagnosed with depression by a gp or psych is not relevant, only the quality of treatment changes.

[HuckleB]

103. Maybe. Maybe not.

As it is, follow-up by GPs for diagnoses such as ADHD and depression is slight at best, and that's scary to me, anyway.

Many Kids with ADHD Not Followed After Diagnosis:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=8&u=/nm/20041221/hl_nm/children_adhd_dc

[baba]

39. AD/HD can be diagnosed by a trained mental health professional.

It doesn't need to be diagnosed by a neurologist. Having a neurologist involved would be helpful, but it isn't necessary.

[DukeBlue]

41. Not necessary at all

But it gets you to a more specialized doc who is less likely to slap your kid on to some drug and move on.

The fact that it is a serious and long lasting diagnosis would make me want to see one if I was in the same position again.

Edit: Grammar

[Igel]

54. Yeah, but using an eyetracker would be a nifty

way of checking, if it turns out to be reliable. They're spendy, portable ones are around $40k, but they're portable. A couple of PCs, the eyetracker, and you're set. Training to use it takes an hour or so, and you can pull up the results almost immediately.

(On the other hand, if ADD is strongly correlated with subjects not tracking things for more than a few seconds, eyetracking methodologies have to start screening out ADD/ADHD folk!)

[Emillereid]

60. Your post begs the question of what is the underlying cause of the

disease or disorder. I for one can assure you that what my daughter experienced all her childhood was real -- and no doubt affected her neurological functioning. I wouldn't doubt that in the throes of it she would have manifested abnormal PET scans, etc. She did once show abnormal EEGs and was briefly treated for epilepsy -- which later 'corrected' itself. Her IBS was unbelievably REAL. Her mood swings, irritability, attention problems, acting out, learning problems and all her other difficulties were painfully REAL! However, as it turned out in her case, the causal agent was not some neurological abnormality -- it was her body's immune response to alien food proteins which manifested in all manner of psychological, behavioral, physical havoc. Like I said before, I am not claiming that food sensitivities are the underlying cause for all ADD -- but I do believe that it is something to check and rule out before proceeding down more invasive paths.

BTW, she was diagnosed repeatedly by real psychiatrists and neurologists -- they are the ones who gave her the drugs! In fact, one of her psychiatrists had her on so much adderal that she began to have high blood pressure which he then wanted to chase with beta blockers -- luckily her pediatrician put a stop to that!! She was only 16 years old at the time!

It was the generalist who was able to see her as a totality -- and connect all the disorders and finally figure out the underlying cause!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

64. You are one of the lucky ones... just think of how many hundreds of

thousands of kids are being drugged unnecessarily today... it is sickening..... I read this book several years ago... and tried to divulge the important knowledge it contained to the people on the ADHD boards on Aol.... the plants in there wouldn't let it fly.. typical.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0658003984.01._PIdp-schmooS,TopRight,7,-26_PE32_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0658003984/qid=1106013020/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-2003387-1001607?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

>>As a Chinese herbal practitioner, I have recommended this book to several clients who have autistic children. In almost every case, there has been a marked improvement in the child's situation. The book details not only the science and theory behind Dr. Philpott's approach, but more importantly spends a lot of time discussing practical implementation. Conventional western medicine still tends to ignore the dramatic impact our diets can have on the mental/emotional aspect of our lives; BRAIN ALLERGIES makes a very significant contribution to the growing literature around the old and very true proverb: "we are what we eat." If you're dealing with a child with emotional and/or cognitive difficulties, PLEASE read this book!<<

Customers who bought this book also bought:

* Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry by Carl Curt Pfeiffer
* The Brain Chemistry Plan: The Personalized Nutritional Prescription for Balancing Mood, Relieving Stress, and Conquering Depression by Michael, Md. Lesser
* Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular Nutrition by Abram Hoffer
* Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia by Abram Hoffer
* The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Antidepression Diet and Brain Program by M.D., Andrew L. Stoll
* The Healing Nutrients Within: Facts, Findings, and New Research on Amino Acids by Eric R. Braverman

[DukeBlue]

76. I agree with

any method that helps stop the symptoms. For my son drugs and coping methods really helped.

