As a parent of two children with ADHD and a health care provider, I am always on the lookout for ancillary lifestyle and nutritional treatments that will improve their ADHD symptoms. A new study, completed in England this month, has established that a regimen pill consisting of micronutrients significantly improves ADHD symptoms.
Results of this study were recently published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. We are just now learning that vitamins play a significant role in gene expression and that vitamins can turn certain disease genes 'on' and 'off'. We have known for years that the presence or absence of ADHD symptoms is in large part related to your genes and that the severity of these symptoms may change considerably depending on your diet and nutrition.
Chewable Vitamin
For many years patients and parents have anecdotally reported improvement in attention and hyperactivity using vitamins and minerals but this new study is one of the first to establish an effect from a multitude of vitamins on the symptoms of ADHD.
Nutritionist have long warned us of the dangers of not eating a balanced diet. Children today are at risk for a number of nutritional deficiencies including deficiencies in Omega-3 fatty acids, deficiencies in iron, and deficiencies in zinc. Fish is the biggest source of Omega-3 but my children refuse to eat it. The journal Pharmacotherapy published an update in June of 2009 where they reviewed the available nutritional treatment for ADHD and concluded that "Polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil), and iron supplements (for youth with low ferritin levels) show promise in improving ADHD symptoms."
Studies on patients with ADHD have found these patients to be deficient in Omega-3. Luckily today, there are several varieties of Omega-3 vitamins that are kid friendly. My children take a little orange flavored pudding like product that packs a walloping 600mg of omega-3 into a little pouch. I buy these cheaply from Amazon.com but many children's omega-3 vitamins are now available at your local supermarket.
I have found several recent studies that report great improvement for hyperactivity using Zinc supplements at a dose of 12-15mgs and children taking a zinc vitamin daily, required less Ritalin than untreated children according to another study.
Zinc is found in red meat, lamb, oysters, crab meat and shell fish. My kids do not eat much red meat or shell fish. I love oysters but my kids think that this food looks like something that no human should eat. Since they will not be jumping on the oyster band wagon anytime soon, I feel that it is essential that their diet be supplemented with a vitamin that contains Zinc.
I have recently switched the multivitamin that my kids take to a Children's Complete Multivitamin and Mineral Chewable, as these have 75% of the daily suggested requirement for Zinc. Children's vitamins come in a million varieties but most do not contain this much zinc (12 mg) so make sure to look at your vitamin label. Vitamin supplements may hold the answer to minimizing our children's ADHD symptoms. Chewable multivitamins are safe and readily available. Every parent should add a high quality vitamin to their children's diet.
Effect of Micronutrients on Behavior and Mood in Adults with ADHD: Evidence from an 8-Week Open Label Trial with Natural Extension.
Rucklidge J, Taylor M, Whitehead K. J Atten Disord. 2010 Jan 13. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 20071638 [PubMed - as supplied by publish
Pharmacotherapy. 2009 Jun;29(6):656-79.
Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder: an update.
Dopheide JA, Pliszka SR.
Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA.
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Dec 10, 2011 20:38:43
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