One family's ADHD story

[Celebration]

Pretty interesting. I actually found it by googling NADH and ADHD. When I take Enada NADH, I can focus more easily on things, so I thought there might be some research on it. There is for other things, but not ADHD. But I found this website--

http://addadhdadvances.com/aboutus.html

I was a very good student in medical school. More than that, I was a very obedient student. I believed what I was taught, and I didn't question the accuracy of the information. Like most doctors, I didn't think twice about alternative medicine. My feeling was that if it worked, someone would have proven it already and patented it. No proof meant to me that it did not exist as an option. My wife didn't see things that way. She was in charge of the home, and at home things were getting out of hand. Our son was often out of control, having violent tantrums, and fighting with his younger siblings. She was desperate. The Ritalin helped, but it didn't do enough. She wanted to try the alternative medicine remedies that she heard about, but she knew I wouldn't allow it.

What did my wife do? She was very sly. Since my real role in the school was to raise the budget, I had to travel away from home frequently. My wife waited until I went away on business, and then during each of my trips she tried something else. I have no idea how many alternative treatments she tried while I was away. Most of them didn't work; so she had no reason to tell me about them. I didn't even know she was doing this until she came across something that did work.


My mother-in-law was deeply sensitive to my wife's plight. She sent to my wife numerous books on alternative approaches to ADHD. One of them was a book by Dr. Doris Rapp, called The Impossible Child. Rapp's idea is that many children have undiagnosed food allergies that cause numerous behavioral and physical problems.

If you eliminate the eliciting foods, you can correct the behavior. Once while I was away, my wife had my son tested for food allergies. It came out that he was exquisitely sensitive to three foods: milk, soy products, and sugar. Looking back, from conception to that time, there wasn't a day in his life that our son didn't have one of these three foods in his system. When I got back from the trip, we decided to see what affects dietary elimination would have on ADHD. We took him off milk, soy, and cut out added sugar. A few days later my son came to us and said that he didn't need the Ritalin any more. That was two years ago, and he hasn't taken it since.

The allergy angle is probably a lot of it, and *if* vaccines are involved in some way it is probably something like vaccines----->altered immune response------->leaky gut syndrome----->large proteins crossing from gut into bloodstream------>body developing allergies to various proteins----->altered behavior. Now this is not some new theory with me but what many, many people are saying.

The way my family has dealt with allergies (hidden and not so hidden food allergies) is with Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique, a mostly unproven and even preposterous sounding technique that has spread like wildfire and has many different offshoots at this point. I am mentioning it here but in truth if insurance doesn't cover it can be expensive and time consuming, and the skill level of the practitioners varies greatly. And some of the offshoots may be better.

But even avoidance of certain offending foods can often, though not always, bring dramatic change in ADHD behaviour.

The website does not mention the technique-- the dad is probably not away on his volunteer fund raising trips often enough for his wife to try that!! But I thought I would post this website because of the allergy connection. He does mention some supplements there as well, including NADH, which is how I found it.

[ananda]

1. wow

It's nice to see people looking for safer ways to deal with children's problems.

ADHD pharmaceuticals are very dangerous and harmful, while being addictive stimulants as well.

Btw, there is no such thing as ADHD. It's just a spurious label used to justify drugging and giving big pharma huge profits.

Sue

[Odin2005]

8. "there is no such thing as ADHD"

As a person with ADHD, that is BS. Just because drugs like Ritalin are over-prescribed doesn't mean there are no people who need it. I don't think Big Pharma has anything to do with it anyway, it's the result of lazyiness on the part of schools. It's easier for a school to tell a parent to have his or her kid to be put on Ritalin than it is to modify the curriculum.

[Warpy]

2. Well, the only way vaccines alter immunity is by providing it

to the agent intended.

I'm sorry, folks, but the bulk of this stuff is JUNK SCIENCE.

While allergies may be implicated in some behavior problems, allergies can't be implicated in all of them. Only testing by a REAL allergist will sort them out.

Please don't experiment on your kids. If somebody says they have ADHD, GET THEM TESTED by a pediatric psychologist or a pediatric neurologist who is trained in the field. If you are hoping it's easily cured by eliminating allergens, GET THEM TESTED by an allergist, a specialist in the field. If allergies are ruled out, get them appropriate meds. Kids who need to be on these drugs WILL ASK FOR THEM if you forget a dose. They HATE being ADHD.

Please, for your kids' sake, avoid the quacks.