I am not trying to discredit you at all. I think there can be different causes for ADD genetic possibly environmental as well.

I do believe in seeing as many specialists as it takes to fix the issue. Doctors are people and their capabilities and egos vary. I hate going to the doctor, at times I hate living with one.

My wife is a GI doc and sees IBS and crohns misdiagnosed because of an allergy(s).

I am glad your child is doing better, that is the important thing.

My concern is that people understand that ADD is a real disease by itself and not a symptom.

I believe lots of behavioral problems get lumped in to the add category by GP docs.

[HuckleB]

89. This does bring up a big issue.

ADHD should not be diagnosed unless all other possible etiologies are ruled out. Usually, this means ruling out Major Depression or an Anxiety Disorder, however. A few blood tests may be done by a more thorough practitioner than the norm. Alas, few providers go further, though this is also a systemic issue. It is interesting that more nonverbal, developmentally disabled kids get allergen testing when behaviors crop up than kids of average or higher-than-average intelligence. Why should that be so? It doesn't make sense, and it is a hole in standard practice, IMHO.

[Merlin]

32. Wait! You forgot to tell us!!

What were the offending foods?

p.s. Thanks for sharing this experience.

[Emillereid]

55. There are about 30 of them --

wheat, eggs, dairy,sugar, most grains except rice, black pepper, several beans, broccoli, tomato, lettuce, asparagus, cabbage, banana,carrots, celery,corn,onion, green pepper, white potato -- I don't have the list in front of me. The foods are specific to each individual although I believe grains, eggs, dairy, sugar are real common foods. She was advised to go off all the offending foods for at least 3 months and then reintroduce them in small quantities to see if she could handle them. She finds that she can handle some of the foods in she doesn't eat them too often. Other foods, especially eggs, bananas, corn, sugar and cheese give her problems every time. Oddly enough these were the ones she mounted the greatest number of antibodies to. She relatively lucky that she can handle most meats since she has always been a bit of a carnivore.

Another note -- many of foods that she is sensitive to she has known to crave big time!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

70. I am sure most of these foods are high in phenolic compounds. eom

[Emillereid]

95. Interesting. Has there been any hypotheses connecting

ADD with phenolic compounds. I've often wondered if the official explanation of food sensitivities (ie. an IgG response) is the real reason my daughter improved. The fact of the matter is that there all sorts of confounding variables. For one thing, it means she eats very little refined 'white flour, sugar, hydrogenated fats plus food additives' products. Who knows -- she likes the food sensitivity explanation and it seems to work for her -- and it gives her control.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

97. Yes there have.

http://www.feingold.org/programdetails.html
Details of the Feingold Program
Last update 10/25/2004

The Feingold Program is based on an elimination diet composed of two stages:

* In STAGE ONE, both the chemical compounds found in certain food additives and the salicylate compounds found in certain foods (and non-food items) are avoided.

* In STAGE TWO, the salicylates are tested by trying them to see which (if any) can be tolerated.


http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2004_04.htm
April 9, 2004

Zinc supplements improve ADHD treatment

A study published in BioMedCentral Psychiatry this week has revealed that supplementing with zinc may improve drug treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects approximately one out of twenty-five school aged children, and is commonly treated with stimulants, such as methylphenidate, otherwise known as Ritalin. To the researchers, knowledge, the current study is the first double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial to evaluate the adjunctive role of zinc in the treatment of ADHD.

[LeftyMom]

63. My son is much the same (although much younger)

We have him on a modified Feingold diet and it's got to be the best thing we ever did as parents. When he gots a forbidden food he gets very agitated and can't sleep (sometimes for days) and he becomes very aggressive out of frustration. If we weren't able to manage his symptoms through diet, I don't know what we'd do. His older half-sister (lives with her mother) is so zombified and malnourished on her meds, I can't imagine putting him through that.

[proudbluestater]

43. How long before * makes this available in every elementary school

[Demeter]

46. Socialized Medicine? Not in Your Lifetime!

It ain't gonna happen. Just a lot of trees chopped up for press releases, and a lot of unfunded mandates, and more bogus science like the refrigerator mother of Bruno Bettelheim fame for autism.

