The study's lead author, Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD
Research Centre in the Netherlands, writes in The Lancet that the disorder is
triggered in many cases by external factors — and those can be treated through
changes to one's environment.
"ADHD, it's just a couple of symptoms — it's not a
disease," the Dutch researcher tells All Things Considered weekend host
Guy Raz.
The way we think about — and treat — these behaviors is
wrong, Pelsser says. "There is a paradigm shift needed. If a child is
diagnosed ADHD, we should say, 'OK, we have got those symptoms, now let's start
looking for a cause.' "
Pelsser compares ADHD to eczema. "The skin is affected,
but a lot of people get eczema because of a latex allergy or because they are
eating a pineapple or strawberries."
According to Pelsser, 64 percent of children diagnosed with
ADHD are actually experiencing a hypersensitivity to food. Researchers
determined that by starting kids on a very elaborate diet, then restricting it
over a few weeks' time.
"It's only five weeks," Pelsser says. "If it
is the diet, then we start to find out which foods are causing the
problems."
Teachers and doctors who worked with children in the study
reported marked changes in behavior. "In fact, they were
flabbergasted," Pelsser says.
"After the diet, they were just normal children with
normal behavior," she says. No longer were they easily distracted or
forgetful, and the temper tantrums subsided.
Some teachers said they never thought it would work, Pelsser
says. "It was so strange," she says, "that a diet would change
the behavior of a child as thoroughly as they saw it. It was a miracle, a
teacher said."
"In all children, we should start with diet
research," she says. If a child's behavior doesn't change, then drugs may
still be necessary. "But now we are giving them all drugs, and I think that's
a huge mistake," she says.
"We have got good news — that food is the main cause of
ADHD," she says. "We've got bad news — that we have to train
physicians to monitor this procedure because it cannot be done by a physician
who is not trained."
Link to the study: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62227-1/abstract
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