[Dec 14, 96 - 10:01] Jane Kelley of 1:138/255 wrote to All:
JK> "Is ADHA associated with other neurological, biological, and behavioral
JK> disorders?
JK> Yes.  ADHD is closely associated with:
JK> 1.  At least 25 percent of children with ADHD suffer from some type of
JK> communication/learning disability.
JK> 2.  Approximately 40 percent of children with ADHAD exhibit signs of
JK> Conduct Disorder (starting fights, lying, stealingO or Oppositional
JK> Defiant Disorder (disobedience, defiance, and rule breaking.)
JK> [This is the same information given in the article I have on file from
JK> chemical dependency in an adolescent journal for counselors.)
And all of that is common knowledge to us here.  The parents of kids with ODD 
have told particularly heart-rending stories.
JK> So, now explain to me why there is no mention at all of remedial diet in
JK> this article or why children in families where we know that a problem
I think it falls to you to explain that, since you are the one who is 
trumpeting the virtues of diet as a treatment for AD(H)D.  What I see in the 
NAMI fact sheet is that treatment with medication is common and usually 
effective, and that cognitive/behavioral therapy "might be useful."  This 
accords with what has been said here often, with such things as karate being 
recommended as a way of inculcating the impulse control that kids with AD(H)D 
often lack.  I searched the NAMI web site for information about AD(H)D, and 
found a lot of information which has been kicked around here before but 
nothing particularly startling.  I didn't read all of it, so if there's some 
particular item you think I missed please let me know.
I'm afraid that NAMI doesn't particularly support the stance that dietary 
supplements are a valuable tool for dealing with AD(H)D.
As for the consumption of neurotransmitters some things, when eaten, have 
specific effects: that is, after all, the point of orally administered 
medications.  Other things, when eaten, have more general effects.  One goal 
in developing a medication is for it to have as narrow an effect as possible, 
and that is quite difficult when working with natural remedies and dietary 
supplements.
As I understand your statements, you are suggesting that a deficiency in the 
presence of or neurochemical activity of some neurotransmitters can be 
remedied by the ingestion of those neurochemicals, their analogs, or their 
precursors.  That might or might not be true, and that reasoning suggests a 
line of investigation but does not promise a favorable result.
Eating serotonin, for example, is not the same thing as taking a medication 
which boosts serotonin concentrations in some part of the brain.  I'm not 
sure quite what all it would do, but I wouldn't want to ingest large 
quantities of a vasoconstrictor which is found in various venoms.  And the 
research on serotonin's link to depression indicates that (quoting from a 
NAMI document) "using a serotonin-releasing drug, doctors observed 
significant increases, as well as decreases, in metabolic activity in the 
left and right regions of the brain in the healthy patients but not in 
patients with depression."  That suggests that eating serotonin or its 
precursors would have little effect on depression.
Eating serotonin is probably not going to be the same thing as boosting the 
metabolism of serotonin in a misfunctioning brain, and in the absence of 
plausible theory or scientifically-obtained experimental results any 
suggestion to the contrary is just sympathetic magic tricked out in 
pseudo-scientific hocus-pocus.
Would I drink willow bark tea if I were lost in the woods, had a fever, and 
had no prospect of obtaining aspirin?  Certainly.  But would I drink willow 
bark tea if the drugstore were open nearby?  Only if I really liked the 
ste.
Oh, and as for any "eye-witness accounts" of the effect of this diet or that 
(or anything else, for that matter), consider this little snippet from the 
NAMI web pages about multiple-personality disorders:
"The 'personalities' or 'alters'
     "1 - when under the control of one personality, the person can't 
remember events that occurred while other personalities were in control
     "2 - different personalities exhibit differences in speech, mannerism, 
attitude, thought, & gender
     "3 - personalities may differ in physical properties (i.e. allergies, 
handedness, or eyeglass prescription)"
Consider that multiple-personality disorder is believed to be non-organic in 
origin, yet it can still have such dramatic ramifications for physiological 
processes such as allergies.  Belief, however extreme it may seem to an 
observer, can have effects as powerful as any medication.  Any Christian 
Scientist would be happy to expound on that at great length.
That's why double-blind studies are so critically important, especially in 
the field of mental health.  Come up with double-blind, replicated studies 
showing that eating x, y, or z will bring improvement to any substantial 
number of AD(H)D sufferers and you will get a fair hearing, I'm sure.
Jerry Schwartz
--- Msged/386 4.00
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