[fshrink]

56. The idiot would give preference to a "god spot" "biological" test. nt

All kids who would not show significant activity there would be sent to compassionate re-education classes organized by private companies and paid for by vouchers. Parents not willing, or able, to recognize the need to fight the power of the evil, would be entered in a special list at the Homeland Security until compliance. Purification could also be obtained through special financial contribution to a President's fund. Possibilities are indeed endless!

[stepnw1f]

48. Ahh... This Is What They Will Use In....

all Public Schools. What to do?

[Sgent]

59. DukeBlue

Think again. Train on the r/o dx and make sure that the FP knows the difference.

The nearest pediatric neurologist is 150 miles away in my area, and for medicaid patients its over 300 miles away. That's assuming you can get transportation. Appointments usually take 3-6 months to get.

GP's regularly treat ADHD, with a consult of a neurobehavioral psychologist which is local.

Although rural, we are not that rural -- the main hospital 20 miles away has a Level III trama center, inpatient behavioral health, etc.

If you not living in one of the 50 largest cities in the country, your going to have problems.

[DukeBlue]

79. I know it is a pain and

I'm not telling anyone what to do. But ADD is a long term illness and the treatment can have serious side effects if misdiagnosed. Placing a child on stimulants or other psychoactive drugs unnecessarily is serious.

I personally would get a second opinion on any longterm diagnosis no matter who diagnosed it. If my internist diagnosed me with a heart problem I would see a cardiologist, if he says I need an invasive procedure I'll double check them. Same standard applies to psychiatric problems.

I drove my son 5 hours to Maryland for a diagnosis. At the time I had to have my family help me out financially.

I am not knocking GP docs they do a hard job. But a second opinion never hurts.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

57. Oooooh you have opened up a can of worms here.... first off... let's

check the visual tracking of shrubby. Then let's see what NIH has buried in it regarding ADHD that NO ONE WHO IS INVOLVED WITH FINDING WAYS TO TREAT IT EVER MENTIONS.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9857546
1: Ann Acad Med Stetin. 1998;44:297-314. Related Articles, Links

The effect of deficiency of selected bioelements on hyperactivity in children with certain specified mental disorders
Article in Polish
Starobrat-Hermelin B.
Oddzialu Psychiatrii Dzieci, Dzieckiem i Mlodzieza w Szczecinie.
>>I have followed the DSM IV criteria recognizing ADHD among examined ones. I have determined the deficiency of magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium, iron in the group of 116 children with diagnosed ADHD. Consequently, as a result, I have found out that shortage of above-mentioned bioelements occurs more often among hyperactive children than among those being healthy, and deficiency of magnesium is the most frequent in this respect. Further, I have divided the group of 110 children with magnesium deficiency into two groups according to the other mental disorders that coexist with ADHD: 1) the group where hyperactivity coexists with disorders typical for developmental age such as enuresis, tics, separation anxiety, stuttering, selective mutism (63 children); 2) the group where hyperactivity coexists with disruptive behaviour disorders: conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder (47 children). The content of magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium, iron has been determined respectively in blood (serum and red cells) and in hair by atomic absorption spectroscopy method in both groups accordingly.<<

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9368236
1: Magnes Res. 1997 Jun;10(2):149-56. Related Articles, Links
The effects of magnesium physiological supplementation on hyperactivity in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Positive response to magnesium oral loading test.
Starobrat-Hermelin B, Kozielec T.

Department of Family Medicine, Pomeranian Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9368235
1: Magnes Res. 1997 Jun;10(2):143-8. Related Articles, Links
Assessment of magnesium levels in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Kozielec T, Starobrat-Hermelin B.
Department of Family Medicine, Pomeranian Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland.

