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Chiropractic Research Results for ADD/ADHD
ADD/ADHD Page @ Chiro.Org
This Pediatrics Page describes ADD/ADHD and then reviews the impact of nutrition, ritalin, food colorings, and household toxins on children's behavior. It also discusses chiropractic management.
Psychiatrist Peter Breggin wrote, "Hyperactivity is the most frequent justification for drugging children. The difficult-to-control male child is certainly not a new phenomenon, but attempts to give him a medical diagnosis are the product of modern psychology and psychiatry. At first psychiatrists called hyperactivity a brain disease. When no brain disease could be found, they changed it to 'minimal brain disease' (MBD). When no minimal brain disease could be found the profession transformed the concept into 'minimal brain dysfunction.' When no minimal brain dysfunction could be demonstrated, the label became attention deficit disorder. Now it's just assumed to be a real disease, regardless of the failure to prove it so. Biochemical imbalance is the code word, but there's no more evidence for that than there is for actual brain disease." [1]
Cervical Kyphosis is a Possible Link to Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2004 (Oct); 27 (8): e14 ~ FULL TEXT
A 5-year-old patient was diagnosed with ADHD and treated by a pediatrician unsuccessfully with methylphenidate (Ritalin), Adderall, and Haldol for 3 years. The patient received 35 chiropractic treatments during the course of 8 weeks. A change from a 12 degrees C2-7 kyphosis to a 32 degrees C2-7 lordosis was observed after treatment. During chiropractic care, the child's facial tics resolved and his behavior vastly improved. After 27 chiropractic visits, the child's pediatrician stated that the child no longer exhibited symptoms of ADHD. The changes in structure and function may be related to the correction of cervical kyphosis.
An Evaluation of Chiropractic Manipulation as a Treatment of Hyperactivity in Children
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1989; 12 (5) Oct: 353–363
Five of seven children showed improvement in mean behavioral scores from placebo care to treatment. Four of seven showed improvement in arousal levels, and the improvement in the group as a whole was highly significant (p = 0.009). Agreement between tests was also high in this study. For all seven children, three of the four principal tests used to detect improvement were in agreement either positively or negatively (parent ratings of activity, motion recorder scores, electrodermal measures, and X-rays of spinal distortions). While the behavioral improvement taken alone can only be considered suggestive, the strong interest agreement can be taken as more impressive evidence that the majority of the children in this study did, in fact, improve under specific chiropractic care.
Review More Abstracts on Chiropractic and ADD/ADHD
Review abstracts about chiropractic and a variety of organic and visceral disorders at the wonderful International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) website.
Other Management Approaches for ADD/ADHD
Study Links Nutrition and Children’s Behaviour
Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals July 2005
The double-blind study gave the 5- to 12-year-old children, many of whom had accompanying attention deficit problems and dyslexia, either an olive oil placebo or a fish oil-derived omega-3 fatty acid supplement. Those on the supplement showed greatly increased concentration and ability to process information within three months of taking the supplement, with an average advancement in reading age of about nine months and spelling age of six months.
Here's a report on the “The Durham Dyspraxia Trial”.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children: Rationale for Its Integrative Management
Alternative Medicine Review 2000; 5 (5) Oct: 402–428 - FULL TEXT
The exact etiology is unknown; genetics plays a role, but major etiologic contributors also include adverse responses to food additives, intolerances to foods, sensitivities to environmental chemicals, molds, and fungi, and exposures to neurodevelopmental toxins such as heavy metals and organohalide pollutants. Nutrient deficiencies are common in ADHD; supplementation with minerals, the B vitamins (added in singly), omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, flavonoids, and the essential phospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS) can ameliorate ADHD symptoms. When individually managed with supplementation, dietary modification, detoxification, correction of intestinal dysbiosis, and other features of a wholistic/integrative program of management, the ADHD subject can lead a normal and productive life.
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