Good Summary of Possible ADHD Causes and Influences

I found a useful article through the NIH's PubMed search tool that neatly summarizes the potential causes of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in both children and adults. It is absolutely amazing how many factors may contribute to ADHD! Counting every cause, it is possible to name a couple of dozen (or more) researched nutritional and environmental reasons that may cause ADHD in a child to vary so much from one day to the next. The list covers diverse factors from genetics, to nutritional deficits or excesses, to fluorescent lighting. The link to the article is provided below.

One tremendous challenge for parents is to avoid going nuts trying to manage all of these factors, because doing so quickly reaches the practical limits of what any family can do. However, information like that in the linked article can help prioritize which things to investigate first, and some, such as basic nutrition, can be done inexpensively using common-sense menu changes and common supplements. For example, it isn't hard to try a higher-protein diet using a variety of sources of protein for a few weeks, nor is it hard to try Omega-3 supplementation (using only very high-quality refined fish oil to avoid excessive levels of contaminants). Limiting fast food and other sources of high doses of Omega-6 fats, such as potato chips and other fried foods, is also very easy.

Other possible contributing factors, such as artificial food colors and preservatives, are easily mitigated by limiting candy, snack cakes, and soft drinks. Using 100% fruit juices in small servings is one way to provide a sweet drink, and it is easy to use natural extracts and sweeteners to make flavored milk. There are also a variety of high-protein snack bars available that are actually quite delicious and make an excellent snack after school or while running errands.

Other things like fluorescent lighting may be more difficult to manage, but it is at least possible to whittle away at the most likely causes over a period of months to leave fewer variables to consider as time progresses. This process allows a child's ADHD to gradually become better understood, which is essential for parents (and teachers) to provide as much support as possible as the child heads toward adulthood.

It is very important, however, that any parent who wants to try more aggressive therapies, such as unusually high doses of certain nutrients or supplements, should do so only under the supervision of a physician. There are real risks of potentially dangerous side-effects or toxicities from high-dosage treatments.

The citation for the article is: Pellow J, Solomon EM, Barnard CN. Complementary and alternative medical therapies for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Altern Med Rev. 2011 Dec;16(4):323-37.

The PubMed summary page can be found here and the free full text of the article is here.

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