A positive influence of magnesium in the prevention and treatment of hyperactivity in children is more and more frequently raised in the literature. The aim of our work was to estimate magnesium contents in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ADHD). The investigations comprised 116 children (94 boys and 20 girls), aged 9-12 years, with recognized ADHD. In 68 out of 116 patients examined ADHD occurred with other coexisting disorders specific to the developmental age and in the remaining 48 patients it occurred together with disruptive behaviour. Magnesium levels have been determined in blood serum, red blood cells and in hair with the aid of atomic absorption spectroscopy. Magnesium deficiency was found in 95 per cent of those examined, most frequently in hair (77.6 per cent), in red blood cells (58.6 per cent) and in blood serum (33.6 per cent) of children with ADHD. The conclusion from the investigations is that magnesium deficiency in children with ADHD occurs more frequently than in healthy children. Analysis of the material indicated the correlation between levels of magnesium and the quotient of development to freedom from distractibility.

Publication Types:

* Clinical Trial
* Controlled Clinical Trial

[HysteryDiagnosis]

58. And my favorite... the one that really says alot about the "biological"

aspects of this condition.... this is, in effect, referring to Pycnogenol, (pine bark extract) which has a MULTITUDE of beneficial properties.... and it is what the American Indians used to heal the scurvy that they saw taking down the early sailors who arrived here. They healed them, and then later, the rest of the settlers returned the favor... in a negative sort of way.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11996210
1: Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2002 Apr;40(4):158-68. Related Articles, Links

A review of the French maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol), a herbal medication with a diverse clinical pharmacology.

Rohdewald P.

Institute Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster, Germany. [e-mail]

OBJECTIVES: An increasing body of evidence indicates that Pycnogenol (PYC), a standardized extract of French maritime pine bark, has favorable pharmacological properties. This is a review of studies with both PYC and components of the preparation, that have helped to elucidate target sites and possible mechanisms for activity in men. METHODS: Studies appearing in peer reviewed literature, as well as results presented at international meetings not yet available as published papers, are included in this review.

Additional data from published sources in German and French languages that are not widely available are also included. RESULTS: Chemical identification studies showed that PYC is primarily composed of procyanidins and phenolic acids. Procyanidins are biopolymers of catechin and epicatechin subunits which are recognized as important constituents in human nutrition. PYC contains a wide variety of procyanidins that range from the monomeric catechin and taxifolin to oligomers with 7 or more flavonoid subunits.

The phenolic acids are derivatives of benzoic and cinnamic acids. The ferulic acid and taxifolin components are rapidly absorbed and excreted as glucuronides or sulphates in men, whereas procyanidins are absorbed slowly and metabolized to valerolactones which are excreted as glucuronides. PYC has low acute and chronic toxicity with mild unwanted effects occurring in a small percentage of patients following oral administration. Clinical studies indicate that PYC is effective in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency and retinal micro-hemorrhages.

PYC protects against oxidative stress in several cell systems by doubling the intracellular synthesis of anti-oxidative enzymes and by acting as a potent scavenger of free radicals. Other anti-oxidant effects involve a role in the regeneration and protection of vitamin C and E. Anti-inflammatory activity has been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo in animals. Protection against UV-radiation-induced erythema was found in a clinical study following oral intake of PYC.

In asthma patients symptom scores and circulating leukotrienes are reduced and lung function is improved. Immunomodulation has been observed in both animal models as well as in patients with Lupus erythematosus. PYC antagonizes the vasoconstriction caused by epinephrine and norepinephrine by increasing the activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Dilation of the small blood vessels has been observed in patients with cardiovascular disease, whereas in smokers, PYC prevents smoking-induced platelet aggregation and reduces the concentration of thromboxane.

The ability to inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme is associated with a mild antihypertensive effect. PYC relieves premenstrual symptoms, including abdominal pain and this action may be associated with the spasmolytic action of some phenolic acids. An improvement in cognitive function has been observed in controlled animal experiments and these findings support anecdotal reports of improvement in ADHD patients taking PYC supplements.

CONCLUSIONS: There is much evidence showing that PYC has beneficial effects on physiological functions. Results from ongoing clinical research are required to confirm and extend previous observations.

Publication Types:

* Review
* Review, Tutorial


PMID: 11996210

[Emillereid]

61. Thanks for the links to these articles --

I too think magnesium is too low in our diets -- and highly susceptible to food processing. Too bad it doesn't have its own lobby like calcium does with the dairy industry.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

62. It's not about magnesium being low in our diets... it's about a genetic

condition that may influence the uptake and metabolization of magnesium by persons who have this condition.

