Wednesday, March 26, 2008 (original writing with some new annotations for 2019 update in italics)
There was a recent (recent being this blog was originally written in 2008) study that scanned the brains of children who were already taking psychiatric drugs for ADHD. Brain scans are the latest attempt made by the psychiatric field to appear scientific, even though there is absolutely no science to support psychiatry.
These scans found that the brains of these children were smaller than they should have been. The scientists concluded that children with ADHD have smaller brains.
This is yet another example of what is wrong with medical research. These people are being paid by drug companies to do flawed studies. The goal is to justify the use of prescription drugs and to find new ways of getting more people on them.
Here’s a more recent article suggesting the same.
Therefore, the researchers did not do what they obviously should have done – compare the brains of children with ADHD not taking psychiatric drugs with those who are.
They didn’t do this of course because it has been proven that these drugs stunt brain growth, as Dr. Sears states below, and therefore researchers are taking advantage of this situation by making a claim that the brain development in these children is stunted due to ADHD, an “illness” they otherwise have no proof of, rather than blaming the obvious cause of their smaller brains – the drugs.
Listen to Dr Peter Breggin admit there is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that any of these mental illensses exist on a show with Christie Aphrodite from 2010 on TruthBrigade Radio!
Abnormalities in research studies are blamed on everything but the prescription drugs involved, when often the drugs are at fault.
What lies ahead for these drugged up kids, who are taking addictive prescriptions that are classified like cocaine? Hold on, I need to take a deep breath…
Click here to see how many children are on psychotropic drugs in 2017!!! Including over 135,000 children under the age of ONE!!!
[11 years has passed since the writing of this article. Mass shootings were unheard of at the time! I think it’s pretty safe to assume we are seeing the results of what drugging your children will do.]
I’m going to let Al Sears, MD take over from here. Certainly there are children with problems concentrating and there are children who are hyperactive, however they can’t possibly focus when their brains are lacking the most basic nutrition required by the brain:
“Chances are you know of a child on Ritalin or some other prescription drug for “attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (ADHD). But did you know that these drugs can keep children from growing normally?
Meanwhile, there are plenty of safe, natural ways to help these children that you won’t hear about from the mainstream medical community. In a recently published study, a team of American scientists discovered that while Ritalin and similar prescription drugs like Adderall and Dexedrine might help some kids in the short term, over a three-year period they had no beneficial effect on their overall behavior… and that they can stunt children’s growth (1).
So not only are these drugs dangerous, addictive and harmful to normal development – they don’t even work.
I’ve written to you before about the many dangers surrounding ADHD drugs. Not only do they keep kids from growing – studies have shown they can also do long-term damage to young people’s developing brains. One study on animals suggested that over the long term Ritalin can cause your child irreversible problems with stress, learning, memory, and appetite (2).
The drug companies and the government know how addictive and dangerous these drugs are. That’s why the Drug Enforcement Agency treats them like any other controlled substance, limiting production each year in order to keep young people from using them recreationally. That doesn’t stop them. In a study published just last year, researchers at Northwestern University found that 75 percent of college kids abused ADHD drugs, often grinding them up and snorting them just like cocaine (3).
Those are sobering numbers, especially when you consider that 1.6 million schoolchildren took Ritalin last year. (2007) You’d think all this bad press would be the nail in the coffin for a class of drugs just as powerful as cocaine or methamphetamines. But if history is any guide, doctors will keep handing them out like candy to our children for years to come.
ADHD is still the most commonly diagnosed disorder in children. So here a few easy, safe, and natural ways to bring kids “to attention” without endangering their mental and physical health.
The first is simple: ramp up the amount of omega-3 in their diet. A lot of scientific research has found that many children with ADHD don’t get enough omega-3. Cod liver and flax seed oils deliver the two kinds of omega-3s the body needs. You can also get them to eat more lean meats, eggs, and nuts, preferably free-range, grass-fed and organic. These are all great sources of omega-3.
Pine bark extract is another natural supplement that works. One European study using pycnogenol, an organic compound found in the bark of the French maritime pine tree, showed that after only one month, children’s behavior improved significantly on as little as 1 mg per day (4).
Finally, nutritional science has discovered a number of naturally occurring amino acids that are great treatments for ADHD. One of them is 5-HTP. It’s a precursor to serotonin, one of the chemicals in the brain that relieves anxiety and depression (popular antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro all boost serotonin levels). I recommend 50 to 100 mg three times per day with meals.
Another is tyrosine. It works like 5-HTP, increasing levels of various chemicals in the brain connected to mood and the ability to concentrate. The optimal dose is 5,000 mg per day for children and up to 10,000 mg per day for adults.
These are natural and perfectly safe alternatives with no side effects that I use in my medical practice every day. They aren’t harmful or addictive, and unlike all those ADHD prescription drugs, they actually work. They are easy to find online or at health food stores.
To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD”
(To visit Dr. Sears, click here.)
My Comments:
Concerning omega-3, it is very important to get the proper ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, therefore I recommend krill oil over the sources mentioned above. Fish oils have been very popular, but they can be contaminated with mercury and spoil easily. Krill is the safest and most effective way that I know of at this time to get the essential fatty acids, which are critical to brain function, and the source I recommend encapsulates the oil in a way that’s very friendly to your system.
(I’ve received some comments that krill isn’t kosher; it definitely isn’t, so if you keep kosher, you may want to follow Dr. Sears’ advice above.)
Dr. Sears’ sources:
1 Jensen et al, “3-Year Follow-up of the NIMH MTA Study.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2007. 46(8):989-1002.
2 Gray et al, “Methylphenidate Administration to Juvenile Rats Alters Brain Areas Involved in Cognition, Motivated Behaviors, Appetite, and Stress,” Journal of Neuroscience, 2007, 27(27):7196-7207.
3 Christian et al, “Illicit Use of Specific Prescription Stimulants Among College Students: Prevalence, Motives, and Routes of Administration,” Pharmacotherapy, 2006, 26(10): 1501–1510.
4 Trebatická et al, “Treatment of ADHD with French maritime pine bark extract, Pycnogenol.” European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2006. 15(6):329-35.
In Health,
Stephanie Davis
Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.