Posts Tagged: Research

ADD Medication — No Comments
29
Mar 10

Alternative Medicine Treatments for ADHD and More

alternative-medicine-supplements-effectiveness-research-graphic The most common questions I get, and one of the most common searches that get people to ADDessories, are about alternative ADHD treatments instead of conventional prescription ADHD medications. It seems that many people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or there loved ones, are just too concerned about the possible affects of potentially harmful stimulants on their brains, or the affects on the brains of their children. While the scientific evidence accumulated so far would indicate that there is little to no long-term residual affects on the mind from using ADHD drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin, it is our brain we are talking about, and unfortunately, that is one of the organs that we know the least about.

The difficulty is that there is no other clinically proven treatment available for treating ADHD symptoms in children or adults. Depending upon who you talk to, this is due to:

  1. a powerful global conspiracy perpetrated over decades by ruthless drug companies and their government cronies
  2. lack of ADHD research being done on alternative ADD therapies because there is no money to be made in those treatments
  3. there just is not anything else out there that works (yet).

Regardless of what you believe, the fact is that many charlatans are all too happy to help find alternative ADD medicines and ADHD treatment programs for adults, teens, children, or anyone in between. While the FDA strictly controls medicines and drugs which claim to treat or cure illness, there is a much weaker grip on anything marketed as a “supplement” which does not claim to cure ADHD or treat ADD symptoms. This is why alternative drugs and medicines display generalized claims of better health without mentioning anything it might work for, like Attention Deficit Disorder. For example, many bottles of St. John’s Wort display the vague claim, “May help improve mood,” followed by a disclaimer somewhere on the bottle that such statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and that the medicine is not intended to treat any particular illness or disease.

What Alternative Medications Really Work?

It all adds up to concerned parents and adults with ADHD and other medical conditions groping in the dark about what DOES work, what MIGHT work, what COULD work, and what WON’T work.

A recent graphic seeks to change all of that in a startling effective and powerful visual format, just perfect for people with ADHD who aren’t going to find the time and energy to sit down and sift through pages and pages of boring text when there are more interesting things to be doing.

Keep in mind that this particular graphic is a universal depiction of alternative medicines and their current state of promise or rejection within the scientific and medical communities. As such, it is NOT specific to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Instead, it shows many of the most popular alternative supplements and the conditions that they are purported to treat.

Reading the chart is simple even though the directions on the website it comes from may not be very clear. The compounds are listed from top to bottom in order of how valid the treatment claims are scientifically speaking. In other words, the herbal supplements or other treatments listed near the top are the best medically proven ways to treat the condition listed. The so-called treatments near the bottom represent the disproven snake-oil of old wives tales, or the propaganda push by profit loving salesmen.

The size of the circle represents how popular, or common, the listed treatment is based upon how many searches are reported for that item on Google. Obviously, this is very imprecise, but can be assumed to be at least a ballpark of the chemical’s interest relative to the others listed. For example, Green Tea, Folic Acid, and Fish Oil would be very commonly looked at alternative medicines, while evening primrose and nettle would be comparatively less commonly investigated by the masses.

It makes for very interesting reading, although as I mentioned, it is for health in general and not for ADD. (In fact, I did not see Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder mentioned. Vitamin B6 and Omega-3 both in the middle area are listed for hyperactivity and ADHD / “behavior” – I actually plan to cover recent ADHD Omega-3 research in an upcoming post. It’s the first time I think I’ve heard of Vitamin B6, maybe because if the more generic “hyperactive” claim.)

Keep in mind that just because something has been clinically proven to be effective on one thing, does NOT mean that is is proven to be effective on something else. In fact, there is no more or less likelihood that the alternative medicine shown would or would not be effective for another condition no matter how seemingly related. One of the banes of ADHD alternative medicine treatments is the general assumption that just because something has been shown to be beneficial to the brain in some way, that it must therefore also be helpful for treating ADHD symptoms. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Consider that it is medically established fact that of the two most common FDA approved prescription medications that one may or may not work for any individual with ADD. In other words, the most proven ADD medicines in the world may not work on all cases of ADHD because of unknown differences in the biology of individual brains. If that is the case, how big of a false leap does one have to take to assume that just because a possible treatment for depression or memory loss is therefore a useful treatment for attention deficit disorder?

