Attention deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Jan, 2003 by Farhang Khosh, Deena Beneda

Environmental illness can play an important role in ADHD. Environmental toxins include everything from molds, dust, and pollens to toxic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, solvents, etc.). All of these toxins have been linked to changes in behavior, perception, cognition or motor ability. Children who have been exposed to lead, arsenic, aluminum, mercury or cadmium can have permanent neurological damage including attention deficits, emotional and behavioral problems. (1)

Nutritional deficiencies have been shown throughout the literature to make a significant impact on the learning and behavior of children. For example, in one study reading skills and IQ tests improved significantly after children started taking multivitamins. (13) Another study showed that learning-disabled children who were placed on vitamin/mineral supplements improved in reading comprehension, their grades improved and those in special education classes were able to become mainstreamed. Those that discontinued the treatment saw their skills drop off, and those who remained on the therapy continued to improve. (14) Research continues to show that poor nutritional habits in children lead to low concentrations of water-soluble vitamins in the blood, impair brain function and subsequently cause violence and other serious antisocial behavior. After correcting the nutrient intake, either by a well-balanced diet or low-dose vitamin/mineral supplementation, this corrected the low concentrations of vitamins in the blood, improved brain function and subsequently lowered institutional violence and antisocial behavior by almost half. (15) The brain and the rest of the body need nutrients for normal vital functioning. Therefore, brain function can be affected by any nutrient deficiency or imbalance. ADHD children often have nutrition deficiencies or imbalances that if corrected can make a significant impact on their behavior. (1)

Zinc deficiency has been noted in children with ADHD. Hyperactive children had significantly lower zinc levels in hair, blood, fingernail and urine compared to the age and sex-matched controls. The yellow food dye tartrazine may bind to zinc in the blood as a chelating agent and reduce levels of zinc in the blood. (16) Another study found that ADHD children with zinc deficiency had a poorer response to amphetamine treatment. (17)

Magnesium was linked with ADHD in a study involving ADHD children with a recognized magnesium deficiency in the blood. In a period of six months, those examined regularly took magnesium preparations in a dose of approximately 200 mg/day. After a period of six months, there was an increase in magnesium content in hair and a significant decrease of hyperactivity compared to their clinical state before the supplementation and the control group, which was not treated with magnesium. (18)

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is an essential component in a majority of the metabolic pathways of amino acids, including decarboxylation pathways for dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin. (1) One study reported that B vitamins improved the behavior of some children with ADHD in comparison to methylphenidate. In addition, it was further investigated giving children who were responsive to methylphenidate, supplementation of B6. In a double blind, multiple crossover trial, each child received placebo, low and high doses of methylphenidate, and low and high doses of B6 in a 21-week period. Results showed that serotonin blood levels increased dramatically on B6, and teacher ratings showed a 90% level of statistical trend in favor of B6 being slightly more effective than methylphenidate. (19)