Are Food Dyes Fueling Kids' Hyperactivity?

ABC News has a report this evening on a request to ban 8 different food colorings from foods sold in the USA. Naturally, the food companies are not pleased. You can see the original press release here:

CSPI Urges FDA to Ban Artificial Food Dyes Linked to Behavior Problems

From the ABC News Report:

The Center for Science in the Public Interest today called on the Food and Drug Administration to ban artificial coloring in all U.S. foods based on a controversial claim that artificial coloring is behind the rise in kids' behavioral problems, like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

"I think it's crystal clear the dyes affect kids' behavior," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. "The tougher questions are how many kids, and to what extent is their behavior affected? But time is long overdue to get rid of these dyes from the food supply. Let scientists study them in a laboratory."

[...]

Judy Mann of Silver Spring, Md., whose 10-year-old son Jake Kushner suffers from ADHD, said she had tried everything to confront her son's disorder, such as eliminating gluten, eating organic and visiting a psychiatrist and a psychologist.

After looking at the ingredients in buttered movie theater popcorn following one of Jake's outbursts, she became convinced that food dyes played a part in his explosive behavior.

"We started not eating popcorn at the movie theater and he stopped having problems after the movies," Mann said.

"And then a few weeks after, he had five Skittles … and he hit the roof," she added. "And that's when we were sure it was the dyes and not the sugar. And since we've cut them out, it's been an amazing difference."

First-ever government review shows fluoride may be toxic to the thyroid gland causing fatigue, weight gain, fuzzy thinking, depression, body pain, etc

Of course, our interest is in the psychiatric malfunctions, and the misdiagnosis of these conditions as actual psychiatric ailments.

As seen in this press release

There is clear evidence that small amounts of fluoride, at or near levels added to U.S. water supplies, present potential risks to the thyroid gland, according to the National Research Council's (NRC) first-ever published review of the fluoride/thyroid literature.(A)

Fluoride, in the form of silicofluorides, injected into 2/3 of U.S. public water supplies, ostensibly to reduce tooth decay, was never safety-tested.(B)

"Many Americans are exposed to fluoride in the ranges associated with thyroid effects, especially for people with iodine deficiency," says Kathleen Thiessen, PhD, co-author of the government-sponsored NRC report. "The recent decline in iodine intake in the U.S could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals," says Thiessen.

"A low level of thyroid hormone can increase the risk of cardiac disease, high cholesterol, depression and, in pregnant woman, decreased intelligence of offspring," said Thiessen.(C)

Common thyroid symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, constipation, fuzzy thinking, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, body pain, slow reflexes, and more. It's estimated that 59 million
Americans have thyroid conditions.(D)

Robert Carton, PhD, an environmental scientist who worked for over 30 years for the U.S. government including managing risk assessments on high priority toxic chemicals, says "fluoride has detrimental effects on the thyroid gland of healthy males at 3.5 mg a day. With iodine deficiency, the effect level drops to 0.7 milligrams/day for an average male."(E) (1.0 mg/L fluoride is in most water supplies)

Among many others, the NRC Report cites human studies which show

- fluoride concentrations in thyroids exceeding that found in other soft tissues except kidney

- an association between endemic goiter and fluoride exposure or enamel fluorosis in human populations

- fluoride adversely affects thyroid and parathyroid hormones, which affect bone health

"If you have a thyroid problem, avoiding fluoride may be a good preventive health measure for you," writes Drs' Richard and Karilee Shames in "Thyroid Power."(F).

Over, 1,700 Physicians, Dentists, Scientists, Academics and Environmentalists urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation is ineffective and has serious health risks. (www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html)

Please sign the petition and Congressional letter to support these professionals

www.FluorideAction.Net

References:

(A) "Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's Standards," Committee on Fluoride in Drinking Water, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Division on Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council of the National Academies of Science. March 2006 Chapter 8 www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571

"Thyroid Function: Fluoride exposure in humans is associated with elevated TSH concentrations, increased goiter prevalence, and altered T4 and T3 concentrations." (Page 262)

"(The thyroid effects are associated with average fluoride intakes that) will be reached by persons with average exposures at fluoride concentrations of 1-4 mg/L in drinking water, especially the children." (Page 260)

(B) Sodium Hexafluorosilicate and Fluorosilicic Acid Review of Toxicological Literature, October 2001
ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPDF/Fluorosili ..

(C) Chemical & Engineering News, "Fluoride Risks Are Still A Challenge," by Bette Hileman, September 4, 2006,
pubs.acs.org/cen/government/84/8436gov1.html

(D) Mary Shomon, About.com Thyroid editor, Patient Advocate -- Author of "The Thyroid Diet" and "Living Well With Hypothyroidism"
thyroid.about.com/

(E) Fluoride, "Review of the 2006 National Research Council Report: Fluoride in Drinking Water," July-September 2006, by Robert J. Carton
www.fluorideresearch.org/393/files/FJ2006_v39_n3_p163-172.pdf

(F) Thyroid Power and Feeling Fat Fuzzy or Frazzeled"by Richard Shames MD & Karilee Shames RN, PhD
www.thyroidpower.com
www.feelingfff.com/


Fluoride/Thyroid Health Effects
www.fluoridealert.org/health/thyroid/

Sources of Fluoride
www.fluoridealert.org/f-sources.htm

Sulfuryl Fluoride Pesticide Residues Allowed on Foods
www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/sulfuryl.f.all.food.html

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Fluoride Database of Selected Beverages and Foods
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Fluoride/Fluoride.html

---

Kontaktinformation:

New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc

PO Box 263
Old Bethpage, NY 11804

Kontakt-Person:

Phone:
E-mail: e-mail

Web: http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

---

Autor:

Nys Cof
e-mail
Web: http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
Telefon: 5165551212

Brits To Ban Food Colors Linked To ADHD In Kids

Report from the Independent, tip of the hat to Furious Seasons

Food regulators moved to ban artificial additives from hundreds of products yesterday, three decades after parents began complaining that their children suffered mood swings after consuming brightly coloured sweets, cakes and drinks.

