ADHD Awareness Month
A diagnosis of ADHD covers a wide range of symptoms, from difficulty focussing and staying on task through to hyperactivity, impulsivity, disruptive behaviours, anger and violent outbursts - all of which are beyond conscious control.
The cause appears to be differences in neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Specifically, not enough dopamine (a neurotransmitter required for focus/learning) and too much norepinephrine (an excitatory neurotransmitter resulting in adrenaline overload).
75% of those with ADHD have too much copper and not enough zinc in their systems
Between 1995 and 2013, there was a six fold increase in stimulant medication prescriptions in the UK (Ref Beau-Lejdstrom et al 2016). Long term studies are now revealing that these stimulant medications come at a significant cost - loss of personality; reduced appetite; being too wired to sleep; stunted growth; altered brain development; reduced motivation longer term; increased risk of self-harm and depression.
As a result in 2013, NICE advised against using drugs as a first-line treatment for children and young people with moderate (ADHD). Yet, prescriptions of these medications continue to soar, having doubled once again between 2010 and 2019 (Ref. Hasan et al 2021).
Parents who are desperate for their child to do well and not be excluded due to disruptive behaviour often do not feel they have a choice.
Always seek advice from your doctor if you are thinking about coming off or reducing your medication.
Thankfully, there is now an alternative way to address these biochemical imbalances.
Over the past 35 years, Dr William Walsh, of The Walsh Institute in the USA, gathered chemical assays on 5,600 patients diagnosed with ADHD asking “What was different in their biochemistry?” The results he reports are fascinating. According to his observations:
75% of those with ADHD appear to have too much copper and not enough zinc in their systems. They are simply born this way, unable to absorb enough zinc from their diets and unable to excrete copper, resulting in a build up. This just happens to have the result of reducing dopamine and increasing norepinephrine - directly causing the inability to concentrate and the hyperactive behaviours!
More interesting still, he observed that 30% of those diagnosed with ADHD within his sample tested positive for an underlying ‘Pyrrole Disorder’. Again, this is something you are born with and tends to run in families. It means that you are born unable to absorb or hold onto the Zinc or Vitamin B6 which your brain needs to function in a healthy way. People with Pyrrole disorder have high levels of toxic build up and oxidative stress. The neurotransmitters in the brain are, once again, directly impacted by this and the behaviours more extreme. Chronic anxiety, explosive temper, violent rages, Jekyll and Hyde type behaviours and Oppositional Defiance are all hallmarks.
The ground-breaking new therapeutic approach he developed is called ‘Nutrient Therapy’, which allows us to target these underlying biochemical imbalances using high doses of supplements, to give the body what it needs to rebalance itself. For many, this can provide an effective approach without medications.
The Walsh Institute carried out a clinical outcome study among 207 children with ‘severe ADHD’ (Walsh, et al. Physiology & Behavior, 82:835-839 (2004). The results of nutrient therapy were very impressive:
80% of children under the age of 14 years show improved behaviour, with more than half ceasing physical violence.
Higher efficacy reported for severe cases involving a history of assaultive behaviour (91% reporting reduced incidence of physical violence and 58% reporting this had stopped completely)
71% achieved significant improvement in academics
Behind these numbers lie many game-changing stories:
A 9 year old girl moving from the 13th percentile to the 71st percentile after 6 months of therapy. Staff and parents described her as “emerging from her shell”, becoming calmer and more focussed.
A 13 year old boy who had been suspended several times for out of control behaviour became calm and his explosive anger completely ceased - having discontinued Ritalin entirely.
A six year old who would regularly hit and kick fellow students completely stopped.
Several parents said they feared their child was heading for prison and were thrilled by the improvements.
Stimulant medications have their role as a short-term solution to be able to access other therapies, but these promising results indicate that we now have a less expensive, viable alternative for those seeking a different approach. (Any decision to reduce or cease medication should only be made under your doctor's direct advice and supervision).
The Key Clinic Specialises in these game-changing therapies for ADHD, pioneering Dr Walsh’s invaluable work.
