Best Way To Treat ADHD - Thinking Outside The Box To Raise A Great Kid

Many parents are unaware that there are alternatives to ADHD medications and they insist that powerful psychostimulants are the best way to treat ADHD. Well, here are four good reasons why they should start thinking outside the box and look at diet and homeopathic remedies, for example.

1. The drugs are all based on amphetamines and as such, they are controlled substances. Take a teenager who wants to enroll in the National Guard. If they have been on the popular ADHD drugs like Ritalin, Vyvanse and Adderall, during the last two or three years, they will not be accepted for enrollment. The recruits have to have a doctor's certificate stating that they have not taken any of these drugs in the last four years. Now, with homeopathic remedies, there are no such restrictions because there are absolutely no health risks and side effects. There is no risk of addiction either.

2. In spite of the fact that there are risks and side effects of these drugs, the medical profession is convinced that they are best way to treat ADHD. They may well be in the short term and they can indeed alleviate symptoms such as hyperactivity and restlessness while helping children to pay more attention and get their homework done faster. But over the long term, the drugs have been shown to be less and less effective. Once their effects wear off, the teenager is left defenseless and has learned no coping skills at all in the meantime. Again, with homeopathic remedies, the approach is a holistic one and the aim is to restore balance in mind and body without causing any unpleasant side effects. Luc Montagnier the Nobel prize winner for Immunology recently came out in favor of homeopathy and that we should consider it more carefully and be more open minded.

3. As regards diet, there has been a lot of hype, ranging from the Feingold diet which eliminates all the nasty additives and preservatives which can affect a child's brain in a negative way to all the other elimination diets. However, it is true that some children do have an allergic reaction to the four 'white witches' and it is worth investigating these at least. These are:

• sugar
• salt
• flour
• milk

4. The fact that many children with ADHD were found to be nutritionally deficient puts diet right at the heart of the best way to treat ADHD, in my opinion. Studies have actually shown that they seem to be lacking in zinc, magnesium and calcium. They are also deficient in EFAs (essential fatty acids) found in fish and nuts. One of the best ways to make up for this deficiency is to use Himalayan rock salt which is the purest on this planet as it comes from the salt deposits of the Jurassic age when there was no pollution at all! It is so rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron.

These then are the four facts which should make us pause and start thinking outside the box. We should stop sneering at homeopathy as Luc Montaignier has suggested and integrate homeopathy with a healthy diet, exercise, an ADHD friendly home and behavior therapy or effective parenting skills. I firmly believe this is the best way to treat ADHD. Why don't you check out my website and learn how easy and safe it is to raise a great kid. You will never look back.

Robert Locke is a Health enthusiast who specializes in children's health. He has written extensively on ADHD. Discover what Alternative ADHD Therapy is available. Find out about ADHD natural cures.

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Thinking globally to improve mental health

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2011) — Mental health experts are calling for a greater world focus on improving access to care and treatment for mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders, as well as increasing discoveries in research that will enable this goal to be met.

The Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health Initiative, led by the National Institutes of Health and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, has identified the top 40 barriers to better mental health around the world. Similar to past grand challenges, which focused on infectious diseases and chronic, noncommunicable diseases, this initiative seeks to build a community of funders dedicated to supporting research that will significantly improve the lives of people living with MNS disorders within the next 10 years.

Twenty-five of the specific challenges and the process used to derive them are described in an article that will be published on July 7, 2011, in the journal Nature.

"Participating in global mental health research is an enormous opportunity, a means to accelerate advances in mental health care for the diverse U.S. population, as well as an extension of our vision of a world where mental illnesses are prevented and cured," said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the NIH institute heading this effort.

According to the paper's authors, the disorders targeted by the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health -- for example, schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, dementia, and alcohol dependence -- collectively account for more years of life lost to poor health, disability, or early death than either cardiovascular disease or cancer. Yet, compared to illnesses like cardiovascular disease and cancer, there are far fewer effective treatments or preventive methods. In addition, interventions are not widely available to those who need them most.

In recognizing the need to address this imbalance, Pamela Collins, M.D., M.P.H., of the NIMH Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health, and colleagues assembled an international panel of experts to identify research priorities using the Delphi method, a widely accepted consensus-building tool. The panel consisted of 422 experts in fields such as neuroscience, basic behavioral science, mental health services, and epidemiology, and represented more than 60 countries.

Over the course of two months, NIMH staff pared the panel's initial list of 1,565 challenges down to 154, with input from a scientific advisory board. From this list, the expert panel selected the top 40, of which the top five challenges identified after the third and final round of ranking are:

Integrate screening and core packages of services into routine primary health careReduce the cost and improve the supply of effective medicationsImprove children's access to evidence-based care by trained health providers in low- and middle-income countriesProvide effective and affordable community-based care and rehabilitationStrengthen the mental health component in the training of all health care personnel.

These top five challenges were ranked according to the ability to reduce the burden of disease, ability to reduce inequalities in health and health care, length of time until results can be observed, and the ability for the topic to be researched effectively.

"Addressing these challenges could have far-reaching effects, including increasing access to services and ultimately, reducing the treatment gap associated with these disorders," said Dr. Collins.

The Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health Initiative is led by NIMH and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Other NIH components participating in the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health include the Fogarty International Center; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by NIH/National Institute of Mental Health.

Journal Reference:

Pamela Y. Collins, Vikram Patel, Sarah S. Joestl, Dana March, Thomas R. Insel, Abdallah S. Daar, Isabel A. Bordin, E. Jane Costello, Maureen Durkin, Christopher Fairburn, Roger I. Glass, Wayne Hall, Yueqin Huang, Steven E. Hyman, Kay Jamison, Sylvia Kaaya, Shitij Kapur, Arthur Kleinman, Adesola Ogunniyi, Angel Otero-Ojeda, Mu-Ming Poo, Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, Barbara J. Sahakian, Shekhar Saxena, Peter A. Singer, Dan J. Stein, Warwick Anderson, Muhammad A. Dhansay, Wendy Ewart, Anthony Phillips, Susan Shurin, Mark Walport. Grand challenges in global mental health. Nature, 2011; 475 (7354): 27 DOI: 10.1038/475027a

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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