The Food Standards Agency recommended ministers call for manufacturers to remove six artificial colours by the end of 2009 and lobby for a European Union-wide ban. The FSA's advice to parents will be strengthened to warn them about the dangers of the E-numbers tartrazine (E102), quinoline yellow (E104), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), ponceau 4R (E124) and allura red (E129).

These colours and the preservative sodium benzoate (E211) were linked to hyperactivity in a £750,000 study by Southampton University, which found they made primary school children become distracted and fail a computer attention test.

The researchers estimated that 30 per cent of cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) would be prevented if companies removed the colours used in the £13bn-a-year global additives industry.

The decision means the country's biggest confectioners and supermarkets, such as Cadbury and Haribo, will have to reformulate hundreds of products including ice cream, sweets, milkshakes and fizzy drinks.

Some products for which replacements have not yet been found – mushy peas, Turkish delight, and battenberg and angel cakes – may be taken off the shelves temporarily or permanently. The Southampton researchers had warned the seven additives were as harmful as lead in petrol, which was banned after it proved to lower children's IQ by five points. Their research, in The Lancet in September, was the evidence that artificial additives worsened the behaviour of normal children as well as those diagnosed with ADHD.

The European Food Standards Agency dismissed calls for action on the additives last month but at a meeting in London yesterday, the FSA's board decided to back the most stringent of five options recommended by officials.

Dame Deirdre Hutton, who chairs the Food Standards Agency, said: "It is the agency's duty to put consumers first. These additives give colour to foods but nothing else. It would therefore be sensible, in the light of the... study, to remove them."

The board decided to take no action on sodium benzoate because it was "a preservative" rather than a colour. E211, which is linked with other potential health problems, is found in many soft drinks including Diet Coke, Irn-Bru, Lucozade and Fanta, and its removal would pose a significant technological and financial challenge to drinks companies.

The FSA stressed that its decision "does not mean there is an immediate ban".

Campaigners welcomed the first decisive move in the UK against additives, whose effect on hyperactive children were first identified in 1975. Richard Watts, of the Children's Food Campaign, said: "This decision is good news for children and parents, who have known for many years that these additives affect children's behaviour." Anna Glayzer, an Action on Additives campaigner, said the FSA had put the consumer first. "We will be keeping a close eye on the industry to see what effect the voluntary ban has."

The Food and Drink Federation said the recommendation was "bizarre", as manufacturers were already removing the additives. "[Most] products don't contain these colours," a statement said.

The six colourings facing a ban

Tartrazine (E102)

Description: Synthetic yellow dye found in sweets, biscuits, mushy peas

Products: Disney Winnie the Pooh Cake Kit, Lidl orange jelly, Bacardi Breezer tropical lime, Asda mushy peas

Health effects: causes hyperactivity, linked to allergic reactions and migraine.

Quinoline Yellow (E104)

Description: Synthetic dye in sweets, pickles, smoked fish

Products: Aero orange, Galaxy Minstrels, M&Ms, Bassett's Sherbet Lemons

Health effects: Causes hyperactivity and is linked to rashes. Banned in US.

Sunset Yellow (E110)

Description: synthetic yellowdye found in sweets, ice cream, fizzy drinks

Products: Cadbury Creme Egg, Haribo Jelly Beans, Irn-Bru

Health effects: causes hyperactivity and linked to stomach upsets and swelling of skin.

Carmoisine (E122)

Description: Synthetic red dye found in ready meals, sweets

Products: Love Hearts, Galaxy Minstrels, Cadbury Mini Eggs, various lollipops

Health effects: causes hyperactivity and is alleged to cause water retention in those allergic to aspirin. Banned in US.

Ponceau 4R (E124)

Description: synthetic red dye found in sweets, biscuits, drinks

Products: Bassett's Pear Drops, Halls Blackcurrant Soothers, Supercook Alphabet Icing

Health effects: causes hyperactivity and is believed to cause problems for asthmatics. Banned in US.

Allura red (E129)

Description: synthetic red dye found in sweets, soft drinks, Turkish delight

Products: Fry's Turkish Delight, Cadbury Mini Eggs, Maynards Wine Gums

Health effects: causes hyperactivity and may bring on allergic reactions.

Mild Lead Poisoning Misdiagnosed as ADHD

As seen in this report, low levels of lead in the blood have been linked to ADHD. What this means is that what is actually mild lead poisoning is misdiagnosed as ADHD, although reports continue to not use that specific language. This adds to a picture where many ailments are misdiagnosed as ADHD. What are these doctors doing?

