Posts Tagged ‘Ritalin’

ADHD behaviors as seen in children seem to have very little meaning.

ADHD Diagnoses

An ADHD diagnosis seems to be arbitrary. Two published studies seem to say something is wrong with the way ADHD is diagnosed in young children. In the U.S. nearly one million kids may be misdiagnosed just because they are the youngest in their kindergarten class. The youngest in the class is twice as likely to be on stimulant medication.

What was found the youngest children were much more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and be prescribed behavior modifying stimulants such as Ritalin.

Could it be the teacher was just having a bad hair day, and had no patience for an unruly 5 year old?  Since this is such a subjective diagnosis this can be a factor.

Hyperactivity

Hyperactivity in a five year old seems normal to a sedentary adult. This is a perception, not always a reality. It is estimated that the misdiagnosis rate is about 1 in 5, and that 900,000 of the 4.5 million children currently diagnosed with ADHD have been misdiagnosed.

Wow, 4.5 million children diagnosed with ADHD is correct. I don’t buy it. With our diet, and vaccine schedule it is possible that we have fostered a nation of unruly children. This number doesn’t add up. 

Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention deficit disorder is a relatively new term. It use to be called rambunctious, acting out, class clown, energetic, and irascible behavior. With a profit center build around Ritalin, a new term is just what the drug companies ordered.

Legal drugs vs. Street Drugs, the difference profit for big pharma:

Omega-3’s power isn’t a fish tail. It’s the best defense from the ocean, streams and waterways. It’s in a class by itself, a literate banquet of support for all functions of the human body. Saving lives with the most potent anti-inflammatory agent concentrated into one nutrient.

Fish Oil

An abundance of scientific research substantiates the range of fish oils health benefits, from promoting a healthy heart, to improving brain function, and keeping inflammation at bay. Depression and diabetes are conditions that can be helped by omega-3 fatty acids.

Research published in the journal Gut reports that a purified form from of an omega 3 cuts the number and size of precancerous bowel growths (polyps) in people whose genetic make-up predisposes them to bowel cancer. Gut is the leading journal in gastroenterology.

This particular omega 3 is eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA. It proves to be as effective as the prescription medicine used to treat familial bowel polyps, without the cardiovascular side effects.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that rates of cardiovascular disease are lower in populations such as the Greenland Eskimos. They have a diet that is high in fish oils that are rich is eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Omega 3 Benefits

Research shows that omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and lowers the risk of chronic disease such as heart diseases such as cancer, and arthritis. Omega 3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important in cognitive performance, and behavioral function.

Symptoms of omega 3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

Omega 3’s is known to not only improve your appearance, but slow the aging process to boot.

Cancer

The next treatment for cancer may come from fish, according to a new research report published in the March 2010 print edition of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) journal. Scientist show that the omega 3 fatty acid, “docosahexaenoic acid” (DHA) is a cancer inhibitor.

It works both as a preventative, and as ammunition against it once it takes form.

“This is good news for those looking to stop cancer. We now know that DHA plays both offense and defense when it comes to protecting our health,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. “It’s ability to help prevent numerous diseases is well documented, but now we see that DHA or one of its byproducts might serve as the starting point for a new class of cancer drugs.”

ADHD

Studies show that omega 3 fish oil could have long-term benefits on cognitive development. When researchers compared long term results that found that compared Ritalin and Concerta, both drugs for ADHD they found that the fish oils were more effective.

A 2005 study in Britain concluded that children who are given Omega 3 fatty acids show improvements in behavior, reading and spelling. Earl Mindell, PhD and author of Earl Mindell’s Supplement Bible, believes that DHA compound contained in Omega 3 fatty acids are integral to brain development.

The reason why fish is known as brain food is it’s a rich source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a fatty acid that is found in high concentration in the gray matter of the brain. DHA is needed in the function of brain cell membranes, which are important for the transmission of brain signals.

Weight Loss

A recent study published by the International Journal of Obesity found that subjects who took eight fish oil capsules, or 6 g of fish oil, per day had greater levels of weight loss and fat metabolism (burning of calories) than those who did not take them

Summary

There is nothing fishy about fish oil. This goes beyond being a good nutrient, it is a critical nutrient.

Autism spectrum disorders, is a relatively new term. It does what medicine does so well widening the classification of a condition. We should be asking why this is occurring. Autism is rising at an alarming rate. Now with this new category, we are looking at figures of one in every 91 children. I guess previous generations didn’t know what to look for, so their children were considered normal. Most parents then thought their children had individual personalities and lots of energy; they didn’t look for an underlying condition.

What is frightening about this trend is the scope. If it affects one in every 91 children, we have an epidemic on our hands. Second how is autism spectrum disorder diagnosed?  We already have a Ritalin generation. Large numbers of children either have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity or ADD. Then there is dyslexia, and a whole host of other troubling afflictions.

