Nexus - 0806 - New Times Magazine-pages

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A NUTRITIONAL APPROACH TO TREATING ADHD APPROACH NUTRITIONAL ADHD TREATING Hyperactivity in children need not be treated with psychostimulant drugs like Ritalin, when nutritional approaches using essential fatty acids can produce beneficial results. ttention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children is fast becoming one of the most overdiagnosed and, many would argue, overprescribed child- hood disorders both in the United States and now in Britain. It is certainly one of the most fiercely debated. In the US its incidence is estimated at 3-5%, and up to 10% if less stringent criteria are used. In the UK it is put at up to 2% of children aged 6 to 16, with some 69,000 suffering "severe ADHD" (Baldwin S., Crit. Pub. Health 2000;10(4):453-62). While the diagnostic criteria (see box) are disputed, the standard treatment—especially in the US—is even more controversial. Since the 1960s, the psychostimulant methylphenidate hydrochloride (MPH)—an amphetamine-like addictive drug that mimics the biochemical properties of cocaine—has been administered to thousands of children to the point where it is now estimated that up to one in seven American children may be given the substance daily. A similar, staggering increase in use has been recorded in the UK, where MPH is desig- nated a class B drug (class A if it is in solution). Professor Steve Baldwin at the University of Teeside (who, tragically, died in the Hatfield rail crash last year) stated that, from 6,000 a year in the UK in 1994, the number of prescriptions by 1997 had risen 15- fold to 92,000 (Baldwin, 2000, op. cit.). By 1999 this had reached 131,000 (covering some 21,000 children), but this is likely to be a gross underestimation because official sta- tistics (based on pharmacy returns) do not include all prescriptions in private practices, young offender centres or residential homes. In France, MPH use is rare, while in the rest of Europe its prescription for minors is uncommon or unknown. However, Baldwin and colleague Rebecca Anderson estimate that if MPH prescriptions were allowed to double year-on-year, by 2007 one in seven UK schoolchildren would be taking the drug daily (Baldwin and Anderson, Crit. Pub. Health 2000;10(1):81-6). Indications that drug companies have this kind of scenario in mind is evidenced by the fact that since the end of 1999 the leading manufacturer Novartis (formally Ciba Geigy and Sandoz) has lost its sole product licence for MPH (as Ritalin), and others have launched their own brand (Equasym, Medeva) while three others (Mallinckrodt Inc., Schein Pharmaceuticals, MD Pharma) are preparing products (Baldwin and Anderson, 2000, op. cit.). However, their plans may be severely curtailed because of a number of high-profile lawsuits against Novartis (see box) and because of increasing public and pro- fessional awareness of the potentially damaging long-term effects and, in contrast, the growing evidence of the significant benefits of nutritional and other interventions. by Simon Best, MA © 2000 PO Box 2039 Shoreham, W. Sussex BN43 5/JD Email: simonbest@em-hazard- therapy.com Website: www.em-hazard-therapy.com THE PROMOTION OF MPH DRUGS In the US, where Ritalin was first used in 1955, Novartis and other drug companies pro- ducing similar drugs used on children, such as dextroamphetamine and methampheta- mine, have been very successful in persuading psychiatrists and health authorities of the alleged benefits of these drugs despite their potential risks and contraindications. MPH is not licensed for children under the age of six (although it is used for those as young as three) or for children with marked anxiety, agitation or tension, symptoms or family history of tics or Tourette's syndrome, hyperthyroidism, severe angina or cardiac arrhythmia, glaucoma or thyrotoxicosis. Caution is required in the prescribing of MPH NEXUS = 19 AN OVERDIAGNOSED AND OVERPRESCRIBED DISORDER by Simon Best, MA © 2000 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com