Are there any home remedies for Attention Deficit Disorder?

Yeah, my son has ADHD and I refused to use any of the non-natural medicine on him, and this has really seemed to help a lot:

http://jjpeg.com/r/adhd-natural.html

let me know if I can help any more

Cutting out processed foods would be a good start, so no processed bread, crisps (chips), chips (fries), chocolate, fizzy drinks (sodas), etc.

Alternative treatments for ADD/ADHD include allergy treatment, megavitamins, biofeedback, restricted diets, anti-motion sickness and eye training.

One alternative ADD/ADHD treatment, Brain Gym, is said to develop the brain's neural pathways through movement. It is meant to prepare students of all ages to practice and master the skills required for learning. Though this strategy might be effective, scientific research has not yet substantiated its value in treatment.

In fact, there is no strong scientific evidence to support the efficacy of any of the above mentioned treatments. Exercise caution when considering using alternative treatments.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
Behavioral Treatment for ADHD

Behavioral treatment for ADHD involves adjusting the environment to promote more successful social interactions. Such adjustments include creating more structure and encouraging routines.

Behavior Treatments:

Children With ADHD:
Children with ADHD may need help in organizing their lives. Therefore, some simple interventions to try are:

-Create a schedule. Make sure your child has the same routine every day. The schedule should include homework time and playtime. Post this schedule in a prominent place in the home.
-Help your child organize everyday items. Work with your child to have a place for everything. This includes clothing, backpacks, and school supplies.
*Note that children with ADHD need consistent rules that they can easily follow. When your child follows rules, they should be rewarded.

Adults With ADHD:

-Individual cognitive and behavioral therapy to enhance self-esteem
-Relaxation training and stress management to reduce anxiety and stress
-Behavioral coaching to teach strategies for organizing home and work activities
-Job coaching or mentoring to support better working relationships and improve on-the-job performance
-Family education and therapy

A very interesting article from http://www.webmd.com:

Sept. 11, 2000 -- When Pat Patterson, a school counselor from Atlanta, learned four years ago that his daughter, Bess, had ADHD, he hoped she could avoid taking strong stimulant drugs. Patterson has ADHD himself, and had experienced side effects after several years of taking Ritalin.

Vitamins and other dietary supplements didn't help Bess. But, with the approval of her doctors, her parents put her on a behavioral regimen. They learned how to give her easy-to-follow instructions, and created a daily routine for her in which "homework always comes first," Patterson says. They also signed her up for tae kwon-do, a form of karate that teaches her to focus her attention and take instruction.

So far, Bess has been able to avoid stimulants. She is now 11, and undergoing a medical evaluation. And if the doctors think drugs are needed, Bess will take them. "I want her to have a healthy life," says Patterson, 47. "If it takes medication to do that, then it takes medication to do that."

When it comes to treating their kids with ADHD, many parents are balking at Ritalin and other stimulant medications. Instead, they are trying alternative treatments ranging from social skills training to biofeedback, to nutritional and herbal supplements and meditation -- and even Bible studies.

Some of these methods, like behavioral therapy, are tried and true. But psychologists warn that most of the others have not been thoroughly studied, and some have not been studied at all. Some dietary supplements can even be dangerous, they say.

"There are lots of people who have feelings against medication, against Ritalin," says Ann Abramowitz, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta. "It's valid that they don't want to medicate their children, that they want to try other things first. It's OK. But the summary of the [research evidence] shows that medication is the most effective treatment.

"However, it isn't the only treatment," she says. "There are other things people can try in conjunction and probably should -- and that often gets overlooked."

In fact, many believe that with better parenting, there would not be so many cases of ADHD. "There are certainly people in the medical community, pediatricians, who think it's a parenting issue," Abramowitz says.

Parent training, behavioral therapy, and behavioral interventions in the classroom are "mainstream, well-documented treatments," says Abramowitz. Most often, they are used in conjunction with medication. In some cases, they can replace medication, she tells WebMD.

"It's very reasonable that parents consider a good behavioral therapy program, because we know there are data to support that," says Peter Jensen, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who is director of the Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health at Columbia University in New York. "I wouldn't advise them to consider ... say, blue-green algae [supplements] ... because there aren't data to support that. And we don't know if it's necessary, safe, or effective."

But what about the lesser-known alternatives? What are they, and what do the experts think about them?

Social Skills Training: Especially in group sessions, this can be useful, Abramowitz tells WebMD. "Kids who have ADHD, especially when it's not well treated, tend to be intrusive with peers; they tend to be impulsive in their actions," she says. "They turn other people off. They have a tendency to be somewhat aggressive, overly talkative, don't keep hands to themselves ... even if it's not aggressive, it's a bothersome kind of thing.