Some of the best information on the web about this issue is at www.hriptc.org

Now.. for the REAL BIOLOGICAL issues... and an understanding of why persons with ADHD have higher incidences of asthma, inner ear infections, and other immunological issues to deal with.

This should be a wake up call for people who don't understand how pycnogenol and its effects on the immune system might have a positive effect on ADHD as well as providing several other health benefits... including reducing the symptoms of asthma.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9246218
1: Neuropsychobiology. 1997;35(4):181-6. Related Articles, Links

Association of genes within the major histocompatibility complex with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Odell JD, Warren RP, Warren WL, Burger RA, Maciulis A.

Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University, Logan 84322 USA.

The objective was to determine whether a relationship exists among the complement C4B gene, a DR region gene and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thirty-one subjects with ADHD, their mothers, all but 5 of their fathers, and 90 normal subjects living in northern Utah were studied. DR and C4B typing were performed by serologic HLA typing techniques and the DNA methods PCR-RFLP. The alleles of 2 genes, the null allele of the C4B gene and the beta 1 allele of the DR gene, encode for products involved in immune function and regulation. Each of these alleles was found to be significantly associated with ADHD. Moreover, approximately 55% of the ADHD subjects carried both of these alleles on 1 of their chromosomes, compared to only 8% of normal controls. Genes related to the immune system may be associated with development of the symptoms of ADHD.

PMID: 9246218

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8871944
1: Mol Chem Neuropathol. 1996 May-Aug;28(1-3):77-81. Related Articles, Links

Immunogenetic studies in autism and related disorders.

Warren RP, Singh VK, Averett RE, Odell JD, Maciulis A, Burger RA, Daniels WW, Warren WL.

Utah State University, Logan 84322, USA.

The major histocompatibility complex comprises a number of genes that control the function and regulation of the immune system. One of these genes, the C4B gene, encodes a product that is involved in eliminating pathogens such as viruses and bacteria from the body. We previously reported that a deficient form of the C4B gene, termed the C4B null allele (no C4B protein produced) had an increased frequently in autism. In this study we attempted to confirm the increased incidence of the C4B null allele in autism and investigated the presence of a C4B null allele in two other childhood disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia (reading disability). In addition, we explored the relationship of autism to the DR beta 1 gene, a gene located close to the C4B in autism. We confirmed the finding of an increased frequency of the C4B null allele in autism and found that the related disorders also had an increased frequency of this null allele. In addition, two alleles of the DR beta 1 gene also had significantly increased representation in the autistic subjects.

Publication Types:

* Review
* Review, Tutorial


PMID: 8871944

[Emillereid]

67. Sorry for the confusion -- I know the articles aren't about

mg being low in the food supply. I shouldn't have combined the thank you for the links thought with the mg being low in our food supply. Both are true. A bit of free association at play I fear. I am a nutritionist and have recently been exploring the role mg plays. Fascinating!

The doctor who diagnosed her food sensitivities also mentioned the connection with mg uptake -- he was reading about it. She has had so much success with avoiding the offending foods that she hasn't wanted to pursue anything else. She doesn't want to hear about ADD anymore -- she has had her fill of it.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

68. She doesn't want to hear about ADD anymore -- she has had her fill of it.

Oh.. I am just about sure she is.... I wish someone knew what I knew when I was younger... and applied it to me liberally.

Anyhoo... that thing about the visual tracking thingy has me interested.. since the visual acuity of infants is so dramatically enhanced when they are given formula that has DHA in it... curious. I wonder if there is a connection.

Many persons who have dyspraxia, dyslexia and or ADHD can have an enzymatic inability to convert short chain fatty acids into long chain fatty acids, DHA is one, and it is the "leggo building block" of the brain, retina and nervous system.

I still remember the nights driving in the rain, not knowing where the road started nor ended... my night vision was that bad... I said "was".

[Emillereid]

93. From the time my daughter was an infant there was an intensity

about her and a sense that she didn't miss anything. Her eyes would dart hither and thither -- she noticed everything. Also has an incredible visual memory -- blows us away. When she was in kindergarten she took off reading, only to fall behind later. We finally realized that she had visually memorized most of the words needed to get through the first books, but that when she actually had to decode words phonetically she fell apart. It was bizarre -- she could actually follow the rules for sounding out the word -- but then just say something totally different. Also she has on occasion complained that her vision is weird -- not her acuity which is phenomenal, but that lights seem too bright.