Even minute levels of lead in the blood – lower than levels previously believed to cause no harm – have been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The research, by Michigan State University, involved only a small sample of children, 150. All children had levels of lead in their blood, but all at levels below the 10 micrograms per deciliter level that is currently considered safe by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, those with ADHD had higher levels of lead in their blood. The findings will be published Feb. 15 in Biological Psychiatry.

Joel Nigg, the psychologist who directed the study, said the neurotoxic effects of lead in the blood can interfere with stages of brain growth, such as synapse formation – a critical element in the development of appropriate self-regulatory control. Children age 2 and younger are particularly vulnerable, he said.

The findings are concerning, particularly in light of the rash of toys and other children's products that have been recalled this year due to the presence of lead paint. Other effects of lead, including lowered IQ and other permanent brain damage, at higher levels of exposure, have been well documented.

Lead paint in old homes is still believed to be the greatest source of lead exposure for children, and no studies have looked yet at how or whether toys have been a significant source of exposure. Two more children's products were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and their manufacturers last night: a potty training seat and holiday figurines.

“No one can completely eliminate all dust and lead from those houses,” Nigg said. “If you’re a parent of an infant or toddler in an older home who is worried about this, your best advice is to become scrupulous about sweeping up dust and dirt, filter tap water, remove chipped paint and monitor what your children put in their mouths.”

Nigg is continuing his research in the Lansing, Michigan area, and he is seeking the parents of children age 8-16, whether or not they have an ADHD diagnosis. To volunteer, call 517-432-4894.

More at the link

Misdiagnosing an Eye Condition as ADHD

Not that this hasn't been said before, but there is a growing list of very treatable medical conditions that are being miss diagnosed as ADHD. You would think that a decent and thorough medical exam would be routine to pick up things like this..... but no......

As reported on Canada.com

Before reaching for the Ritalin, parents of children who have difficulty paying attention in school should consider another option: getting their kids' eyes tested.

An estimated five per cent of school-age children suffer from an eye disorder called convergence insufficiency, or CI. People with the disorder, which is treatable, have difficulty seeing things at close range.

"Their eyes don't like turning in," said Lisa Christian, a lecturer at the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. "Often times, children will avoid reading or do poorly in comprehension because their eyes don't like turning in. They get headaches."

Other symptoms of the disorder include double vision, dizziness and nausea. In some cases, the brain will actually shut down one eye in an attempt to correct the problem, an occurrence known as suppression.

"You don't want that to happen," said Christian. "You lose depth perception."

Because CI makes reading difficult, some children with the disorder have trouble focusing in the classroom and are being misdiagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A 2005 University of California study of 266 people with CI found that almost 10 per cent had also been diagnosed with ADHD - triple the normal rate.

"The school thinks it's behavioural, the parents probably think it's behavioural, so the child is sent to a psychologist or somebody to take a look at and they get misdiagnosed," said Christian.

The disorder is easy to detect, says Christian, and easy to treat. She recommends vision therapy, which consists of working with an optometrist to teach the eyes to converge when looking at something at close range. The therapy involves performing exercises to strengthen eye muscles, such as looking at a pencil and bringing it to your nose.

"The problem is that there are very few children getting full eye exams done before starting school."

The Canadian Association of Optometrists recommends that children have their eyes examined before their first birthdays, but estimates that less than five per cent do. The association reports that only 15 to 20 per cent of children receive a comprehensive eye exam before entering school.

"Parents are not aware of the link between good vision and a child's learning ability," said Dorrie Morrow, an Alberta optometrist and chairwoman of the association's children's vision initiative. "We don't wait until our children's teeth fall out to take them to a dentist. We don't wait until they turn blue to make sure they're breathing properly. It just baffles me."

Morrow says many parents believe that if their children don't need glasses, their eyes are fine. But that's not always true; there are numerous eye disorders, including CI, someone can have while maintaining 20-20 vision.

According to a 2006 Canadian Journal of Optometry report, an estimated 25 per cent of children 18 years old or younger are affected by some form of vision impairment.

"Every day, there are instances when a child's visual skills are holding them back from their full potential," said Morrow.

CI can be particularly challenging for young students, says Morrow, because the inability to see things clearly at close range severely inhibits their ability to learn.

"Most of a child's learning takes place in that 12 to 13 inches range. That's a child's world when they start school."

During her residency years ago, Morrow gave eye exams to teenage boys who lived in a group home for children with social problems. She found that 75 to 80 per cent of the teenagers she examined had visual skill problems.

"Those boys never had a chance to succeed academically, so they looked for another outlet. That changed my life. It's not just academics; it's giving your child the best possible start."

In 2003, Morrow led a year-long pilot project in Alberta called Eye See, Eye Learn. Optometrists teamed with school boards in the province to educate parents on the importance of having their children's eyes tested. The percentage of children who received eye exams jumped from about 15 per cent to more than 50 per cent.

"We were not refused by one school board," said Morrow. "Now it's provincewide."

The next step, says Morrow, is to take the program national. Many provinces have already shown interest.

"Every child starting school should have at least one comprehensive eye exam. They deserve that."

State files suit, levies fines over psychiatrist burning medical records

From this report

The state filed a lawsuit Wednesday and levied fines of $1 million against the owner of a Salem Township property where huge piles of burning medical records were found in August.

