While the world at large continues to search high and
low for answers to theADHD 2003: Another Elephant in the
Living Room
Max S. Chartrand,
(Adapted from an article by the author titled 'ADHD and
Kids: What is going on?' published on Audiologyonline)
Introduction:
With school starting again, I'd like to address a
serious health issue that has been a long-standing
interest of mine. This fall, more than 7 million
American school-aged children1,2, or about 1 in 12, will
be placed on a stimulant, similar to "speed." Ritalin or
its chemical variants are used to treat Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a
non-clinical condition that many of us in the
cognitive/communicative research community consider to
be a somewhat contrived epidemic.
Just 20 years ago there were less than a half-million
children placed on these powerful and potentially
dangerous drugs. But between 1990 to 1997 there has been
a 700% increase in the use of Ritalin et al3, and the
rate continues today unabated. The United States, with
only 5% of the world’s population, consumes more than
85% of such medications4.To me, this state of affairs
appears out of control!
Perhaps at the heart of this "epidemic" is the alliance
between the U. S. Department of Education (DOE) and
certain pharmaceutical companies5. It appears that
billions of federal taxpayer dollars are dangled in
front of cash-starved public schools, complete with
slick video tape and print materials and workshops, to
help the schools find, identify and treat as many
children as possible. So aggressive has been the
campaign to force this form of treatment and
non-clinical diagnosis on parents and the public school
system, that already 13 states have passed laws
forbidding its recommendation.
In the meantime, more and more, medical doctors who
previously resisted doing so have begun "diagnosing"
without benefit of clinical tests or identifiable
physical markers, and giving out prescriptions for
powerful drugs like Ritalin, Wellbutrin, Effexor, and
Desipramine. These are Class II narcotics ranked with
opium, cocaine, morphine, and codeine6. Side effects can
include; anxiety (for which anti-anxiety medication is
often given), insomnia (sleeping pills for this), kidney
failure, enlarged heart, seizures, addictive
personality, and even death7.
What are the most common signs and symptoms of ADHD? A
child who:
fidgets and squirms when bored
drinks Coca Cola (or caffienated anything, including
chocolate, coffee, and takes certain pain medications)
suffers from undiagnosed food allergy
has a high-sugar (or no) breakfast before school
doesn't pay attention to the teacher
These, and many more children with explainable
underlying psychosocial and nutritional influences stand
a near absolute chance of being diagnosed with ADHD. In
fact, one might say kids who are "diagnosed" with ADHD
act like….well, boys8,9, 10,11. Hence, between 75-92% of
children placed on ADHD medication are boys in the U.S.
today. When we teach in-service training at some school
districts we find some schools with no girls in their
ADHD program! In others, only a handful. Why is that?
It could be due to the fact that the corpus collosum
(the portion of the brain that allows the two
hemispheres to talk to each other) tends to be about 30%
smaller in young boys than in girls12,13,14. The theory
behind our understanding of this neurological
differential is that it contributes to gender
specification in the development of the brain and body.
From this, boys generally develop superior spatial,
visual, and gross total body motor skills. Girls tend to
develop superior communicative, social, fine-motor
skills, and early cognitive development10.
An underdeveloped or developmentally delayed corpus
collosum (CC) can cause a wide variety of learning and
mental disabilities, including autism (it's higher form
is known as Asperger's), dyslexia, stuttering, central
auditory function, language delay, ADHD and
interhemispheric discontinuity. These conditions are
found overwhelmingly in young boys15,16,17,18,14, which
in most cases tend to outgrow them during the maturation
process.
But there's more: It must be noted that at any given
time, 35% of children under the age of three in the U.S.
suffer from otitis media with effusion (OME), a type of
ear infection that plugs the auditory pathway in the
middle ear, and causes speech, learning and cognitive
developmental delays if left untreated long enough19,
20. It usually presents without pain or fever, so mom is
often unaware of most episodes of OME; just the few that
cause pain, discomfort and fever21.
Statistically, OME strikes girls about as often as boys.
It is caused most often by inhalant allergy, which is
increasing in our population, but often in food allergy,
especially sugar20,22,23. The widespread and
government-inspired practice of adding toxic levels of
iron supplementation to baby formulae has caused untold
misery for these kids, especially boys, who more readily
suffer from iron toxicity than girls24,25,26.
And since boys' CC typically develops later than girls',
boys statistically suffer many times more learning and
communicative disabilities as a result of chronic OME
than girls. Some say it is part and parcel of gender
traits for boys to have more attentional and behavioral
challenges during their early years, which if not
responded to appropriately can later turn into real
behavioral and attitude problems designed to cover
seriously lagging academic skills.27
Hence, the rate of school dropouts is disproportionately
high in the ADHD and OME groups, which comprise the
largest segment of the juvenile justice population, and
later, adults in prison. 96% of U.S. inmates today are
male. Between 79% and 90% are functionally
illiterate28,29,30.
So, the problem is real. But it is not…I repeat, it is
not a pharmaceutical problem in the vast majority of
cases. Treatment for real causes is needed, and there
will be variations from child to child. Perhaps a tiny
segment of these children can benefit from Ritalin and
other drugs. Others may stem from abuse (especially
domestic violence) and neglect. But to ignore a huge
array of other causes, for which OME-inspired
developmental delay leads the list, is arguably both
misguided social engineering and possibly medical
malpractice2.
