NATURAL REMEDIES FOR ADHD

It is not easy to have a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Children who are diagnosed with ADHD have a poor performance in school, lack social skills, have few friends, suffer physical health problems and have poor relationship with their parents and other family members.

ADHD is a chronic syndrome of age-inappropriate inattention, distractibility, impulsivity, and restless overactivity.¹ It is the most common diagnosed behavior in North America, occurring in 3% to 8% among school children.² ADHD affects not only the patient but also parents, siblings, friends, and school staff. The main issue now is to educate the people close to the patients- parents, family members and their significant others (in the case of adult patients) regarding its causes, prevention, treatment and palliation.

There are well-established medications and behavioral treatments for ADHD including the two-best documented stimulants methylphenidate and amphetamine.³ There are also other treatments proposed for treating patients with ADHD in a natural way. These were based from scientific documentation and clinical trials. One example is elimination diets (Feingold, oligoantigenic, few foods) which have proven in some selected subgroups that it is as good as some drugs and behavioral techniques.

Some alternative treatments were also highlighted during the November 1998 NIH Consensus Development Conference.⁴ These include enzyme-potentiated desensitization which targets food or additive sensitivity, elimination of sugar alone, amino acid supplementation which is a precursor of catecholamines and serotonin, essential fatty acid supplementation, L-carnitine which promotes EFA (essential fatty acid) metabolism, vitamins, iron supplementation which is a co-factor in making catecholamines, zinc supplementation which serves as a co-factor for many enzymes, Chinese herbals which is based from clinical experience,  homeopathic preparations, laser acupuncture which stimulates foci for calming, EEG biofeedback which acts by suppressing theta while increasing beta, relaxation training which lowers arousal and enhances muscle tone, meditation which promotes autonomic effect and enhances focused attention, hypnosis which lowers arousal, mirror feedback which improves deficient self-awareness, channel-specific perceptual training which enhances basic readiness skills and focus, vestibular stimulation which modulates behavior, attention, perception; and massage which provides muscular soothing.

It should however be noted that when using alternative treatments for ADHD, the family should consult an expert clinician. This does not mean that these alternative treatments are ineffective but these treatments should be proven scientifically first before being used as treatment for ADHD. The clinicians should discuss these treatments comprehensively with the family as well as the risks that may come along with the treatment and the scientific basis for efficacy of the treatment. This will help the family decide whether the possible benefit is worth the expense and risk and will aid the family in choosing the best treatment for their loved one.

References:

1. Arnold LE: Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 2002;1:5.

2. Richters JE, Arnold LE, Jensen PS, et al: The NIMH collaborative multisite multimodal treatment study of children with ADHD (MTA): I. Background and rationale. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1995;34:987-1000.

3. Arnold LE: Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 2002;4:76-79.

4. Arnold LE: Treatment alternatives for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). J Attention Dis 1999;3:30-48.