"There are really mixed reviews as to the effectiveness of social skills training with those kids with garden-variety ADHD," she says. "Some kids have more social skills deficits than others -- and it's certainly not a deficit limited to kids with ADHD."

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback: Biofeedback, in which patients learn to control electrical patterns in their own brain, has been used for nearly 30 years as a treatment for ADHD, says Joel F. Lubar, PhD, one of the original biofeedback researchers.

Lubar says that in early studies, electroencephalograms (EEGs) showed different brain wave patterns in ADHD patients. He adds that another study showed that when children learned to change their brain wave patterns to more normal ones, they improved not only in the laboratory setting but also in school. Later, some of the children were phased off their stimulant medications and "did very well," says Lubar, who is professor of psychology and co-director of the Southeastern Biofeedback Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

"There are some 1,500 practitioners in the world using our techniques and [they] get very nice results if they do it properly," Lubar tells WebMD. He says that studies have repeatedly confirmed its effectiveness.

More recently, Lubar and colleagues have been working with "neurofeedback," which he says "works best for the inattentive form and mild hyperactive forms of ADD." Their neurofeedback program involves a video display featuring puzzles, mazes, and patterns of all kinds. Electrodes attached to the patient's scalp measure changes in the brain waves, and these changes control what happens on the screen.

"Essentially, they are playing a video display with their brains rather than with their hands," Lubar says. "They control it with how they're focusing. Things happen depending on their brain wave pattern. They keep the display active by producing the right pattern; if they produce the inappropriate pattern associated with poor focusing or inattention, then the whole thing stops until they produce the right pattern again."

With the program, "We're trying to train them to be relaxed, very centered and attentive at the same time, and intruding thoughts are not interfering with your ability to do the task. So when they're doing homework, they're only doing homework; they're not thinking about going to the movies or other things that are happening in their lives," says Lubar.

Lubar says neurofeedback "helps 40-80% of children who are on medication to reduce medication. It is dramatic." But he adds that it may not be useful for children who are on multiple medications and not responding to them. "Those are extremely severe cases," he says.

And now, video game technology has been applied to the neurofeedback concept, says Olafur S. Palsson, PsyD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and family medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

"One of the main advantages of this technique, which was developed by NASA, is we can use off-the-shelf video games," he says. Basically, it blends biofeedback with already existing video games. The child's brain activity "changes the way the video game operates," he says. "The game becomes more rewarding and children do better at the game when they are showing the right shifts in brain activity."

But neurofeedback is an unproven treatment for ADHD, Abramowitz says. "The mainstream field has not accepted neurobiofeedback. ... I'm not telling you that it is or isn't beneficial, but I don't think anybody should pay for it until we know it's an effective treatment."

She and Jensen agree that more studies of biofeedback are also needed.

Nutritional Supplements: Magnesium and mixtures of herbs (silymarin, pycnogel, bilberry, hawthorn, gingko biloba) have been marketed for ADHD, but these are unproven, say Abramowitz and Jensen.

In fact, one supplement, ephedra, "has been linked to several deaths," Jensen tells WebMD. "That's a stimulant but has not been tested for safety and efficacy. ... You hear people say they want to go to natural solutions, but arsenic is natural. All kinds of things are natural; it doesn't make them better. Like anything else, it has to be tested to see if it's safe and effective."

Jensen says there's "a tiny bit of evidence that trace mineral supplements, a tiny bit of evidence that fatty acids, may help with ADHD." This means that the findings of studies of these supplements were mixed, he says. Abramowitz agrees that one dietary supplement that seems promising in the research so far is alpha omega-3 fatty acids.

Food Restriction Diets: Abramowitz says some research has suggested that there are a few children who are very sensitive to some foods, such as corn and wheat, but not necessarily sugar.

"Definitive studies haven't been done," she says. "My own personal belief is that there's a subset of children who have sensitivities. I don't currently consider this a first treatment or most likely one to help every child. But it's possible it could help some children."

Jensen agrees. "It's possible there is a small effect for some children," he says. "The problem is, not enough studies have been done. Most studies show no effect or a small effect in some children. What parents have to consider is that they're gambling." Trying a food restriction diet is unlikely to do much harm, he says, unless it means a parent is delaying effective treatment for a child in crisis.
B
ut, Abramowitz says, trying to find a diet that improves the child's symptoms without driving the parent crazy is very difficult.

Meditation: Although Abramowitz says she is not aware of any studies in which meditation was used to treat ADHD, relaxation training has helped some of the kids with ADHD she has treated. "It's certainly not a primary treatment for ADHD, but it's a very helpful adjunct treatment for tension or anxiety," she says. "But kids are not going to use it on their own. They have to be prompted to use it when things get tense."

