Your name, website, phone
number, and contact info here
Please bear in mind that this is an issue which is very charged. It is an issue that has
been mired in controversy for a number of years. Your friends will most likely have
their own perspective and so will you. The difficulty is that this is a very emotional
topic and one that somehow makes people become dogmatic and dig their heels in.
Why? Because it deals with our children!
So, let’s continue the topic of ADHD that we started in the December Issue:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Cont’d):
The late Dr. Robert Mendelson, M.D., one of the
most respected and trusted pediatricians in North
America, and a self-proclaimed medical “heretic” felt
that it could be our perception that may be at fault.
“Is it the child who is hyperactive,” he asked, “or is it
that the average earthling is no longer excited about
life?” Interesting
thought.
Your name,
website, phone
and
contact
info
And somenumber,
authorities,
Breggin
being
onehere
of them,
feel that ADHD should be renamed to “DADD—Dad
Attention Deficit Disorder.” The feeling is that a lack
of parental attention and lack of discipline could be
the cause.
Hmmmmm.........
To treat this strange, new “affliction,” children are most often placed on the drug Ritalin, or others,
categorized as a Class II narcotic.
To bring this into perspective, Class I drugs are those substances that even a licensed physician can’t
prescribe, eg: Heroin, LSD, etc. Class II are those substances that are also addictive but may have some
limited medical value, eg: Ritalin, Cocaine, etc. Class III and IV are substances that have the potential for
abuse, such as Valium, etc.
I also need to add that there are other drugs used to treat ADHD and are placed in the same classification.
As parents, you may not realize that Ritalin is highly addictive and that is why it is placed under the same
classification as cocaine. Ritalin is a psychotropic drug; it alters behaviour and a child’s perception of the
world. The purpose of this drug is to force the child to obey (It also has another, more sinister purpose,
which will become all too clear as you read on). I feel it robs children of their individuality and I wonder if
we are not turning our children into robots!
In his book, Talking Back to Ritalin, Dr. Peter
Breggin notes that there is evidence Ritalin can
cause permanent damage to a child’s brain and its
function. “Pediatricians, parents, and teachers are
not aware of these hazards, because the ill effects of
this drug have been ignored and suppressed, in
order to encourage the sale of this drug.” Nice.
There have been very few conclusive research
studies done on the long-term effects of Ritalin,
however, Johnson and Stewart found that:
1. 83% of children had trouble with frequent
lying.
2. 60% of children were still overactive and
rebellious.
3. 59% had contact with police.
4. 52% were destructive.
5. 34% threatened to kill their parents. (This is
definitely a no-no!)
6. 15% contemplated suicide.
Definitely not popular side effects!
Let’s look at some of the physiological effects of Ritalin:
1. Decreased blood flow to the brain, an effect recently also shown to be caused by cocaine. It is
associated with impaired thinking ability and memory loss.
2. Disruption of growth hormone, leading to suppression of growth
3. Possible shrinkage (atrophy) or other permanent physical abnormalities in the brain.
4. Decreased ability to learn (which is one of the reasons for the drug in the first place).
Are there any side-effects? Plenty.
There are cases where a child has suddenly collapsed from a heart attack caused by long-term Ritalin
use. This was the finding of the medical examiner who investigated the sudden death of a young
Michigan boy. Ritalin, over time, causes changes in the small blood vessels that supply the heart
muscles with blood and oxygen.
As you may have guessed, the conclusions of the medical examiner who arrived at these findings were
hotly debated. Experts feel that Ritalin is very “safe” and that there is no need for concern because
such cases are rare and statistically insignificant. They are indeed. However, it is very significant to the
families who lost their children! Don’t you just love politics?
“Ritalin and other stimulants are currently prescribed to millions of children in the hope of
improving their supposed hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity,” Dr. Breggin warns. He presents
evidence that these drugs “work” by producing robotic or zombie-like behaviour in children.
This enforced docility and obedience can produce a few weeks of subdued behaviour but has no
positive effect on academic achievement and no positive long-term effects at all. Contrary to claims by
drug advocates, giving Ritalin to a child does not help prevent future problems such as school failure or
delinquency, he emphasizes.
Ritalin’s lack of effectiveness has been proven by hundreds of studies, but has not been revealed to
doctors, teachers or parents. “Parents and teachers and even doctors have been badly misled by drug
company marketing practices,” says Breggin. “Drug companies have targeted children as the new
market.” (I will continue our discussion of ADHD next month. Stay with me!)
100 Ways to live to 100:
5. Eat a “power breakfast”
Those who consume a large proportion of their total calorie intake in the morning eat
significantly less over the course of the day, which helps to treat or prevent obesity. Plus
skipping breakfast increases you chances of a heart attack, high blood pressure and diabetes.
