Ever wonder why ADHD is more prevalent in North America and Europe, and not quite so in more sunny locations? According to a pioneering study in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the ADHD diagnosis occurs less in places with intense sunshine.

[More...]

At the UnRitalin Solution, we encourage children to get a good night’s sleep every evening – even on weekends. Research shows that ADHD symptoms like inattention get worse with inadequate sleep, because their brains don’t have time to recharge and recover. But allotting 8 hours each night for sleep is not enough – you have to make sure that your child stays asleep.

[More...]

A new study just confirmed some of my findings about the high-fat Western diet and its relationship with childhood ADHD. The brain requires  a healthy amount of essential fatty acids from fish in order to produce neurotransmitters needed for attention and concentration. But when you have a diet rich in unhealthy saturated fats, the production of these neurotransmitters decreases, causing poor impulse control, short attention spans, and memory issues.

[More...]

Many circumstances surrounding pregnancy and birth can contribute to the onset of childhood ADHD. One such circumstance is oxygen deprivation in the womb, a condition that often results from pre-eclampsia, birth asphyxia, or neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. A recent study published in Pediatrics discovered that in utero oxygen deprivation increases the risk of developing childhood ADHD.

[More...]

Many are aware of the health, behavioral, and emotional problems premature babies face later in life, but post-term babies may be equally at risk. Compared to babies born at term, post-term babies are more likely to have ADHD, or so a new study from the Netherlands shows.

[More...]

New research just uncovered an unlikely sign of ADHD – acne.

At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, Canadian psychiatrist Madhulika A. Gupta, MD recommended screening acne patients for ADHD, especially if they exhibit classic symptoms such as impulsive behavior and inattention. According this his study, teens and adults with acne are more likely to have ADHD than those suffering from other types of skin problems.

[More...]

Ever wonder why you child’s ADHD symptoms seem worse during spring? Doctors from the Long Island College Hospital recently discovered that seasonal allergies can aggravate the symptoms of ADHD.  It’s long been established that children with ADHD are more likely to suffer from allergies than children without, and these findings provide growing support for a rigorous evaluation period and drug-free, natural ADHD management.

[More...]

Using ADHD medications has become the modern solution for a child’s behavioral and academic problems. Medicating troubled children has become even easier with the American Academy of Pediatrics’s new ruling last month. They declared that children as young as 4 years old can receive the ADHD diagnosis and get treated with dangerous amphetamines like Ritalin. It just goes to show how drug companies have successfully marketed their “chemical imbalance” theory as the root of childhood behavioral disorders.

However, alternative theories to the causes of ADHD are also becoming widely accepted. One of these is the idea that family stress can be as toxic to children as it is to the parent, triggering troubled behavior and other symptoms that resemble ADHD.

[More...]

A parent recently posed a very interesting question – are sickly children more likely to have ADHD than healthy ones? Before her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD, she had frequent asthma attacks and was prone to ear infections. When she compared notes with a fellow parent who has a son with ADHD, she discovered that the boy also suffers from chronic allergies and experienced upper respiratory tract infections on a regular basis.

Most doctors would say that there is no connection between ADHD and these illnesses; after all, ADHD is a neurological problem while these common childhood illnesses are caused by environmental irritants, genetics, or bacteria. But if you look beyond the superficial symptoms and asses the body as a whole, you’ll find that these health problems are no coincidence.

[More...]

Lack of focus, forgetfulness, and hyperactive behavior – children with ADHD put up with a lot of symptoms and discomfort.  But these aren’t the only problems they have to deal with. Research shows that kids with ADHD are also more likely to experience allergies than kids without.  There is no easy explanation for why this happens but we do know that certain allergies, such as an intolerance to artificial food additives, can make the disorder worse for some kids.  Although many allergens cannot be controlled (e.g. high pollen count), it is possible to avoid triggers that aggravate ADHD symptoms.

[More...]