Says Jensen: "Meditation had a couple of very small, controlled studies 20 years old that showed it for some children to be a little bit helpful. It would be very interesting to get more research on it."

Interactive Metronome: This is a computer-based technology that combines the principles of the traditional musical metronome with the precision of a personal computer to create interactive training exercises. During this training, kids wear headphones and hand and foot sensors to coordinate their movements to computer-generated musical beats. The system progressively challenges kids to improve their basic motor planning, sequencing, and rhythmic timing skills.

Jensen says he has seen one study on this method recently. "Again, one study doesn't mean it works," he says. "Let's see more data."

Bible Studies: Devotionals focus on helping children understand authority and deal with frustration and anger, and helping parents discipline the ADHD child.

"Bible study programs and karate, those kinds of things, how can they do much harm?" says Jensen. "As a treatment for ADHD, it's not something I'd recommend. But if it's in line with the family's values, who can argue? To be used in lieu of other treatments, there's just no data to support that."

Homoeopathy: This method uses highly diluted extracts of plants, animals, and minerals, as well as other chemicals. And "there's no scientific basis for that, period," says Abramowitz. "That's just fiction."

So the jury is still out on many of the alternative options out there. Medication and/or behavioral therapy are proven options. And some of the alternatives may even place your child in danger. Can you hope that your kid will eventually grow out of ADHD?

"It depends on the kid," says Jensen. "Maybe one-third to one-quarter may grow out of it. But still, the estimates are that 50-80% won't. It doesn't mean they will always be taking the same treatment. They may learn to manage it better as they get older. Maybe they won't need to use medication."

There is not a short answer, but there are a lot of things which can be done. One very important fact: There is a lot of false and misleading information on the subject, even by so-called "experts" or "professionals", and especially by drug companies reporting to have the remedy for ADD. I can not emphasize the previous statement enough.

ADHD symptoms are sometimes caused by an allergic type reaction to certain substances. Examples are sugar, wheat and household chemicals.

A great book is "No More ADHD" by Dr. Mary Ann Block. ["10 steps to help improve your child's attention and behavior without drugs!"]

Here is an interesting story. A mother brought her boy into a Doctor's office. The kid was going wild and going all over the place. The Doctor had the boy change clothes. Suddenly the kid stopped the eratic behavior. The chemicals from the detergent or fabric softener had influenced this kind of behavior.

There is a lot of false information regarding this "label" perpetuated by the drug industries and many psychologists and psychiatrists. These psych drugs can be extremely damaging. Even some fellows are now sterile because of their longterm use of Ritalin. Getting off these drugs can be very difficult and cause all kinds of psychotic reactions. Read my article on toothpaste and floride to get just some of the tons of information about the harmful effects of psych drugs. The psychiatric industry is a psuedo science with only different people's theories but no true axioms or natural laws. Be true to your own common sense. Do your own research and thorough investigation. Don't just rely on a few so-called experts. There are organizations which expose these attrocities, such as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The myriad of chemical toxins and poorly nutritious foodstuffs out there prompt many of the so-called, psych labeled illnesses/disorders. Just the collaberation alone of chemical giants like Monsanto and Dow with psych producing drug companies such as Eli Lilly and Pharmacia Corporation or relations with Pfizer Inc. make for an interesting scenario where the same company prompts the illness and offers the cure. Don't take my word on the associations by drug producing companies and chemical producers who actually cause symptoms. You can easily search business associations on-line. Hoovers will give you some data on the relationship of these companies and the millions of dollars involved. For example: Dow and Monsanto produce some great neuro-toxins which cause all kinds of gradual emotional changes with an individual. There are many documented cases of how toxins can alter a person emotionally and change their personality towards the worse. Drug companies spend $4 billion every year to market their drugs to you, but they spend $16 billion to influence physicians.

Here is one study. The study involved sending actors pretending to be patients complaining of symptoms of stress and fatigue into 152 doctors' offices to see whether they would be given prescriptions. (The physicians had previously consented to participate but were not told when they would be tested.)
Researchers found that "patients" were five times as likely to walk out of doctors' offices with a prescription when they mentioned seeing an ad for the heavily promoted antidepressant Paxil.
Moreover, when the "patients" asked for Paxil specifically, 55 percent were given prescriptions and 50 percent were diagnosed with depression.

According to the first comprehensive scientific review to include all available studies, including negative data that have long been withheld from public scrutiny by the pharmaceutical industry, four popular antidepressants being used to treat thousands of depressed American children are unsafe, ineffective or both. Those antidepressants are:
• Paxil
• Zoloft
• Effexor
• Celexa
This is damning evidence of the drug companies' patent disregard for the safety of humans and focus on profits. GlaxoSmithKline was found to be concealing evidence that shows that these drugs do not benefit children in any way and only increase their risk of killing themselves. This was confirmed in an article in the Canadian Medical Journal.

