Another study Claims effective reduction of ADHD 'Symptoms' using Vitamins

A recent study suggest that vitamins and minerals could be useful for treating the 'symptoms' of ADHD.

As we know, the condition itself is a neurological disorder with no effective cure or treatment.

The small scale study claims that adults with ADHD, given supplements for eight weeks had a "modest" improvement in their concentration span, hyperactivity, and other 'symptoms.'

"A wide range of nutrients, including vitamin D, iron and calcium, may improve brain function." said psychologists in New Zealand.

Another study claims to have found that medication reduced road accidents in men with ADHD.

As many as one in 20 adults has a form of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), marked by symptoms such as lack of attention, concentration difficulties and impulsiveness.

A variety of medications are prescribed to treat the symptoms of ADHD, such as central nervous system stimulants, which affect brain function and allegedly, improves symptoms.

According to the research, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry (JAMA), taking a broad range of vitamins and minerals may also help reduce ADHD symptoms.

In the study, 80 adults with ADHD were given either supplements containing vitamin D, vitamin B12, folate, magnesium, ferritin, iron, calcium, zinc and copper, or a dummy pill.

After eight weeks of treatment those on supplements reported greater improvements in both their inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity compared with those taking the placebo.

Julia Rucklidge

Psychologists from the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand, say the effects of vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) are more modest than medication but may be useful for some people, particularly those seeking alternative treatments.

"Our study may provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness for micronutrients in the treatment of ADHD symptoms in adults," said Prof Julia Rucklidge, who led the study.

"This could open up symptom treatment options for people with ADHD who may not tolerate medications, or do not respond to first-line treatments."

Philip Asherson

Prof Philip Asherson, professor in molecular psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, was unconvinced.

He said the suggestion that vitamins and minerals improved brain metabolism was intriguing but needed further investigation.

"It's an interesting study, but it really needs replicating," he told reporters. "The mechanisms behind ADHD and its associated symptoms, remain unclear."

Road accidents
Meanwhile, a separate study on ADHD in Sweden suggests medication could save lives on the road.

Research indicated almost half of transport accidents involving men with ADHD could be avoided if they were taking medication for their condition.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute studied 17,000 individuals with ADHD over a period of four years using data from health registers.

They found individuals with ADHD had a higher risk of being involved in serious transport accidents, such as car or motorcycle crashes, compared with those without ADHD.

Transport accidents were lower among men with ADHD who were on medication than among men with ADHD who did not take medication.

Calculations showed 41% of transport accidents involving men with ADHD could have been avoided if they had received medication and carried on taking it during the course of the study.

A similar effect was not found in women. It is known that ADHD and its associated symptoms affect men and women differently.

Henrik Larsson

"Even though many people with ADHD are doing well, our results indicate that this serious nerological disorder may have very serious consequences," said Henrik Larsson, associate professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

"Our study also demonstrates in several different ways that the risk of transport accidents in adult men with ADHD decreases markedly if their condition is treated with medication."

The effect of ADHD on road accidents research is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Childhood Obesity: In-home intervention improves risk reduction routines

This is one of the pieces sent to parents as part of the "Healthy Habits, Happy Homes" program.

Credit: Healthy Habits, Happy Homes Study Group, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute

In the battle to reduce childhood overweight and obesity, several in-home factors have been identified as reducing those risks – participation of children in regular family dinners, getting enough sleep and less time watching television or other "screen time."

A new study appearing in JAMA Pediatrics describes how a home-based program that helped at-risk families improve household routines was able to slow weight gain in a group of young children.

"While childhood obesity rates may have stabilized in some population subgroups, overall rates remain stubbornly high, and racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities persist.

Elsie Taveras

For these reasons, seeking solutions that will particularly influence high-risk families is important." says Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, chief of General Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children who led the study.

"Our findings demonstrate that relatively simple, no-cost changes in routines within the home can help children maintain or achieve a healthful weight."

The study was conducted at four community health centers in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, Mass., all of which serve predominantly low-income, minority populations.

The research team enrolled 121 families – each with a child aged 2 to 5 who slept in a room with a television – that were randomly divided into two groups.

At the beginning and end of the 6-month study period, each family received an in-home visit during which research assistants administered surveys about household routines, measured the child's height and weight, and observed other aspects of the home environment.

Throughout the study period, the control group received monthly packages with educational information on early childhood development.

Families in the intervention group participated in a program called "Healthy Habits, Happy Homes," designed to encourage families to have regular meals together, ensure adequate sleep for children, limit the time children spend watching television and remove television from rooms where children sleep.

The intervention also encouraged parenting practices such as role modeling and limit setting. Parents were not told that these changes were designed to limit weight gain in their child.

Interventions were delivered in four home visits that addressed project goals and checked in on progress, monthly coaching phone calls, and frequent text messages to encourage healthy practices.

Mailings included newsletters for the parents and, for the children, toys focused on the program goals – such as stickers, coloring books, a copy of Good Night Moon for bedtime reading, and toys for active play.

At the end of the study period, children in the intervention group were sleeping about 45 minutes longer than children in the control group.

Time spent watching television on weekends dropped about an hour per day in the intervention group, leading to a significant difference from the control group, which increased weekend TV viewing.

Both groups had a small reduction in weekday TV viewing, with a greater decrease in the intervention group.

Neither group had any significant change in the frequency of family meals together – which may reflect the fact that participating families already shared an average of six meals per week together – and there was little change in the presence of television sets in the rooms where children slept, possibly because 80 percent of parents reported that their child slept in the parents' bedrooms.

At the end of the study period, the body mass index of children in the intervention group dropped an average of 0.18, while it rose 0.21 in the control group.

Taveras explains that increasing height, weight, and body mass index would be expected among children in this age group, as they are developing and growing.

"The Healthy Habits, Happy Homes intervention was able to slow weight gain relative to height increase in these children, which is important because – as our earlier research has shown – rapid weight gain in these early years can lead to higher rates of obesity later in life."

Jess Haines

Jess Haines, PhD, MHSc, RD, University of Guelph, Ontario, lead author of the study, adds, "Our findings suggest that, by encouraging parents to establish household routines that increase children's sleep and decrease TV viewing, health professionals can help prevent children from becoming overweight or obese.

Almost 90 percent of participating parents reported they were satisfied with the program, and 98 percent said they would recommend it to family and friends.

A longer-term study, currently being planned by our research group,will tell us how long the changes we observed here can be maintained.

We also need to investigate how large an interventional 'dose' is required to change these behaviours – for example, could they be accomplished with a single visit or just with phone calls?"

Taveras, an associate professor of Pediatrics and Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School, adds, "For now, interventions such as ours can be one way of keeping young children off an obesity trajectory that would be hard to alter by the time they enter middle school."