Ritalin is an important clue to what is going on; attention deficit disorder has become an affliction that is seen in many school age children. It is no more boys will be boys, your bundle of energy, is now hyperactive. There are now more children per classroom and student compliance has become an issue. The high from the junk food breakfast, lack of home discipline in part created this disorder, and the short cut to fixing the problem is Ritalin and like drugs. The second half of the equation is the incentive to keep children orderly. It is easier on the teachers and the school. This has become a cure for childhood behavior, Parents and teaches want the quick fix that pharmaceuticals seem to promise

In the December 5^th 1998 issue of the British Medical Journal was an article to say the National Institutes for Health consensus panel called for “urgent clarification of the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and research into the long term effects of treatment with Ritalin.” The article was pointing out the dangers of using Ritalin. Prescriptions for Ritalin have increased at an alarming rate, raising the question of over-diagnosis and treatment. This was in 1998, and in the United States there are more diagnosed cases, and the largest number of prescriptions written. What this proves is that living in America is the biggest risk for developing attention deficit disorder.

Peter R. Breggin M.D. a psychiatrist and editor-in-chief of a professional journal called Ethical Human Sciences and Services, lists several disturbing facts about Ritalin and its dangerous effects. There is a decreased blood flow to the brain that has been shown to be associated with cocaine use, which causes impaired thinking ability and memory loss. Ritalin is legal that’s the big difference. There is a disruption of growth hormone, which leads to suppression of growth in the body and brain of a child. There is a chance to develop permanent neurological tics, including Tourette’s syndrome. Other known occurrences; addiction, psychosis, depression, insomnia, agitation and withdrawal symptoms.

This is from U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Drug and Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section Methylphenidate (Ritalin).

1. Ritalin is a Schedule II stimulate, structurally and pharmacologically similar to amphetamines and cocaine and has the same dependency profile of cocaine and other stimulants.

2. Ritalin produces amphetamine and cocaine-like reinforcing effects including increased rate of euphoria and drug liking. Treatment with Ritalin in childhood predisposes takers to cocaine’s reinforcing effects.

3. In humans, chronic administration of Ritalin produced tolerance and showed cross-tolerance with cocaine and amphetamines.

4. Ritalin is chosen over cocaine in self-administered preference studies in non-human primates.

5. Ritalin produces behavioral, physiological and reinforcing effects similar to amphetamines.

6. Ritalin substitutes for cocaine and amphetamines in scientific studies.

7. Children medicated with Ritalin who tried cocaine reported higher levels of drug dependence than those who had not used Ritalin.

8. Ritalin abuse is neither benign nor rare in occurrence and is accurately described as producing severe dependence.

9. Sweden removed Ritalin from its market in 1968 because of widespread abuse.

10. More high school seniors were abusing Ritalin than those taking it medically prescribed.

11. Side-effects or Ritalin: increased blood pressure, heart rate, respirations and temperature; appetite suppression, weight loss, growth retardation; facial tics, muscle twitching, central nervous system stimulation, euphoria, nervousness, irritability and agitation, psychotic episodes, violent behavior, paranoid delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behaviors, heart arrhythmia, palpitations and high blood pressure; tolerance and psychological dependence and death.

12. Ritalin will affect normal children and adults the same as those with attention and behavior problems. Effectiveness of Ritalin is not diagnostic.

13. CHADD, non-profit organization, which promotes the use of Ritalin, also receives a great deal of money from the drug manufacturer of Ritalin. CHADD does not inform its members of the abuse problems of Ritalin. CHADD portrays the drug as a benign, mild stimulant that is not associated with abuse of serious side-effects. Statements by CHADD are inconsistent with scientific literature.

14. The International Narcotics Control Board expressed concern that CHADD is actively lobbying for the use of Ritalin in children.

15. Ritalin is one of the top ten drugs involved in drug thefts and is being abused by health professionals as well as street addicts

What attention deficit disorder and autism spectrum disorder have in common both are on the rise and the medical community has been able to label these conditions. Looking at the failures, the over diagnosing, and the pharmaceutical solutions we have to examine what is going on. You can’t look at autism spectrum disorder without looking at all the childhood disorder labels, and the health challenges our children face. From the so called psychological to the physical ones, we have a lifestyle disorder. That is the correct diagnosis.

To evaluate what is going on with autism spectrum disorder, it has to be looked at in the mindset of the medical community. Without doubt autism is on the rise, from there how did we get to autism spectrum disorder. You can’t catch it, and the genes theory is not going to cut it. It is scary, our world looks like something from science fiction, where everyone is afflicted with a disorder that is spreading through the population, without a known cause. The suggested answer is the number reflects the tools at our disposal to diagnose. The psychologists and pediatricians that dispense drugs like candy, can also label your child. 

It is estimated that every classroom will have at least one student with autism spectrum disorder. What is causing this upward spike in all these conditions? Looking around at the food supply, environmental toxins, and the pharmaceutical industry, I think we have an answer. This is not to say there is a real medical crisis with the cases of autism rising, but with allopathic medicine everything is a disease. When usually there is an underlining cause that has to do with factors that are in people’s control.

In Kentucy there are statistics from the Department of Education, which said in 1992 it had in the system 53 students with autism spectrum disorders, and not it is over 3,000. In Kentucky statistics show that more than 24,000 residents, including adults, have autism spectrum disorder, up from less than 1,500 in 1990. That is a span of about 18 years, because the reports are not up to date.

Autism is born out of a toxic world. The debate over vaccinations is not over, it can never be proven that injecting a foreign substance does not cause harm. The list of vaccinations keeps growing, the interactions between all these substances will not be known in the short run. We are on toxic overload, and we are going in the wrong direction, looking for more drugs to solve our problems.