As for the whole "leaky gut" theory, read about one of its main proponents at http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/carley1.html

[derby378]

3. Part of the problem with diagnosing and treating ADHD...

...is that so much of it is still highly subjective in nature. ADHD is more or less officially regarded as a neurologic syndrome, which means it's a complex of symptoms that doesn't necessarily have a clear-cut cause or etiology. One tantalizing clue to ADHD's cause has been reported in Discover, among other sources, claiming that a gene associated with ADHD may have been discovered in the human genome, and that this gene is also found in primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees who exhibit behaviors very similar to ADHD in nature.

[Warpy]

6. That's why it's so important to find a specialist

who can tell the difference between a kid who is just a little bit hyper and one who truly has ADHD. Teachers can point to behavior problems, but they're not qualified to nail down a diagnosis.

[wordpix2]

4. I teach & know many of my students take ADHD drugs like Ritalin

IMO, most of these students' behavior (and obesity) would improve vastly by cutting way down on sugar, fats and salt, and increasing raw fruits, veggies, whole grains and organic products. What's more, if parents used TV, computer games, i-pods and X-boxes as treats "after you do your homework/household chores and show me the results," instead of allowing their use as babysitters and a steady diet of "don't bother me," you would see an amazing difference in child and student behavior.

Even the best teachers and parents are a bore if a child is allowed to feed on the constant barrage, stimulation,and excitement of today's sex, violence and fast-cut editing on TV, films, computer and video games.

[Celebration]

5. Just a few "leaky gut" abstracts

And decide for yourself who the quack is--

Science. 2005 Mar 25;307(5717):1920-5.

Immunity, inflammation, and allergy in the gut.

Macdonald TT, Monteleone G.

Division of Infection, Inflammation, and Repair, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK. [e-mail]

The gut immune system has the challenge of responding to pathogens while remaining relatively unresponsive to food antigens and the commensal microflora. In the developed world, this ability appears to be breaking down, with chronic inflammatory diseases of the gut commonplace in the apparent absence of overt infections. In both mouse and man, mutations in genes that control innate immune recognition, adaptive immunity, and epithelial permeability are all associated with gut inflammation. This suggests that perturbing homeostasis between gut antigens and host immunity represents a critical determinant in the development of gut inflammation and allergy.


PMID: 15790845

J Clin Gastroenterol. 2004 Jul;38(6 Suppl):S84-5.

The role of probiotics in the clinical management of food allergy and atopic dermatitis.

Miraglia del Giudice M, De Luca MG.

Dipartimento di Pediatria, Seconda Universita di Napoli, Italy. [e-mail]

The probiotics are cultures of potentially beneficial bacteria that positively affects host by enhancing the microbial balance and therefore restore the normal intestinal permeability and gut microecology, improve the intestine's immunologic barrier function and reduce the generation of proinflammatory cycochines characteristics of allergic inflammation. The authors made a survey of the most relevant studies concerning the use of probiotics in the food allergy, atopic dermatitis, and in primary prevention of atopy. On the basis of these trials probiotic therapy alleviates allergic inflammation as demonstrated by the control of clinical symptoms and the reduction of local and systemic inflammatory markers.



PMID: 15220666

Braz J Med Biol Res. 2004 May;37(5):659-62. Epub 2004 Apr 22.


Correlation between symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome and the response to the food extract skin prick test.

Soares RL, Figueiredo HN, Maneschy CP, Rocha VR, Santos JM.

Grupo de Estudo de Doencas Intestinais, Departamento de Medicina Clinica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, RJ, Brazil. [e-mail]

The relationship between the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and food intolerance is not clear. We studied the cutaneous response to food antigens in 43 volunteers who were students and employees of the Faculty of Medicine of Universidade Federal Fluminense. Subjects were divided into 3 groups after evaluation for Roma II criteria for functional disease of the gastrointestinal tract: group I, 14 volunteers with IBS; group II, 15 volunteers with functional dyspepsia; group III, 14 volunteers without habitual gastrointestinal symptoms. The subjects were submitted to the skin prick test with 9 food antigen extracts, for a total of 387 skin tests (9 per volunteer). Of the 126 tests applied to group I, 24 (19.4%) were positive (a 3-mm wider papule than the negative control) and of the 135 tests applied to group II, 3 (2.3%) were positive. Of the 126 tests applied to group III, 6 (4%) were positive. The number of positive responses obtained in group I (IBS) differed significantly from the other 2 groups (P < 0.01). None of the volunteers with IBS reported intolerance to any isolated food. The higher reactivity to food antigens in group I compared to groups II and III suggests that intestinal permeability may be increased in patients with IBS.