The seven-count complaint, filed by Attorney General Mike Cox for the state Department of Community Health, cites Dr. Soon K. Kim and his companies - Quality Health Plan and Signature Healthcare Services Inc. - for burning piles of records, some as large as a van, in violation of the public health code and privacy laws. Also named in as a co-defendant in the lawsuit was Dong Won (David) Kim.

The fines were imposed by the state Department of Community Health against Kim and Quality Health Plan for the improper disposal of health records.

The 415-acre property, at 6646 Six Mile Road, belongs to Soon Kim. He owned the bankrupt Greater Detroit Hospital, also known as North Detroit General Hospital. Officials said the records contained patient medical information, x-rays, and Social Security numbers.

Kim and his attorney, Laura Sanders, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Kim has had a medical license as a psychiatrist in Michigan since 1973.

The suit alleges that on Aug. 29, David Kim was burning at least three large bonfires on the Salem Township property, and told police that Sanders told him to do it. The suit said David Kim had been dumping and burning on the Salem Township property since October or November 2006.

Some of the records, according to the suit, were blowing onto other properties.

The state is seeking a preliminary injunction against burning any other medical records, and an order asking for the address and owner of all locations from which the records were taken. The state also wants information about who created the records, how many were destroyed, how far back the records went, and a description of what was destroyed.

The lawsuit asks that Kim be ordered to hire a reputable disposal company to destroy the records, and to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to determine whether the site was contaminated by burning the x-rays.

A criminal investigation into the burning, which is illegal under both privacy and toxic waste laws, remains open, officials said.

The lawsuit can be downloaded from this link

Food additives may cause problems misdiagnosed as ADD/ADHD

This is a case where children's behavior deteriorates due to something they ate, something that is essentially acting as a poison. This decline in behavior is then diagnosed as a disease. This is a misdiagnosis, but the report doesn't make the connection. As seen on Reuters See also the WSJ Health Blog report

Certain artificial food colorings and other additives can worsen hyperactive behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, British researchers reported on Wednesday.

Tests on more than 300 children showed significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives, Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton said.

"These findings show that adverse effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity (such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population and across the range of severities of hyperactivity," the researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical journal.

Stevenson's team, which has been studying the effects of food additives in children for years, made up two mixtures to test in one group of 3-year-olds and a second group of children aged 8 and 9.

They included sunset yellow coloring, also known as E110; carmoisine, or E122; tartrazine, or E102; ponceau 4R, or E124; the preservative sodium benzoate, or E211; and other colors.

One of the two mixtures contained ingredients commonly drunk by young British children in popular drinks, they said. They did not specify what foods might include the additives.

Both mixtures significantly affected the older children. The 3-year-olds were most affected by the mixture that closely resembled the average intake for children that age, Stevenson's team reported.

"The implications of these results for the regulation of food additive use could be substantial," the researchers concluded.

ONGOING DEBATE

The issue of whether food additives can affect children's behavior has been controversial for decades.

Benjamin Feingold, an allergist, has written books arguing that not only did artificial colors, flavors and preservatives affect children but so did natural salicylate compounds found in some fruits and vegetables.

Several studies have contradicted this notion.

Stevenson's team made up several batches of fruit drinks and carefully watched the children after they drank them. Some did not contain the additives.

The children varied in their responses but in general reacted poorly to the cocktails, Stevenson's team reported.

"We have found an adverse effect of food additives on the hyperactive behavior of 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children," they wrote.

Dr. Sue Baic, a registered dietitian at the University of Bristol, said in a statement: "This is a well designed and potentially very important study."

"It supports what dietitians have known for a long time, that feeding children on diets largely consisting of heavily processed foods which may also be high in fat, salt or sugar is not optimal for health."

[...]

Prozac 'found in drinking water'

Via the BBC

Traces of the antidepressant Prozac can be found in the nation's drinking water, it has been revealed.

An Environment Agency report suggests so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building up in rivers and groundwater.

A report in Sunday's Observer says the government's environment watchdog has discussed the impact for human health.

A spokesman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said the Prozac found was most likely highly diluted.

'Alarming'

The newspaper says environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the evidence.

It quotes the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, Norman Baker MP, as saying the picture emerging looked like "a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public".

He says: "It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water."

Experts say the anti-depression drug gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage water.

Prescriptions increase

The DWI said the Prozac (known technically as fluoxetine) was unlikely to pose a health risk as it was so "watered down".

The Observer says the revelations raise new fears over how many prescriptions for the drug are given out by doctors.

In the decade leading up to 2001, the number of prescriptions for antidepressants went up from nine million per year to 24 million per year, says the paper.

The Environment Agency report concluded that the Prozac in the water table could be potentially toxic and said the drug was a "potential concern".

The exact amount of Prozac in the nation's drinking water is not known.

ADHD drugs: oversold and overused

A Report on the unashamed over-advertising of ADHD medications, via the Baltimore Sun

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Time to pick out a backpack, sneakers and a stimulant medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, which is marked by poor concentration, lack of self-control and/or hyperactivity. Besides time off from school, many kids with ADHD get a summer "vacation" from the prescription medications that help them focus in class.

So August has become a prime time to market the idea that a change in drug for the new school year (Concerta to Adderall?) might help the kids focus better, keep them going longer or have fewer side effects. Direct-to-parent marketing of ADHD drugs - most of which are stimulants - has grown pervasive over the last few years, despite a United Nations treaty banning most of it. Use of such medications increased by more than 60 percent from 2001 to 2005, according to the International Narcotics Control Board.