My focus in my nutritional/medical research has been lipids -- I have been telling everybody ad nauseum about the importance of the long chain fatty acids, possible enzymatic problems with conversion and the importance of balance between the 18 carbon omega 3 and 6 fatty acids --especially since they compete for the same enzymes on their way down their respective pathways. They're in a delicate yin - yang kind of relationship with one another --- one that our diet tends to totally skew.

I have often brought up long chain fatty acids in discussions regarding depression and bipolar here at DU -- only to get flamed right away that what they suffer in some innate chemical imbalance that only an SSRI can straighten out. I finally grew tired of explaining that the question they might ask themselves is how come they needed a drug to slow down the re-uptake of serotonin in the first place -- might it just have something to do with with inadequate uptake signaling structures on the next neuron; structures by the way that are made up long chain fatty acids? I'm especially interested in the role lipids play in neuro-chemical, psychological stuff. Makes sense because before I was a nutritionist (research and writing) I was a psychologist.

Thanks for the heads up on Mg uptake and Pycnogenol. By the way, I don't know if you have access to the whole articles -- if you don't, I probably do -- and could get them and send them to you in pdf form.

BTW, my daughters were all breast fed for multiple years.

[Whoa_Nelly]

65. Love the positive posts here in this thread

much appreciated re: positive results, personal trials and tribulations regarding ADD/ADHD.

:yourock:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

71. I am putting this at the bottom here... so it will be better noticed...

because it comes from the NIH and it soundly backs up what has been stated here regarding the food issues....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15294752
1: Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S175. Related Articles, Links

Is food intolerance due to an inborn error of metabolism?

Breakey J.
Beachmere Qld.

Since Feingold hypothesised that chemicals in food caused hyperactivity in 1973 th1s issue has been controversial. Well planned research in the 1980's did show some children reacted but the mechanism is complex. As well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms improving, mood and physical allergic symptoms improved on a low suspect chemical diet. On this basis some have proposed an immunological component in the mechanism. However the whole foods commonly causing allergic reactions are additional exclusions in some individuals rather than the core exclusions of suspect additives and natural chemicals.

To add to the confusion some of the symptoms which respond to diet include headaches, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome , mouth ulcers, and carsickness which are not allergic symptoms. The fact that symptoms responding were in many of the body's systems meant that several possible mechanisms have been proposed but none clarified. Yet another mechanism was proposed with the use of a gluten and casein free diet in autistic children. Peptides from these proteins are absorbed and thought to act as opiates affecting brain function. However those using this diet also exclude additives, chocolate, MSG and other small molecular weight compounds.

An intriguing aspect of dietary response in the ADHD research was the finding of a reduction in halitosis . This author has also had patients report a reduction in breath and also in body and urine odour. Since most of the suspect chemicals are aromatic in structure the possibility of their poor metabolism arose. This was supported by the finding that similar enzymes are involved in the metabolism of both the suspect phenolic compounds and the amines.

These are the sulpho transferases. Amines were reported to be degraded in the gut and phenolic compounds in the kidney. Work with diet-responding autistics in the UK has reported relevant findings that implicate sulphur metabolism. These autistic children have shown reduced levels of plasma sulphate, and increased levels of excretion of sulphate, sulphite and thiosulphate in their urine compared to controls.

Sulphur oxidation appears to be abnormal in this group. The numbers of slow metabolisers or null metabolisers of cysteine dioxygenase in autistics is much higher than the normal population. A study of non-autistic food intolerant patients showed similar biochemical abnormalities. In clinical research it has been found that foods are better tolerated if flavour is mild, and more adverse reactions occur to foods which are highly flavoured, so a defect in management of aromatic compounds is indicated. The research implicating a defect in the metabolism of phenolic and amine metabolism provides evidence of a possible mechanism.