PMID: 15107926

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2005 Aug;17(8):821-2.
Comment on:
• Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2005 Aug;17(8):827-36.

The intestinal lesion of autistic spectrum disorder.

Jass JR.

Department of Pathology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [e-mail]

This editorial briefly reviews the significance of lymphoid nodular hyperplasia in the intestinal tract of children with autistic spectrum disorder. The distinction between physiological and pathological lymphoid hyperplasia of the intestinal tract is of importance in the context of a possible causative link with autism. A primary intestinal lesion may occur as part of the broad spectrum of immunological disorders to which autistic children are prone. This could result in increased intestinal permeability to peptides of dietary origin which may then lead to disruption of neuroregulatory mechanisms required for normal brain development. Alternatively, there could be a primary defect in the translocation and processing of factors derived from the intestinal lumen. These possibilities deserve further investigation and should not be lost in the fog of the controversy regarding the role of measles/mumps/rubella vaccination in the aetiology of autistic spectrum disorder.


PMID: 16003130

Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2003 Jun;228(6):639-49.

Intestinal pathophysiology in autism.

White JF.

Department of Physiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. [e-mail]

Autism is a life-long developmental disorder affecting as many as 1 in 500 children. The causes for this profound disorder are largely unknown. Recent research has uncovered pathology in the gastrointestinal tract of autistic children. The pathology, reported to extend from the esophagus to the colon, is described here along with other studies pointing to a connection between diet and the severity of symptoms expressed in autism. The evidence that there is impaired intestinal permeability in autism is reviewed, and various theories are discussed by which a leaky gut could develop. Lastly, some possible ways in which impaired gastrointestinal function might influence brain function are discussed.


PMID: 12773694

Acta Paediatr. 1996 Sep;85(9):1076-9.



Abnormal intestinal permeability in children with autism.

D'Eufemia P, Celli M, Finocchiaro R, Pacifico L, Viozzi L, Zaccagnini M, Cardi E, Giardini O.

Institute of Pediatrics, La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

We determined the occurrence of gut mucosal damage using the intestinal permeability test in 21 autistic children who had no clinical and laboratory findings consistent with known intestinal disorders. An altered intestinal permeability was found in 9 of the 21 (43%) autistic patients, but in none of the 40 controls. Compared to the controls, these nine patients showed a similar mean mannitol recovery, but a significantly higher mean lactulose recovery (1.64% +/- 1.43 vs 0.38% +/- 0.14; P < 0.001). We speculate that an altered intestinal permeability could represent a possible mechanism for the increased passage through the gut mucosa of peptides derived from foods with subsequent behavioural abnormalities.

PMID: 8888921

[Celebration]

7. What is leaky gut syndrome

http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/gut.htm

Please note that this is from the website of the autism research unit of a university in the UK

The 7 stages of the 'inflamed’ gut.
1 . When the gut is inflamed, it does not absorb nutrients and foods properly and so fatigue and bloating can occur.
2. As mentioned previously, when large food particles are absorbed there is the creation of food allergies and new symptoms with target organs, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia.
3. When the gut is inflamed the carrier proteins are damaged so nutrient deficiencies occur which can also cause any symptom, like magnesium deficiency induced muscle spasm or copper deficiency induced high cholesterol.
4. Likewise when the detox pathways that line the gut are compromised, chemical sensitivity can arise. Furthermore the leakage of toxins overburdens the liver so that the body is less able to handle everyday chemicals.
5. When the gut lining is inflamed the protective coating of lgA (immunoglobulin A) is adversely affected and the body is not able to ward off protozoa, bacteria, viruses and yeast’s like candida.
6. When the intestinal lining is inflamed, bacteria and yeast’s are able to translocate. This means that they are able to pass from the gut lumen or cavity, into the bloodstream and set up infection anywhere else in the body.
7. The worst symptom is the formation of antibodies. Sometimes these leak across and look similar to antigens on our own tissues. Consequently, when an antibody is made to attack it, it also attacks our tissue. This is probably how autoimmune disease s tart. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroiditis and many others are members of this ever-growing category of ‘incurable’ diseases.

Here is a clue as to why these things aren't more researched--

http://www.nutrition4health.org/NOHAnews/NNW00ADHD.htm

On the last day of the conference two scientists from the National Institutes of Health spoke about government programs. Dr. Heather Ringeisen from the National Institute of Mental Health said it would be excellent to have government studies of some of the factors affecting ADHD, which the speakers had presented. However, she admitted that the panel of doctors, who decide on research grants, have been giving them for studies of drugs that control symptoms, rather than for research on the fundamental causes of ADHD, which have been addressed at this conference.