In more than two decades of research on this problem, we
have found a host of solutions for the current dilemma:
Early treatment for allergies and other underlying
causes of OME
Auditory treatment and training, especially for
central auditory disorder
Speech therapy and related treatment
Development of musical skills (piano lessons is
best)
Avoidance of high sugar, caffeine drinks
Adequate time for restful sleep
High protein, low carbohydrate breakfast before
school
Some of these are discussed on our consumer-education
website www.digicare.org. There are many other resources
for parents and educators from which to draw additional
information, some cited in the references section of
this article.
I realize this information is alarming. I fear we may be
throwing out the baby with the bath water, and missing
the forest for the trees in the rush for a quick and
easy solution. I believe that common sense needs to
prevail, and hope to see more of it applied in cases of
ADHD!
Dr. Chartrand serves as Director of Research for
DigiCare Hearing Research & Rehabilitation, Rye,
Colorado, and is a prominent author and lecturer in the
hearing health field. Correspondence: www.digicare.org
or fax to (719)676-6882.
References:
1. Baughman, F.A., Jr., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder, www.adhdfraud.com, (2003)
2. Baughman, F.A., Jr., Malpractice and Violation of
Informed Consent, Citizens Commission on Human Rights,
(2003)
3. Holland, R., Classroom addiction to drug use, The
Washington Times, pg. A19, 17June(1999).
4. Montandon, J.B., and Medioni, L., Evolution of the
number of prescriptions of Ritalin (Methylphenidate) in
the Canton of Neuchatel between 1996-2000,
Pharmaceutical Control and Authorization Division,
Switzerland, (2001).
5. Rodie, D., ADHD: The New World Disorder, Holland:
Kleintje Muurkrant, March, (2001).
6. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development
Conference Statement: Diagnosis and Treatment of
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD, Journal
of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 1 February, Pg. 23, (2000).
7. Vastig, B., Pay Attention: Ritalin Acts Much Like
Cocaine, Journal of the American Medical Association,
August 22/29, Vol. 286, No. 8, pg. 905, (2001).
8. www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul19712-2/jjb1297f.html,
Examining How Well Boys Fit Into the Proposed Pathways,
(2003).
9. Beiderman, J., Mick, E., Faraone, S., et al, 'Infuence
of Gender on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in
Children Referred to a Psychiatric Clinic', Am J
Psychiatry 159:36-42, January (2002).
10. Chartrand, M.S., 'The Gender Factor', Hearing
Health, September/October, pp. 16-18, (1995).
11. Chartrand, M.S., Hearing Instrument Counseling:
Practical Applications for Counseling the Hearing
Impaired, Livonia, MI: International Institutes for
Hearing Instruments Studies, pp. 49-78, (1999).
12. Bermudez, P., and Zatorre, R.J., 'Sexual Dimorphism
in the Corpus Callosum: Methodological Considerations in
MRI Morphometry', NeuroImage, 13, pp. 1121-1130 (2001).
13. Calvin, W.H., and Ojemann, G.A., Conversations with
Neil’s Brain: The Neural Nature of Thought and Language,
Addison-Wessely, (1994).
14. Harris-Schmidt, G., 'What are the Characterisitics
of ADHD and ADD in Persons with Fragile X Syndrome?',
The National Fragile X Foundation, www.nfxf.org, (2003).
15. Hardman, M.L., Drew, C.J., Egan, M.W., Wolf, B.,
Human Exceptionality: Society, School, and Family, 4th
edition, Boston:Allyn and Bacon, (1993).
16. Hellige, J.B., Hemispheric Asymmetry: What's Right
and What’s Left, Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press,
(1993).
17. Smith, C., and Strick, L., Learning Disabilities: A
to Z, New York: The Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc.,
(1997).
18. Biddulph, S., Raising Boys, Sydney:Finch Publishing,
(1998).
19. American Academy of Audiology, 'Identification of
Hearing Loss & Middle Ear Dysfunction in Preschool &
School-Age Children', Academy Documents, http://www.audiology.org/professional/positions/ihlpre.php,
(2003).
20. Crook, W.G., 'Yeast, ADHD and Ear Infections',
Healthwell, www.healthwell.com, (2003).
21. www.drgreene.com, 'Otitis Media with Effusion', A-Z
Guide, (2003).
22. Randolph, T.G., 'Corn sugar as an allergen', Annals
of Allergy, 7:651-661, (1949).
23. Kaplan, B.J., et al, 'Dietary replacement in
pre-school-aged hyperactive boys', Pediatrics, 83:7,
(1989).
24. Blanco, K., 'Iron Overload and Autism', Med
Hypotheses, August, (2003).
25. Schwartz, S., 'Choosing the Right Infant Formula for
Your Baby', Childbirth Solutions, Inc., (2003).
26. Sullivan, J.L., 'Stored Iron and Ischemic Heart
Disease', Circulation, 86:1036, (1992).
27. Chartrand, M.S., and Chartrand, G.A., 'A Cognitive
Primer for Parents', Hearing Library, www.digicare.org,
(2002).
28. Weber, W., Illiteracy Problems in America, hhtp://www.csupomona.edu/-wcweber,
(1998).
29. Meenan, A.L., and Burns, P.E., Adult Literacy and
Technology Conference Proceedings, University Park, PA,
(1987).
30. Dalgish, C., 'Illiteracy and the Offender', Adult
Education, London, v56 n1, pp. 23-26, (1983).
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