http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/8/3/319.pdf
Outcome-Based Comparison of Ritalin® versus Food-Supplement Treated Children with AD/HD
Discussion
This study compared outcomes of two distinct paradigms of AD/HD treatment – the pharmaceutical (Ritalin) and the nutraceutical (dietary supplements). Ritalin’s therapeutic effect has been hypothesized to result from presynaptic dopamine transporter inhibition, thus increasing the availability of the neurotransmitter dopamine,82 especially in the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex.83 Dietary supplements used in this study also potentially increase catecholamine(dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) synthesis by precursor loading (tyrosine is the precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine84) and delivering B-vitamin (vitamins B3, B6, and folic acid) and mineral (iron and copper) cofactors. Vitamin C is also a cofactor for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, imbalances of which are also linked to AD/HD,82 and may be beneficial in reducing toxicity of some heavy metals, such as lead. Phospholipids and essential fatty acids are necessary for cell membrane repair, especially in the developing central nervous system, and may improve synaptic physiology and neurotransmitter efficiency. 85 These essential lipids have also been utilized for gut enterocyte repair, which, along with reinnoculation of friendly flora and the administration of probiotics, could mitigate food allergy. Formal allergy testing, desensitization procedures, or rotation/elimination of potentially allergenic foods were not done in this study.
Reviews of the physiological and anatomical brain abnormalities in AD/HD suggest AD/HD arises idiopathically or that such brain abnormalities are caused by a genetic predisposition. 83 If such anatomical and physiological abnormalities were to arise spontaneously in genetically susceptible individuals, without known biochemical cause(s), it would follow that optimal treatment of AD/HD should be palliative, symptom management with medications. The 70 studies that support the eight risk factor categories as well as the positive outcomes in this study suggest AD/HD does not arise spontaneously, but in fact is caused by a combination of factors. This evidence suggests the physiological and anatomical brain abnormalities in AD/HD are not pre-programmed and inevitable, but are instead an expression of genetic vulnerabilities to the noted risk factors. Certain individuals may have geneticallyimposed, heightened requirements for certain nutrients. If such individuals are not provided with optimum targeted nutrition, they may be significantly more vulnerable to the physiological and anatomical brain abnormalities associated with AD/HD symptoms.
Regardless of the various biological, psychological, or psychosocial factors that are ultimately found to cause AD/HD, this study found that synergistic combinations of dietary supplements directed at the more probable underlying etiologies of AD/HD, as determined by previous studies,6-74 were equivalent to Ritalin treatment as measured by improvements of attention and selfcontrol using IVA/CPT testing. The means for both treatment groups demonstrating the greatest subject impairment were found in the Full Scale Attention Control Quotient and the Visual Attention Quotient. This is consistent with the validity study for the IVA/CPT, where “comparisons of pre- and post-IVA/CPT scores can reliably be interpreted to reflect possible medication, treatment, or environmental effects.”80
These findings support the effectiveness of a combined vitamin, mineral, amino acid, probiotic, essential fatty acid, and phospholipid treatment in improving attention and self-control in children with AD/HD. This combined nutritional approach more or less addressed eight likely
risk factors. Further studies that target nutritional treatments to the unique, a priori, laboratory-determined risk factors of each test subject would go far beyond such vague empiricism and potentially achieve even better outcomes, based on treatment of the unique biochemical heterogeneity of each individual test subject.
Re: Outcome-Based Comparison of Ritalin versus Food-Supplement
WOW!! When I took my daughter to the pediatrician last month he commented on making sure she had a “good diet” I just thought he ment that she ate well balanced meals but after seeing a couple things mentioned on here I think he may have ment something else. Must go put google to use.
So in English, they are saying that a) nutritional factors can and do have a substantial effect on ADHD symptoms, and b) there are probably “subtypes” that will do better with EFA treatment or tyrosine treatment, or some other variation on what they are doing. It sounds like they gave a supplement that tried to address every possible nutritional intervention that has shown any promise, and that for some people, certain parts of this would have been effective on their own, but they can’t tell which ones without further study to figure out who fits into which “subgroup” of ADHD people so that they know which intervention to use.
This is excellent research! Thanks for sharing, Dad!