Drugs Aren't The Answer To ADD

Recent research has shown that treating children who have ADD or ADHD with drugs is not effective in the long run.

After three years of treatment, drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta work no better than behavioral therapy. Long term use of the drugs quite often stunt the growth of the children and the makers' published benefits have now been proven exaggerated.

The initial study's author who promoted the drug approach to therapy was quoted as stating, "I think we exaggerated the beneficial impact of medication in the first study. There's no indication that medication is better than nothing in the long run."

This is what I've been trying to get parents to understand for years. Please do not medicate your kids.

Instead, stop feeding them useless junk, like sugary things and soda and rather make sure they eat a sound quality diet for EVERY breakfast, lunch and dinner and that their snacks are healthy as well.

Supplement their diets with fish oil and limit how much television they watch.

As an aside, the pharmaceutical industry's push to diagnose and sell drugs to adults who supposedly have ADD and ADHD is allowing for a new category of drugs to adults.

The one currently approved, Strattera, was just found to cause serious liver damage.

Yeah! Gimme some more of that!

The apparent race to develop, exploit and sell new and dangerous drugs never stops.

Physical ailments are NEVER the result of a lack of a potentially poisonous drug.

Clean up your diet and get some exercise and sleep. That has the potential to cure a whole host of syndromes and disorders.

God bless,
Steve