While many alternative therapies do work for some ADHD symptoms in some people, don’t believe the hype without performing your own investigation, and if something doesn’t work for you, stop using it and move on. It may be that you have hit yet another medical scam, or it may just be that a particular treatment just doesn’t work for you. Either way, don’t waste your money or your time on medicine that is not effective for you personally.

Enjoy the graphic.

P.S. I’m thinking of putting together a similar graphic specifically for Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder. Of course, my plans for this site and my freelance writing business are as long as the Magna Carta at this point, so we’ll see when I get around to it.

Have a happy and productive day.

ADD Medication — 4 Comments
9
May 09

Non-Prescription ADD Treatment Options – St. John’s Wart

My recent post on avoiding medical scams in the name of non-prescription ADD / ADHD treatment options, drew a heavy response, including a lot of people who were interested in what the non-prescription vitamin and supplement choices were that I referenced.

There are literally hundreds of vitamins or supplements that various people purport to have a positive affect on ADD behavior.  However, none of these treatments have received the kind of scientific study required to actually say that they do or do not work.  That isn’t surprising since there is no money in finding out that Vitamin X treats ADD symptoms better than Ritalin in children, getting funding for such research can be difficult.

(Incidentally, if you are a non-profit organization or scientific researcher or group that does ADD/ADHD research, and you would like some grant writing help, please feel free to contact me.  I’m a professional writer and I would love to help out by doing SOME pro bono work if it would bring some funding to your research. — Note: I’ve had one bad experience with a group in the past who thought that my offer to help gave them a free full-time grant writer.  I am willing to help, but I also have a family and a business to run, so please contact me with the right expectations in mind.  I will work hard to help get grants to fund this important research, but I can only do so with the flexibility my schedule allows.)

Some treatments only seem to have ADD benefits in children, while others only seem to work in adults.  And, most concerning of all, is the lack of data on side affects or other drug interactions.  So, make sure you do your own research and investigate all of the details.

I have done my best to list sources when I can remember them or re-find them.

St. John’s Wort For ADD / ADHD

St. John’s Wort is actually most commonly indicated for the treatment of low-grade depression. As such, it seems to help with certain ADD symptoms in some individuals, most likely because it treats some of the depression-like symptoms that occasionally manifest with certain types of ADHD. That being said, it does have a widespread following of ADDers who insist that it provides some relief for their symptoms.

St. John’s Wort has been shown to inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.  This allows these neurotransmitters to build up to greater levels in the brain.  Depression is thought to be caused by low levels of these chemicals and that is why St. John’s Wort is effective in helping treat certain kinds of depression, according to research.

Theoretically, the same kind of mechanism may have something to do with ADD.  However, the research on that is still out.

What is known is that a large number of people with ADD/ADHD also show certain symptoms of depression.  Whether there is a correlation at a physical, biological, level, or if this there is just a correlation due to the lifelong burdens carried by some ADDers isn’t known.  However, if children, teens, and adults with ADHD do have some sort of depression in association with their ADD, then St. John’s Wort would help with the depression, which would provide an improved mental state overall, which could be misinterpreted as helping the ADD part of the issue.

Indeed, recent research from the National Institute of Health showed no improvement in ADD symptoms over a placebo in children and adolescents.

However, this was a very small study over a very small period of time.  Ironically, this is exactly the kind of research that gets dismissed by the medical establishment as non-conclusive when the study makes conclusions the other way around.  That is, if this study had found vast improvement, you could be sure that the researchers would conclude by saying that this was only a small sample and that further research was needed.  The fact that they don’t say that here, is disturbing to those of us who want to think that medical research gets a level playing field regardless of the outcome and whose profits might be hurt.

The study in question was 54 children aged 6 to 17 who were otherwise healthy and taking no other medications.  In standard scientific methodology half were giving St. Johns Wort and the other half were giving a placebo.  The two groups were generated randomly from the participants.  Then monitored for changes to inattentiveness and hyperactivity at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks.

In other words, 27 children were tested to see how they responded to St. Johns Wort. The good news is that the study lasted 8 weeks, because the research on St. Johns Wort suggests that it takes several weeks to become effective.  But, the bad news is that at weeks 1 and 2, and maybe even week 4, there should not be any expected benefit.