This month's homemaker-targeted magazines, such as Family Circle, Woman's Day and Redbook, feature advertising spreads for Vyvanse, Shire US Inc.'s new entry in the growing stable of ADHD medications. The ads show "Consistent Kevin through the day, even through homework," picturing a well-groomed boy smiling as he wields his pencil through a worksheet, and "Consistent Sarah," who even at 6 p.m. contentedly pecks away at the piano keys.

ADDitude magazine, published for people with ADHD, has ads for four medications. One ad touts a flavored, chewable form of methylphenidate with the slogan, "Give me the grape." (Methylphenidate is best known under the trade name Ritalin, which is not among those drugs advertised.)

Ads for candy-flavored methylphenidate are a far cry from the vision set forth in 1971 by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. So far, 159 countries, including the United States, have agreed to ban consumer-targeted marketing of psychotropic medications - which all these ADHD drugs are - that carry the potential for addiction or dependency. For decades, pharmaceutical companies abided by its provisions.

But in 2001, one company began buying ads in the September issue of women's magazines in the United States to draw attention to Metadate CD, a long-acting form of methylphenidate. Other companies quickly followed suit.

Called on the carpet by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, lawyers for the drug companies vowed to defend themselves under the umbrella of First Amendment speech rights. According to former DEA officials, the Department of Justice was unwilling to test this one in court.

Six years later, the results are drastic. Doctors and therapists increasingly see parents seeking to change their child's medication or coming in with their own diagnosis of ADHD and suggestions for medications they have seen advertised. Many of the companies offer coupons for a free-trial supply.

Children in the United States are 10 times more likely to take a stimulant medication for ADHD than are kids in Europe. In fairness, children in Europe are also somewhat less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD because of a stricter set of criteria. But that doesn't nearly account for the difference in prescription rates. The United States, the only nation to violate the U.N. treaty, consumes about 85 percent of the stimulants manufactured for ADHD.

Though the drugs do not appear to be habit-forming in children with ADHD, there's a rising black market for methylphenidate and similar drugs. A report last year by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that teenage abuse of prescription stimulants was rising.

Drug companies would argue that increased production and use of ADHD drugs are the result of better diagnosis and treatment. But the International Narcotics Control Board holds advertising responsible. In a report earlier this year, the board noted that from 2001 - when the ads first appeared - to 2005, medical consumption of methylphenidate increased by 64 percent.

The Food and Drug Administration should move forward with rules to bring the United States into compliance - in conjunction with the Justice Department. There's legitimate debate about Americans' rush to diagnose and medicate children who fall problematically outside the norm. In some cases, the drugs are the only thing that keeps a child from being expelled for aggressive behavior, or falling into the foster-care system, or believing that he is an impossibly bad or stupid kid. Yet other countries are making do with far less of the medications.

Powerful psychotropic medications should be an option of last resort and uninfluenced deliberation, not another brand-name product to add to the back-to-school shopping list.

Karin Klein, an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, where this article originally appeared, is writing a book tracking the ADD generation as it reaches adulthood.

ADHD Misdiagnosis Checklist

A valuable resource from the website of Dr. Mary Ann Block. We remind people that we ourselves are not medical doctors, and do not offer any medical diagnosis. People with concerns about ADD/ADHD are encouraged to seek out competent medical care capable of checking out the issues presented below before making important decisions.

---

ADHD Misdiagnosis Checklist

A "Yes" answer to any of the following questions may indicate a health or learning problem that is causing ADHD-like symptoms.

Part 1

• Does your child eat a lot of sugary products, even at breakfast? Y or N
  
• Does your child drink a lot of caffeinated soft drinks? Y or N
  
• Does your child eat a lot of chocolate? Y or N
  
• Does your child wake up in the morning in a bad mood and then feels better after eating? Y or N
  
• Does your child have trouble waiting to eat? Y or N
  
• Does your child exhibit a "Jekyl and Hyde" personality where she/he is sweet one moment and then angry and hard to handle the next? Y or N
  

Part 2

• Does your child have airborne allergies? Y or N
  
• Does your child have allergies to animals such as dogs, cats, etc.? Y or N
  
• Does your child have chronic respiratory infections? Y or N
  
• Does your child complain of headaches? Y or N
  
• Does your child suddenly change from alert to sleepy even though she/he is rested? Y or N
  
• Does your child's behavior change radically when in certain stores such as grocery stores or linen stores that have fragrances? Y or N
  
• Do you or anyone in your household smoke? Y or N
  
• Do you use air fresheners, plug-ins or sprays or fragrant cleaners in your home? Y or N
  
• Do you have your carpets cleaned often? Y or N
  
• Do you use insecticide in your home or have an exterminator? Y or N
  
• Do your household cleaning products contain fragrances? Y or N
  

Part 3

• My child does not like to read. Y or N
  
• Does your child complain about how things feel, like clothing? "It feels scratchy." Y or N
  
• Does your child not listen well, but hearing tests are normal? Y or N
  
• Does your child seem disorganized but knows where things are? Y or N
  
• Does your child prefer to do projects and presentations over written reports? Y or N
  