Fortunately, the British medical journals are far more responsive than the American ones.

Despite these findings, the FDA continues to support these worthless antidepressants by claiming the failed trials don’t necessarily mean the drugs are ineffective.

Unpublished studies of venlafaxine suggested the drug increased suicide-related events such as suicidal thoughts or attempts by 14 times compared with placebo. This is reprehensible and despicable behavior equivalent to any third-world dictator.

Just sit down and think about it for a moment. Drug companies do the research and learn that the drugs don't work, yet are willing to sell and market them to children even when it is clear that they are causing many children to commit suicide.

An amazing improvement in handling depression for people comes about when improving their nutrition and diet:
• Omega-3 oils, specifically fish oil, is probably the single most important nutrient for a child with depression to take.
• Next they should only drink water as their beverage, taking care to avoid fruit juices, soda and milk.
• Restrict sugars and grains, which cause insulin levels to be elevated. Dr. Mercola has some great literature out on this. Go to www.mercola.com

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist who found that antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal behaviors in children has been prohibited from making his findings public. During his analysis he reviewed 20 clinical trialsinvolving more than 4,000 children and eight different antidepressants.

Roughly 28 million Americans -- one in every ten -- have taken Prozac, Zoloft, or Paxil or a similar antidepressant, yet very few patients are aware of the dangers of these drugs, nor are they aware that better, safer alternatives exist. Now Harvard Medical School's Dr. Joseph Glenmullen documents the ominous long-term side effects associated with these and other serotonin-boosting medications.

Lendon Smith, MD promotes non-drug handlings for ADHD.

A great book is "No More ADHD" by Dr. Mary Ann Block. ["10 steps to help improve your child's attention and behavior without drugs!"]

Think about it...every decade the psychiatric community comes up with these odd labels for disorders or aberrations. Twenty years ago, the term ADHD was virtually unheard of...until the drug companies could turn a profit a a result of a made-up "disease" which is now being assigned to more and more people.

Again, psychiatry is not a true science. It has no natural laws or axioms. It is a "pretend to be science". It is a pretense of knowing about the nature of mental processes and the source of mental aberrations. This paragraph is not very popular, but it is very true.

In fact, psychiatry has a record of barbarism. Witness "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Electric shock, drugs, unwilling incarceration and strapping and rape of patients, ice picks in the brain...this type of activity has been going on for awhile. It took a lot of lobbying and exposing to get rid of some of the horrid psychiatric activities...which continue to some degree... and drugs are now the new way to degrade our society. Psychiatry is not a science. It is a sick pretense.

Toxins accumulate in the body. Click on my name or do a search to find out more about this. Of course, toxins are not healthy for a body, and any scientist or person with common sense will tell you that chemicals not made for the body are unhealthy for the body. This easily can affect the body's natural system. It also can affect a person's general disposition and personality because of the "drug" affects altering the body's system. See the report on cancer by the nobel prize scientists...click on my name or search cancer.

This is a cool report and you can click on a person's picture to find out how an average person or a high profile professional has been accumulating some chemicals...there are more than what was found. "In a study led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal, researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 91 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in the blood and urine of nine volunteers, with a total of 167 chemicals found in the group. Like most of us, the people tested do not work with chemicals on the job and do not live near an industrial facility.

Scientists refer to this contamination as a person’s body burden. Of the 167 chemicals found, 76 cause cancer in humans or animals, 94 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 79 cause birth defects or abnormal development. The dangers of exposure to these chemicals in combination has never been studied." http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/es.php

I think we all need to remeber that the chemical in the brain that remedies this situation develops NATURALLY by the time a child reaches about 11 years old.
We live in a very "fast paced" and wishes for "organized" times.
Kids are just that, kids. They need structure,patient and loving parents and not be fed drugs to "abnormally" develop their little minds and bodies as problems adjusting to life when older is showing up now.
Depression, Stress related disorders, and addiction are on the rise in aduts who were given meds for this "disorder"

There is some evidence that caffeine can help with mild ADD. Just like ritalin and all the other prescription drugs it is a stimulant and works very similar to them but much milder.

The first home-remedy for ADD was discovered by the Greenburgs

(they did the pioneer research on the condition of ADD)

People in college usually didnt do well when they had severe ADD.

One exception was a graduate student . He did well. The question was

why.. ........He drank twelve cups of coffee a day.


Coffee beans...caffene.....its a stimulate....

Choclate covered coffee beans actually work....most other things

( most home remedys do not work.)

Please dont take this as medical advice...

I just dont know that much


But,hey what do I know

Get the child in for an eye exam. We solve ADD every day in my optometry clinic. This is one easy fix that is often overlooked.