But we still don't know all the facts about mental illness. It will be a long hard fight to find the solutions we so desire. With modern medicine the way it is advancing though it hopefully won't be too long. The following is an article for ADHD and what may be used as a natural remedy.
A natural remedy for ADHD is omega 3 - or is it?
Copyright 2005 David McEvoy
Is Omega 3 a natural remedy for ADHD? The simple answer is
no. Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid that is absolutely
vital for adults, hence the word ‘essential’ - for children
of birth age until age two, it is even more important that
they receive enough of the Omega 3 fatty acid DHA for the
healthy construction of the brain. Beyond two years, they
need EPA for the healthy function of the brain.
So why is it not a remedy? It is not a remedy for the
simple reason that it should already be included in the
diet, and not simply as an afterthought to add it to the
diet because the child or adult has ADHD.
Does this mean that if you give a person with ADHD
high-strength pharmaceutical grade fish oil in addition to
a poor diet, they will not feel any effects? The answer has
to be yes, of course they will feel the effects. If you
starve anyone for long enough of vital nutrients then the
body will react in certain ways – if you then replace those
nutrients, the body will return in time to its correct
balance.
What is ADHD? A good definition is as follows:
A common developmental and behavioural disorder, it is
characterised by poor concentration, distractibility,
hyperactivity, and impulsiveness that are inappropriate for
the child's age. Children and adults with ADHD are easily
distracted by sights and sounds in their environment,
cannot concentrate for long periods of time, are restless
and impulsive, or have a tendency to daydream and be slow
to complete tasks.
Fish oil supplementation
With current research revealing that Omega 3 fatty acid
deficiencies may be a factor affecting learning
difficulties, authorities in Durham, England, initiated a
programme to see if it was possible that an improved diet
would lead to improvements in the classroom. But
overturning the high-carbohydrate, heavily-processed diets
that children typically consume was going to be a momentous
task. So they decided to see if fatty acids in the form of
a fish oil supplement could be of any use.
This was the largest and most extensive trial looking at
Omega 3 fatty acids and learning conditions to be carried
out within the United Kingdom.
This trial involved more than 100 children at 12 primary
schools in the Durham area. The trial looked at dyspraxia
and motor skills, but also assessed for dyslexia and ADHD.
Trial results
At the start of the trial, the percentage of children
within the clinical range of an ADHD diagnosis was set at
32% for the fish oil group and 31% for the placebo group.
After 3 months of omega 3 fish oil supplementation, the
percentage of children within the clinical range of an ADHD
diagnosis reduced to 18% for the fatty acid group, whereas
this only dropped 1 % for the placebo group.
A raw score was calculated from the teacher rating form
that assessed each child's behaviour. After 3 months there
was a highly significant reduction seen in the fish oil
supplement group, compared to those on placebo, in this
behavioural score. The fatty acid group reduced from an
average score of 74.7 to 58.1., whereas the before and
after treatment scores for the placebo group were 69.5 and
67.9.
The active fish oil group also saw significantly reduced
teacher ratings on the Conners’ DSM ADHD global scale after
3 months, compared with the placebo group. The placebo
group saw similar improvements on this scale after crossing
over to the active fish oils for the 3-6 month period of
the trial.
Within 3 months children on the active supplement saw a
significant reduction on the rating scale of
Hyperactive-Impulsive behaviour, compared to those on
placebo. Further reductions were seen in the 3-6 month
period of the study.
Dramatic results were also seen within just 3 months of the
dyspraxia trial. The active group supplementing with Omega
3 fish oil saw significant improvements in reading (9.5
months), spelling (6.5 months) and behaviour, compared to
the placebo group where no overall improvement was made.
During the 3-6 month period when the placebo group crossed
over to Omega 3 fish oil supplementation, considerable
improvements were shown in the same areas, with an average
reading gain of 13.5 months and an average spelling gain at
over 6 months. The active group continuing supplementation
displayed further signs of progress or maintained their
improvement.
At the start of the trial, children were a year behind
their chronological age for reading and spelling, but after
the trial, the active group who had been on Omega 3 fish
oil throughout the trial made spelling and reading gains
over and above their age.
An alternative view
On the face of things these results look fairly conclusive.
However, when you take into account that by their own
admission they had a real battle with the children (and in
some cases parents) to change their eating habits then the
results - to a qualified dietician and anyone who knows
what a balanced diet is – swing. Far from seeming to show
that fish oil cures ADHD and dyspraxia, it rather appears
to demonstrate the need for a very balanced diet, with all
these nutritional components included in the first place.
What would be far more interesting than turning a lot of
unruly children’s diets into the correct balance and then
claiming that fish oil helps with ADHD, would be to take a
lot of children who eat a very balanced Mediterranean style
diet, which is already very balanced, and perform a trial
with those children to see if it actually improves their
reading or spelling ability.
Conclusion
Not all the children involved in the trial showed great
gains in behaviour, spelling and reading, and those
children that did show great gains were in my opinion
children who were very badly deficient in Omega 3 already
through a very poor diet.
The correct approach is not to supplement children with
fish oil, but to drastically improve the child’s eating
habits, following the example of a Mediterranean diet which
includes oily fish, and trying to cut out all additives and
preservatives and the wrong kinds of “bad fats”.
As most parents will know this is almost an impossibility,
but changing a few little things about the diet will make a
difference. As for the fish oil capsules, if you really
can’t get your child to eat oily fish then as this trial
proves, supplementing with a high quality fish oil
supplement is highly advisable so that your child can get
the correct amount of Omega 3 in their diet.
----------------------------------------------------
Dave mcevoy is an award winning personal trainer with over
20 years experience; he also runs a high quality health
supplement website. http://www.mind1st.co.uk
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