6. Don’t limit saturated fats and don’t ever opt for ‘low fat’ or hydrogenated
foods
The supposedly ‘good fats’ – polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils (corn, soy,
safflower and the like) – appear to predispose people to cancer, whereas animal fats may be
protective, preventing heart disease, osteoporosis and even cancer. Two large studies show
that regularly consuming more saturated fats leads to less disease progression than following
a diet higher in polyunsaturated fats and carbs. But avoid trans fats at all cost – produced by
‘hydrogenation’, when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oil to make it solid at room
temperature – as they’re linked to greater risks of heart disease and stroke. More on
margarine later.
7. Don’t count calories
Keep your weight steady with a glycemic-index diet (or low –GI) diet. When compared
with other diets, the GI diet was the best of all for losing weight. The diet ranks carbs
according to their effect on blood glucose levels. Carbs with a low GI score produce only
small fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels, whereas high – GI foods cause a sudden
sugar rush. Avoid processed foods and ‘white stuff’ – white bread, white sugar and white rice
– as well as fried foods and potatoes in favour of low-GI meats, fish, beans, and most
vegetables – especially green ones.
8. Don’t drink the water
Our entire water supply contains some 350 toxic chemicals plus industrial waste,
disease-carrying microorganisms, chlorine and fluoride, and some 100 pharmaceutical drugs.
Pregnant women drinking the usual heavily chlorinated tap water double their risk of giving
birth to a child with serious defects. Consider installing a reverse osmosis water filter with an
added carbon filter, which will remove just about everything. everything. But as this includes
minerals as well, be sure to supplement.
9. Get you omega-3 to omega-6 ratio right
Avoid an imbalance between the ratio of omeg-3 to omega-6 essential fatty acids
(EFAs), as these fats regulate the major bodily functions, and deficiencies are behind many
degenerative diseases. The optimal ratio is 1 to 1, but the modern Western diet’s usual ratio
is around 1 to 20 in favour of onega-6 EFAs form vegetable oils (like safflower, sunflower and
corn oils). As a general rule, increase you intake of onega-3s (like eicosapentaenoic acid, or
EPA) and reduce you omega -6s (like gamma-linolenic acid). Opt for fish oils and food-grade
flaxseed (or linseed) oil, which is 60 per cent omega-3s.
10. Eat fish with caution
Most are now tainted by industrial waste and high levels of mercury, including ‘farmed’
fish, which have been fed inappropriately with grains. Avoid swordfish, tuna and other deepwater fish, as these are likely to have more mercury than smaller varieties of fish from
shallower waters. Rotating your protein courses will help to minimize your exposure to
specific chemicals.
I will continue this topic over the next issues until we reach 100 points. Please enjoy!
A TRUE INCIDENT
A man walks into a bank in Glasgow and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he
is going to Australia on business for two weeks and needs to borrow £5,000.
The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the canny
Scots lad hands over the keys and documents of his new Ferrari parked on the street in front of
the bank.
The loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.
The bank's Manager and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the rough looking man for using a
£120,000 Ferrari as collateral against a £5000 loan.
An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari in to the bank's underground garage and parks it
there.
Two weeks later, the man returns, repays the £5,000 and the interest, which comes to £15.41.
The loan officer says, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has
worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled.
While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi millionaire. So what
puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow "£5,000?”
The Scotsman replies: "Where else in Glasgow can I park my car for two weeks for only £15.41
and expect it to be there when I return?"
Ah, the mind of the Scotsman... This is why they survive
Morris, a cheerful 82 year old
senior, went to see his doctor for
his physical.
A few days later, the doctor saw
Morris with a gorgeous young
woman on his arm.
The doctor called Morris and said,
“You are really doing well, aren’t
you?”
Morris replied, “Just doin’ what
you said, Doc: ‘Get a hot mamma
and be cheerful!’
The doctor said, “I didn’t say that.
I said, ‘You’ve got a heart murmur.
Be careful!’”
Spicy Danish pastries spark bun fight
Easy on the cinnamon! That advice from Denmark’s
food authority has rankled pastry chefs whose cinnamon
rolls were found to violate the European Union’s spice
rules.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration
recently discovered that Danish cinnamon rolls and
twists contained more coumarin than EU rules allow.
Excessive intake of coumarin can cause liver damage.
So the agency asked Danish bakers to reduce
the amount of cinnamon they sprinkle in the dough for
sweet treats such as the “kanelsnegel” (cinnamon roll)
and “kanelstang” (cinnamon twist).
Danish bakers protested, saying the EU limit is
too strict, and would make it hard, if not impossible, to
make their cherished pastries.
The EU limit for so-called “fine baked goods” is
set at 15 milligrams of coumarin per kilogram of pastry.
The Danish agency found last year that more than half
of the 74 food samples it took from bakeries,
supermarkets and importers contained more coumarin
than that.
My guess is that you can’t have your pastry and eat it
all!