• Does your child have difficulty remembering left from right? Y or N
  
• My child is not very coordinated or good at sports. Y or N
  
• My child has difficulty throwing a ball into an intended receptacle, such as a basketball into an intended receptacle or a paper wad into the garbage can? Y or N
  
• My child touches everything of interest. Y or N
  
• My child seems to get confused when asked to follow simple directions. Y or N
  
• My child has trouble with handwriting. Y or N
  
• My child has difficulty remembering more than one verbal request at a time. Y or N
  
• My child has difficulty understanding cause and effect - does not seem to understand simple consequences to specific actions. Y or N
  

Part 4

• Is your child a picky eater? Y or N
  
• Does your child limit his/her foods to only a few? Y or N
  
• Does your child refuse to eat fruits or vegetables? Y or N
  
• Is your child overweight? Y or N
  
• Does your child eat a lot of "fast foods"? Y or N
  
• Does your child eat a lot of processed foods such as cookies, cakes, white breat, potato chips, etc.? Y or N
  
• Does your child have difficulty sleeping or waking up in the morning feeling rested? Y or N
  
• Does your child bruise or bleed easily but your doctor does not consider it to be a medical problem? Y or N
  
• Are your child's nails cracked, brittle or discolored? Y or N
  
• Does your child take a lot of medications? Y or N
  

Part 5

• Has your child been prescribed a lot of antibiotics in the past ? Y or N
  
• Does your child eat a lot of sugar and processed carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta? Y or N
  
• Does your child eat a lot of the following foods:
  
  ______Mushrooms
  ______Dry Roasted Nuts
  ______Commercial Soups
  ______Bacon
  ______Apple Cider
  ______Barbecue Potato Chips
  ______White Flour
  ______Soy Sauce and Tofu
  ______Vinegar and all foods containing vinegar, including salad dressing, pickled vegetables, green olives, and sauerkraut
  ______Processed meats such as dried and smoked meat, sausage, hot dogs, luncheon meats
  
  

Part 6

• Does your child have allergies? Y or N
  If the answer is yes, please read the following:
  
  
  • Annals of Allergy, 1993 concluded that allergies by themselves may cause learning impairment.
    
  • Children with allergies performed less successfully, across the board, than children who did not have allergies.
    
  • These children should not have to take tests during their allergy season unless the allergies can be under control.
    
  • Allergies: WIth elimination of allergic foods, artificial colors, preservatives and caffeine, more than half exhibited improvement in behavior. Pediactrics, 1989
    

"Yes" answers in any or all of the sections are quite common in children misdiagnosed with ADHD.

A "Yes" answer in Part 1 may indicate a possible sugar level problem.
A "Yes" answer in Part 2 may indicate a sensitivity to household and everday chemicals.
A "Yes" answer in Part 3 may indicate a potential learning problem or a learning difference.
A "Yes" answer in Part 4 may indicate nutritional deficiencies.
A "Yes" answer in Part 5 may indicate a possible yeast problem.

When the underlying problems are identified and fixed, the attention and behavior problems usually resolve. No one should treat symptoms with psychiatric drugs, which carry a risk of serious side-effects, while ignoring the possible health and learning problems that may be causing the symptoms.

Pesticides And Schools: A 'Tragic' Health Hazard with links to ADHD and other diseases

From a news release issued by Indiana University.

Pesticides in schools are a pervasive, unnecessary health hazard, said Marc Lame, an entomologist and professor in Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

"Over 80 percent of schools in America are applying pesticides on a regular basis, whether they have a pest problem or not," he said. "This is tragic not only because of the well-documented link between pesticides and health problems in children, such as asthma and neurological disorders, but also because pesticides generally do not work in a preventive manner in the school environment. Applying pesticides does not prevent pests from coming in, so using them when pests are not present does nothing other than expose children and staff to toxic chemicals."

The most widely used insecticides are nerve poisons, which cause nerves to fire in an uncontrolled manner and disrupt endocrine (hormone) systems, Lame said. Prolonged exposure to these chemicals can result in similar effects on the human nervous system, with symptoms ranging from vomiting to severe breathing problems.

Although research is limited, these endocrine disrupting pesticides are suspected in problems ranging from ADHD to autism to infertility, Lame said. Exposure during childhood carries the greatest risk. "The thing to remember is that it is not just a question of children being smaller than adults and getting more exposure pound-for-pound. The even more serious issue is that their nervous systems are still developing, so they are especially susceptible to nerve poisons," he said.

Lame said pest problems are better managed with an integrated approach that involves recognition and remediation of conditions that attract pests or allow pests to enter facilities. "It's common sense pro-action rather than toxic reaction," he said. Lame serves as a consultant for schools and environmental health agencies around the country, helping them implement such programs through a process known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

The misery industry that wants us to think we're all going mad

An Opinion piece from the Daily Mail

No sooner had Jade Goody checked out of the Priory - where, of course, she'd had to go for 'treatment' because people were being horrid to her - than Robbie Williams woke up on Tuesday and decided to celebrate his 33rd birthday in style: he checked himself into a clinic, because the medicines his doctor had been prescribing him were making him altogether too warm and fuzzy.

Meanwhile, as Robbie slipped into his designer straitjacket, psychologist Oliver James was holding forth on Radio 4' s You And Yours on the subject of 'Affluenza', which is not only the natty name he has given to an ailment of his very own invention, but also the title of his new book.

The programme's host was pleased to help out. 'We may be better off as a nation,' he intoned, 'but are we really happy?'