The other bad news is that this study used the older weaker form of St. Johns Wort commonly sold in grocery stores and health food stores.  The newer form, called High Hyperforin contains 3% – 5% of hyperforin, versus the 0.14% used in the study.  However, since that form is relatively new and people have been claiming benefits since before it became available, this is still good research.

The really weird part of the study is that symptom improvement was noted to IMPROVE in BOTH groups!  While that lets the scientists conclude that there is no benefit of the supplement over the placebo, it raises an interesting question for those of us who actually care about those with ADD, namely, why did the symptoms improve for everyone?

Was it just that actually having some attention paid to their condition provided some help?  Was it that a new an interesting environment (where the observation took place) was enough to stimulate the minds of these children to help with symptoms?

Is The Criteria Too High?

Another interesting factor is that the researchers actively expected this outcome. They anticipated a 5-point reduction on the ADHD RS-IV total score in the placebo group!

Further, it was determined that in order to count as a “meaningful” improvement, the St. John’s Wort group would require a 13-point improvement on the same scale.

The ADHD RS-IV scale has 18 items. Each item is ranked from 0 to 3 with 0 being never or seldom, 1 being sometimes, 2 being often, and 3 being very often. In other words, the lowest possible score is 0 and the highest possible score is 54. So, for a meaningful result to be obtained, subjects needed to show a minimum of a 24% improvement! Considering that most people with ADD/ADHD aren’t necessarily looking for a result that would give a zero, and would be very happy to move down to a one on their major symptoms, this seems to be a very large requirement.

Obviously, more study is needed and there are interesting facts that should be looked at.

Should You Try St. Johns Wort for Your ADD?

Obviously, everyone has to make their own health decisions, and I am not a doctor, nor do I have any other certification or qualification, so take this a general knowledge only.

St. John’s Wort has been subjected to extensive study around the world, mostly in Europe.  During those studies no major immediate side effects have been reported. Indicating that St. John’s Wort can’t hurt, even if it doesn’t help.  This makes it a perfect treatment to try out and see if it can help you, even if it doesn’t meet the scientific criteria set out for clinical trials.

There is one area that is a concern and that is that St. John’s Wort does interact extensively with a wide array of medications.  In other words, St. John’s Worth is NOT the treatment for you to try if you currently take any prescription medication!

Talk to your doctor first to fully understand what affect St. John’s Wort might have on your medications BEFORE you try anything out.

Also, St. Jons Wort can be very stimulating to the brain.  That means that it can make it difficult for some people to sleep.  If you are taking St. Johns Wort, do it first thing in the morning. If you develop trouble sleeping, or it feels like your brain is “buzzing” then, cut back the dose or stop altogether.  You’ll be way better off with your usual ADD symptoms than you will be with long-term sleep deprivation.

Otherwise, if you are going to try alternative therapies, you could do a lot worse than St. John’s Wort.  Be careful, and listen to your body.  If it doesn’t feel right or you seem to have problems flare up, stop.

Also, remember that St. Johns Wort is not an instant-on treatment.  Depression patients report that it takes WEEKS for the herbal supplement to provide any noticeable improvement.  This is because inhibiting the re-uptake of neurotransmitters doesn’t mean you get the full smash right away, so if you are going to try it, don’t just take it for a week and decide it doesn’t work.

Pay attention to what you are buying.  Shifty supplement manufacturers and retailers want to capture your dollars no matter what, and they know that some people won’t pay certain prices.  That means that the lower concentration St. Johns will sell right next to the higher concentration supplements and no one will make that clear on the front facing label.  Turn the bottle around and make sure that you are getting the right amount that you have decided to start taking.  You’ll need a lot more of the 0.14% kind than you will of the 3% or 5% kind (and vice versa).

Good luck, and let me know how it goes for you by posting a comment or shooting me an email.

, , ADD/ADHD, Non-Prescription Treatment, ADD Mediction,

P.S.  If you noticed a couple of mispellings of key words like “Wort”, that is to allow those who search for information with mispelled words can still find this page.  That is also why I actively alternate between ADD, ADHD, and ADD/ADHD.