Now just as Major League Baseball is trying to come out from the cloud of streroid use and claim that all of the players are now clean I see that there is a new drug that is being used by Baseball players in increasing numbers.

In 2006, there were 35 so-called ‘Therapeutic Use Exemptions’ for drugs, of which 28 were for Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to data provided to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by Major League Baseball and the players’ association. In 2007, the exemptions skyrocketed to 111, of which 103 were for ADD and ADHD Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: add, adderall, adhd, Attention Deficit Disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, baseball, baseball players, Bryan Smith, energy, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, independent program administrator, John Tierney, Major, Major League Baseball, Massachusetts, MLB, team physician

Margaret Tye has this interesting article about the value of Omega 3 fatty acids. I have written before about how I do take this supplement and my wife actually calls them heart pills because Omegas are supposed to be good for your heart and circulation.

In recent years research has highlighted the benefits of omega 3 fish oil, whether it is taken naturally by eating oily fish, or by taking daily supplements. Fish oil has been shown to help keep the cardiovascular system healthy, reducing the risk of heart disease and eventual heart attack.

Many people take fish oil to help joint movement. Arthritic patients can suffer a great deal of pain and omega 3 fatty acid may reduce wear and tear on the joints and reduce the pain of inflammation. You should always tell your doctor if you are taking fish oil supplements, particularly if you are on any prescribed medication.

In the UK, research showed dramatic improvements in reading skills in children given omega 3 over a period of three months. Both over and under-achievers were seen to improve. Sixteen year old students given omega 3 in the period before taking exams achieved better results than those not taking supplements. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: adhd, Author, blended fish oil supplements, cod liver oil, depression, fish oil, fish-oil supplements, Greenfield Community Arts College, heart attack, heart disease, inflammation, Japan, Margaret Tye, pain, United Kingdom

Do you know that the regular, calorie rich diet your kid gets at home and outside could be the cause behind his ADHD? For most people, it is no secret that excessive junk food consumption cause weight gain, but few are aware of the fact that these foods could negatively affect the behavioral patterns of kids as well. If your kid is not following a healthy diet, then he is likely to suffer from several behavioral disorders, including ADHD.

A recent study on a group of school children further confirmed this concept. All those children were made to eat only healthy foods for a given period of time; during this time they couldn’t have any junk foods. Before the study began, some of these kids were overweight while others were suffering from ADHD are other related diseases.

Once the period of study was over, it was found out that very few kids were overweight, not to mention that most of them started exhibiting normal behavior. As you can see, the type of food your kid eats affects more than just his body weight.

I am not saying that once your kid starts eating healthy and natural foods, he would be completely cured of ADHD or obesity, but it is surely a good first step in that direction. With that said here are some food tips which should be followed by your kids.

1. Don’t give them milk or cereals to eat at breakfast: Apart from the fact that most kids are lactose-intolerant and consequently unable to digest milk or foods prepared from milk, milk is also the cause of obesity. So far as cereals are concerned, they are rich in carbs and any expert would tell you how bad carbs are for someone who is looking forward to losing weight and staying slim.

A better option is to offer scrambled or boiled eggs to your kids for breakfast, as they are high on protein. Protein helps one burn fat as well as build muscles. You may also want to add salad to the mix, as salad is rich in fiber and would help keep your kids full for a long time. One big advantage of this is that your kids would be less inclined to gorge on the junk foods they notice outside.

2. Restrict the intake of candies and fizzy drinks of your kids: Both candies are fizzy drinks are high on sugar and consequently make one fat. The school kids I told you about were able to stay away from junk drinks only because they always carried a bottle filled with plain water with them. You could adopt the same strategy for your kids as well.

3. Increase their intake of “good fats”: There are basically two types of the fats; the ‘bad fat’ which makes one overweight, and the ‘good fat’ which helps combat obesity. Omega 3 fatty acid is a good example of “good fats” and it is available in plenty in fishes such as salmon, tuna, etc.

Tags: adhd, behavioral disorders, excessive junk food consumption cause weight gain, food, food tips, obesity

As the parent of two young kids I am always aware of the drugs being pushed on parents to treat ADD and the fact that in the past no kids were using Adderall or Ritalin or even Prozac.  Some people think that may of the problems assicated with ADD and ADHD are caused by food additives that have been added over the last 20 years in the foods that kids eat. Well there was just a new research paper released in Britain that is having people take notice.

“Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an increasingly common problem, and theories abound to account for that,” said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. “Among them is the notion that food additives induce hyperactivity.”

Despite this apparent connection, Katz cautioned that the increasing number of children with ADHD cannot be blamed on food additives alone.

“No one factor is solely responsible for rising rates of ADHD,” Katz said. “Along with the hazards of a highly processed food supply, children are getting less and less physical activity as a means of dissipating their native rambunctiousness.”

In the study, Jim Stevenson, a professor of psychology at the University of Southampton, and his colleagues gave drinks containing additives to 297 children. The children were in two groups: 3-year-olds and 8- and 9-year-olds. The drinks contained artificial food coloring and additives such as sodium benzoate, a preservative.

These concoctions were similar to the drinks that are commercially available. The amount of additives were also similar to what is found in one or two servings of candy a day, according to the report. As a control, some children were given drinks without additives, according to the report in the Sept. 6 issue of The Lancet. Over the six weeks of the trial, Stevenson’s team found that children in both age groups who drank the drinks containing additives displayed significantly more hyperactive behavior. These children also had shorter attention spans. However, which specific additives caused specific behavioral problems is not known, the researchers said.

One of the additives, sodium benzoate, has been linked to cell damage in a previous study, and to an increased for cancer. Sodium benzoate is found in Coca-Cola, Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi, and in many fruit drinks.

Other additives assessed in the study include a number of colorings — sunset yellow (E110), found in fruity drinks; carmoisine (E122), a red coloring often added to jams; ponceau 4R (E124), a red food coloring; tartrazine (E102), found in lollipops and carbonated drinks; quinoline yellow (E104), a food coloring; and allura red AC (E129), and orange-red food dye.

“Although the use of artificial coloring in food manufacture might seem to be superfluous, the same cannot be said for sodium benzoate, which has an important preservative function. The implications of these results for the regulation of food additive use could be substantial,” the researchers conclude.

Based on these findings, the British government’s Food Standards Agency cautioned parents to be on the lookout for hyperactive behavior linked to food additives.

Tags: adderall, add_and_adhd, adhd, artificial food coloring, attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder, Britain, British government, cancer, Coca-Cola, David Katz, director, E102, food additive use, Food additives, food coloring, food manufacture, Food Standards Agency, hyperactivity disorder, Jim Stevenson, NEC e122 Cell Phone, orange-red food dye, Pepsi, Prevention Research Center, Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, processed food supply, professor of psychology, red food coloring, University of Southampton, Yale University School of Medicine

No way, is it really true? Next time you are about to unwrap a chcolate bar or pop open that pop think about this list by Nancy Appleton, a PHD that wrote the book Lick the sugar habit. .I thought I knew why sugar was bad but here are well over 100 reasons why you should avoid it.

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.
7. Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9. Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
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Tags: adhd, alcoholism, Alzheimer�s disease, appendicitis, arthritis, Asthma, atherosclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bacterial infection, biliary tract cancer, bowel disease, breast cancer, cancer, cancer of the rectum, Candida Albicans, carcinoma, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, central reward systems, chromium deficiency, colon cancer, constipation, copper deficiency, Crohn's disease, depression, diabetes, dizziness, drowsiness, duodenal ulcers, eczema, endometrial cancer, epileptic seizures, excessive food intake, food, food allergies, gallbladder cancer, gallstones, gastric cancer, gout, headaches, heart disease, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, hypoglycemia, infectious diseases, intravenous feedings, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney stones, laryngeal cancer, learning disorders, liver tumors, lung cancer, memory loss, metabolic syndrome, migraine, multiple sclerosis, myopia, Nancy Appleton, nearsightedness, neural tube defects, obesity, osteoporosis, pancreatic cancer, Parkinson�s disease, periodontal disease, peripheral vascular disease, polio, prostate cancer, schizophrenia, stomach cancer, sugar, sugar habit, Sweet food items, toxemia, travel time, ulcerative colitis, varicose veins, yeast infections

I was just reading an article about Adderall in Details magazine on the weekend. Adderall is an ADHD drug that is being prescribed instead of Ritalin to try to dull the effects of ADHD. The article however showed another darker side to using the drug.

Adderall is a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine and there are four reasons that it is used for patients with ADHD:

Improve a patient’s attention span.
Increase his ability to follow directions.
Decrease distractibility among children ages three and older.
Decrease impulsivity, stubbornness and aggression.

Technorati Tags: adderall, amphetamine, addiction
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