He then summed up 'affluenza' as follows 'A contagious, middle-class virus, causing depression, anxiety, addiction and ennui' - which, by the way, we deserve because we place too high a value on money, possessions, appearance and fame.

So that's Goody, Williams, thee and me all bang to rights then.

What was hard to believe, however, was that as James continued to spout forth on the subject, he went wholly unchallenged. He used, with unquestioned authority, the word 'virus' over and over again, for all the world as if he were talking about bird flu (memo to You And Yours: a virus is an infectious particle with a core of DNA enclosed in a protein shell - it is not a pattern of social behaviour as presumed by a media-friendly shrink).

But here is the best bit: according to James, the English-speaking Western world - which is to say, basically, us and the Yanks - is twice as likely to suffer a mental illness as those in mainland Europe; indeed, some 26.4 per cent, compared with 11.5 per cent, in the past 12 months alone. 'Think,' he thundered, 'how serious this is!'

I'll tell you what's serious - and that is that anybody at all, let alone the better brains at the BBC, is prepared to allow the 'fact' to be broadcast that a quarter of us, in any given year, are bonkers.

What's serious is that the English-speaking Western world, about which Mr James purports to be so concerned, has become the home of the pernicious misery industry that thrives on taking common-or-garden, everyday unhappiness, turning it into an 'illness' - and then selling us the 'treatment' for it, be that in costly drug form or in the lucrative counselling trade that boasts upwards of 10,000 practitioners in its well-paid army.

Or, of course, in books that profit all manner of Oliver Jameses.

What's serious is that we're sitting back and letting it happen to us. There is, let us be very clear, such a thing as depressive illness. If you have experienced it or even been close to somebody who has, you will know what a godawful, destructive thing it is and you will agree that all stops must be pulled out for genuine sufferers.

But that is a world away from the 'experts' bent on persuading us that we are all ill, before laughing their way to the bank with the proceeds.

In a single generation, we have been suckered out of our reserves of inner strength into a blind acceptance that poor, fragile little us simply cannot cope without them.

Once upon a time, though, not so long ago, we knew what unhappiness was: it was the thing that ruined a day, a week or a month between the sun that shone before it and the sun that would shine again when it moved on.

It was a natural, healthy response to rotten things happening, most usually to a loss: a love lost, a job lost, a beloved dog lost to the kennel in the sky.

Most of us found our way through it, buoyed by the experience that promised us this, too, shall pass. Wet nights weeping, maybe; long and solitary walks; the comfort of a friend's ear; the slightly heavier-than-usual hand when pouring a drop of Scotch.

Then along came the clever clogs who spotted a gap in the market that sold us all the rest of our comforts: just as we might not put up with cold in winter (central heating) or heat in summer (air conditioning) or hard labour (household appliances), so we could buy our way out of the discomfort of misery.

Even our children now think not only that they have a right to the pursuit of happiness, but a right to attain it, too. If they're slow to make friends or frustrated by school, if they are bored, restless, lonely, sad or worried by the world around them - reach for the Ritalin, Mum. The bill's in the post.

The frightening thing about the misery industry is that it is self-perpetuating. Every time professional help is accepted, natural resilience is eroded that bit more. We lose faith in the instinctive ability to cope that has made us the most powerful species in the known universe and retreat, instead, into the welcoming arms of defeat.

Right now, the captains of this industry must be laughing themselves silly. They don't really want us to feel better; if we did, they'd be out of a job. What use to a shrink is a happy soul? Naturally, he will always discover new 'issues' that, in his professional opinion, we haven't dealt with.

Where would Oliver James, or any other self-help author, be if the nation were shorn of its 'virus of depression, anxiety, addiction and ennui'?

It's hardly surprising that his advised solutions, among them capping top earners and taking a nought off all house prices, are totally unrealisable.

There is no point, mind, in laying all the blame for our increasing dependence upon those who profit from it. We are being suckered, but only because we are suckers.

I am not prepared to believe we are twice as likely to be mentally ill as mainland Europeans; I am prepared to believe that we have emulated our American cousins by calling ourselves mentally ill every time we feel a little less than chipper.

Can you imagine the average Italian flopping into a clinic because his girlfriend left him? Neither can I. He'd be more likely to weep copiously, in a lusty, manly manner, then cheer himself up with a new Prada suit.

By contrast - and if you really want depressing, this is it - Sky News assured us this week that Robbie Williams will be all right because, 'last time he went into rehab, he emerged with his marketing image reinvigorated'. Good grief!

Much as I would hate to return to the Dark Ages when revealing our insecurities was treated as shameful, isn't there some sensible ground between feeling shame if you can't cope and taking pride that you won't?

The Drug Pushers

An extended article from the Atlantic Monthly on the changing role of pharmacutical drug reps selling their wares to your friendly local doctor. Here are some snippets:

Drug reps have been calling on doctors since the mid-nineteenth century, but during the past decade or so their numbers have increased dramatically. From 1996 to 2001 the pharmaceutical sales force in America doubled, to a total of 90,000 reps. One reason is simple: good reps move product. Detailing is expensive, but almost all practicing doctors see reps at least occasionally, and many doctors say they find reps useful. One study found that for drugs introduced after 1997 with revenues exceeding $200 million a year, the average return for each dollar spent on detailing was $10.29. That is an impressive figure. It is almost twice the return on investment in medical-journal advertising, and more than seven times the return on direct-to-consumer advertising.