PMID: 15294752

[HysteryDiagnosis]

78. What about the associated conditions say depression for one? eom

[bunny planet]

83. This is absurd. My son has a severely crossed eye, and a mild case of

ADD. His vision would not be applicable in diagnosing the ADD at all. There will be many, many misdiagnoses of this learning difference. All children don't learn the same way, and all children don't see the same way. This new 'test' is worrisome.

[HuckleB]

87. That's not what this is saying.

Please read the article. Your post doesn't seem to respond to its content.

[bunny planet]

90. I read the entire article this time. I still maintain that the test will

only work if the children tested have normal eyesight as well as ADD or ADHD behavior. If a child has an undiagnosed or unknown eyesight problem in addition to the learning difference, the test may be unreliable in that instance or perhaps engender a 'false positive' diagnosis. It might be a productive screening for some children of course.

I've had lots of experience with testing with my son and it is very easy for testing to either miss the real problem, misdiagnose, or misinterpret physical cues etc. My son was wrongly diagnosed as being autistic because he had language delays and couldn't make eye contact. His crossed eye did not show up physically to an outsider until he was six. His eye movements or lack of eye-contact were due to a physical problem with his eyes but were misdiagnosed as a neurological disorder because lack of 'eye contact' was a known problem with autistic children. He is not autistic but had I listened to the 'specialists' his life and progress might have been very different.

I'm just wary of this new test being too broad in it's characterization of children as having ADD based on eye movements alone. There hopefully is some other failsafe that will be a reliable indicator for the diagnosis to be confirmed.

[HuckleB]

98. That's possible.

The researchers would definitely have to deal with that as a possible confounding factor.

The search for new tests is partly done to put together a series of tests in order to better diagnose without getting false positives and false negatives, as each test currently available will diagnose people without the disorder and will fail to diagnose people with the disorder. Thus, finding a series of tests helps to decrease false positives and false negatives helps create a more "fail safe" diagnostic regimen.

[NVMojo]

92. if you don't have adhd, this won't make any sense ...the key is here ...

"It is not known how eye neurology is affected in ADHD, but Pavlidis points out that a symptom of the disorder is premature action - acting before thinking - and eye movements in those with the disorder are also premature. "The children's eyes jerk across before the light stimulus has moved," he explains."

ADHD's get in trouble in class for talking out of turn, answering other people's questions, finishing other people sentencing ...jumping too quickly somewhere else. If you don't have this, it might be difficult to understand.

Also, I highly recommend Thomm Hartmann's book "Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception" if you want a different perspective on this. I believe that Hartmann is ADHD too. Need proof?
Look at his career interests, all different focuses. His basic theory is that you have "hunters" and "farmers" and it goes from there. After reading his book, I finally realized that ADHD is not a "disorder" but an inconvenience for our current school systems and other controlled work environments that say everyone should have the same focus, day in and day out, etc.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/

http://www.thomhartmann.com/home-add.shtml

http://www.thomhartmann.com/unequalprotection.shtml

http://www.thomhartmann.com/two.shtml

http://www.thomhartmann.com/show.shtml

http://www.shadowcoaching.com/

So those of you who are quick to judge, open up your mind to some research done by those in the field and those who have dealt with this. Thanks.

[Donailin]

101. right on

"After reading his book, I finally realized that ADHD is not a "disorder" but an inconvenience for our current school systems and other controlled work environments that say everyone should have the same focus, day in and day out, etc."

Exactly.

I used to be upset that my middle child was not compliant like my oldest. We went head to head for a few years, he was simply restless all the time. But then I learned that this is not something to be DIScouraged, but ENcouraged. As soon as I embraced his "difference" everything changed. Now, he is still "high strung", but he is completely productive and talented. An amazing guitarist, and all honors in 9th grade. Is he calmer? Hell no, and I don't want him any other way, you take the good with the bad.

[sarcasmo]

100. This is just more info for Mandatory Mental Health Testing

More and more reports like this will be coming out in the future. This is a way to promote the Mandatory Mental Health Testing that Buscho and the medical companies want to put more of our kids and family on psychotic drugs. Big business rears it's ugly head.

[HuckleB]

102. Not a US study.

Nevermind that health care professionals do actually work to find better diagnostic tools for all conditions. This was not done to push a conspiracy.