---

Most people who work in health care, if they give drug reps any thought at all, regard them with mixed feelings. A handful avoid reps as if they were vampires, backing out of the room when they see one approaching. In their view, the best that can be said about reps is that they are a necessary by-product of a market economy. They view reps much as NBA players used to view Michael Jordan: as an awesome, powerful force that you can never really stop, only hope to control.

---

Gene Carbona was almost a criminal. I know this because, thirty minutes into our first telephone conversation, he told me, “Carl, I was almost a criminal.” I have heard ex–drug reps speak bluntly about their former jobs, but never quite so cheerfully and openly. These days Carbona works for The Medical Letter, a highly respected nonprofit publication (Carbona stresses that he is speaking only for himself), but he was telling me about his twelve years working for Merck and then Astra Merck, a firm initially set up to market the Sweden-based Astra’s drugs in the United States. Carbona began training as a rep in 1988, when he was only eleven days out of college. He detailed two drugs for Astra Merck. One was a calcium-channel blocker he calls “a dog.” The other was the heartburn medication Prilosec, which at the time was available by prescription only.

---

But Carbona was in a class of his own. He had access to so much money for doctors that he had trouble spending it all. He took residents out to bars. He distributed “unrestricted educational grants.” He arranged to buy lunch for the staff of certain private practices every day for a year. Often he would invite a group of doctors and their guests to a high-end restaurant, buy them drinks and a lavish meal, open up the club in back, and party until 4:00 a.m. “The more money I spent,” Carbona says, “the more money I made.” If he came back to the restaurant later that week with his wife, everything would be on the house. “My money was no good at restaurants,” he told me, “because I was the King of Happy Hour.”

---

My favorite Carbona story, the one that left me shaking my head in admiration, took place in Tallahassee. One of the more important clinics Carbona called on was a practice there consisting of about fifty doctors. Although the practice had plenty of patients, it was struggling. This problem was not uncommon. When the movement toward corporate-style medicine got under way, in the 1980s and 1990s, many doctors found themselves ill-equipped to run a business; they didn’t know much about how to actually make money. (“That’s why doctors are such great targets for Ponzi schemes and real-estate scams,” Carbona helpfully points out.) Carbona was detailing this practice twice a week and had gotten to know some of the clinicians pretty well. At one point a group of them asked him for help. “Gene, you work for a successful business,” Carbona recalls them saying. “Is there any advice you could give us to help us turn the practice around?” At this point he knew he had stumbled upon an extraordinary opportunity.

---

A detailed story about a slippery slope, and the ride to the bottom of it.

Urbanites more likely to get ADHD stimulants

From the New Zealand Herald

City dwellers are five times more likely to be prescribed hyperactivity stimulants than people living in remote areas, research shows.

A new study analysing prescription rates for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications in Western Australia has found a big geographical variation.

The state has historically much higher rates of prescribing psycho-stimulants such as Ritalin than the rest of Australia.

Of the 15,690 people prescribed the ADHD drugs in 2003, about half were boys, and another quarter were adult men. Women and girls made up the other 25 per cent.

The University of Western Australia researchers found that only 3 per cent came from remote areas, a significantly low proportion when adjusted for population numbers.

And boys from poor families had a much higher rate of stimulant use than their better-off counterparts.

Adults had the biggest discrepancy, with city dwellers about five times more likely to be prescribed Ritalin or another stimulant treatment, dexamphetamine.

Marine Scientists Report Massive 'Dead Zones'

Are cause by accumulation of human and industrial waste products in the ocean. Why is this being reported on this website? Well, there are certain special side effects, as seen in this report

Such waste can contain high levels of toxic chemicals, heavy metals and excreted pharmaceuticals. The latter pose risks that are only beginning to be understood. Emerging research shows negative impacts on marine life from residues of birth control and antidepressant drugs like Prozac even at extremely low concentrations of less than one part per billion.

"The big unknown" is what effect these pharmaceutical residues might have on chronically exposed plants, animals and people, Christian Daughton, chief of the environmental chemistry branch at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been reported as saying.

All this negative impact, and yet we still insist on ingesting these things into our bodies.

Ongoing Re-Developement Plans for Closed Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center and Grounds

The Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center (HVPC) in Wingdale, New York was was closed in February 1994 by then NY governor Mario Cuomo. Various groups have been involved in the plans to sell off the facility, and on Nov. 17, 1999 the sale was approved for $3.95 million to TP Enterprises LLC, now Pearson Partners. The development options include residential facilities, senior living facility, retail, office and/or light industrial facilities. In November 1999 the office of Governor George Pataki said that these developments could bring more than $80 million in private sector investment and creation of more than 500 jobs to the surrounding area. Today, there is a nine-hole golf course that is used by the Harlem Valley Golf Club. There are 70-acres set aside for agricultural use and two of the area's most important environmental resources, the Swamp River and the Great Swamp, are on the grounds. The Application Trail, which passes through the property, is surrounded by a federal easement . The site has made it into the local papers with the prospects of further development involving the Harlem Valley Partnership, which has been working with the buyer to develop a list of grants that could be used towards the redevelopment of the property. The Partnership has been even been in contact with a nationally-known artist to house a huge mural on the grounds.