Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Junk Food and More Drugs

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 16, 2008

Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Junk Food and More Drugs

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n15.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n15.shtml)

 

(OMNS, October 16, 2008) The NY Times Magazine's cover story, " The Bipolar

Kid " (September 14, 2008), is a very bleak article. While emphasizing the

miseries of living with such a child, Jennifer Egan's article offers little

hope

except for ever-increasing doses of lithium. Long on discussions of

definitions and diagnoses, it is remarkably short on treatment alternatives.

Not a

word about diet. Not a word about vitamins. Indeed, in this 9,500 word feature,

describing the daily life of an out-of-control, beyond-ADHD boy, the word

" nutrition " is not mentioned at all. Neither are the words " sugar " or

" caffeine. "

What astounding omissions. Pediatrician Lendon H. Smith, M.D., nationally

famous as " The Children's Doctor, " was very plain in stating that sugar causes

profound mood disorders. He specifically advised parents to give their

children a " sugarless diet without processed foods. " (1) It is not easy. The

Center

for Science in the Public Interest has reported that children between the

ages of six and eleven drink nearly a pint of soda pop a day. 20% of toddlers

drink soda pop, nearly a cup daily. (2) And, of the seven best selling soft

drinks, six have caffeine in them. In sensitive persons, caffeine can cause

psychotic behavior. (3)

Food colorings and benzoate preservatives increase childhood hyperactivity,

according to research published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, June

2004. (4) The study, involving 277 preschool children, also demonstrated that

withdrawing these chemical additives decreased hyperactivity. When additives

were reintroduced, there was once again an increase in hyperactivity.

" Additives do have an effect on overactive behavior independent of baseline

allergic

and behavioral status, " said lead author Dr. J.O. Warner. So many parents, and

any of us who have taught school the day after Halloween, can verify this.

It is possible that the children profiled in the NY Times story are unusual

in that they do not consume any sugar, or any artificial food colorings, or

any benzoate preservatives, or any caffeine-laced soft drinks. But it is much

more likely that they do. The article ignored these important factors even

though health professionals are increasingly aware that the normal functioning

of the brain and nervous system is nutrient-dependent and additive sensitive.

Ian Brighthope, M.D., says, " What is going on in the mind can be influenced

by the nutrients and chemicals going into it. You can't get anywhere with a

patient with psychiatric symptomatology if their brain is hungry, starved, or

poisoned. " (5)

Yet in the entire Times article, the words " allergy " and " junk food " are not

mentioned, not even once. Children's learning and behavior problems often

begin in their parents' grocery carts. Allergist Benjamin Feingold, M.D., was

convinced of the negative effect of food chemicals on children's behavior and

the role of good nutrition in treatment. (6) Says the Feingold Association:

" Numerous studies show that certain synthetic food additives can have serious

learning, behavior, and/or health effects for sensitive people. " (7)

Another word totally absent from the Times article is " vitamin. "

Psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, M.D., has had decades of experience and considerable

success

treating children's behavioral disorders with vitamins. High doses of vitamin

B-3 (niacin, or niacinamide) were first used by Hoffer and colleague Dr.

Humphrey Osmond in the early 1950s. The trials were double-blind and placebo

controlled. Over half a century later, vitamin therapy has still been largely

ignored by the psychiatric profession, and, evidently, by some newspapers.

What a loss to patients and their families. I know and personally observed a

preadolescent who was having serious behavioral problems in school and at

home. Interestingly enough, the child had already been taking

physician-prescribed little bits of niacin, though totaling less than 150

mg/day, but

evidently it wasn't enough to be effective. When tried, drugs (especially

Adderall)

actually made him worse: far more angry and dangerously confrontational. I was

present when his parents had to hold him down while he screamed death

threats at them. In desperation, his mother finally tried giving him 500 mg of

niacin, three times daily (1,500 mg total). There was some improvement. With

about 500 mg every two hours (an astounding 6,000-8,000 mg/day), the boy was a

new person. He was now a cheerful, cooperative, affectionate youngster. Adding

vitamin C and B-6 to his regimen helped even more. His school performance

soared, the teachers loved him, and they repeatedly said so. At age 15, his

maintenance dose was about 3,000 mg/day. He has since graduated from high

school

and is successfully employed. This is exactly in line with what Dr. Hoffer

has repeatedly demonstrated for over 50 years. (8)

People often ask, " If this treatment is so good, how come my doctor doesn't

know about it? How come it is not in the newspaper? " Those are good

questions.

The NY Times should know that reporting one side is not good reporting. To

tell the whole story, we need nutrition. So do bipolar children.

References:

(1) Smith L. Foods for Healthy Kids. Berkley, 1991. ISBN-10: 0425127087;

ISBN-13: 978-0425127087

 

(2) Jacobson MF. Liquid Candy: How soft drinks are harming Americans'

health. _http://www.cspinet.org/sodapop/liquid_candy.htm_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.cs\

pinet.org/sodapop/liquid_

candy.htm) Accessed Sept 18, 2008.

 

(3) Whalen R. Welcome to the dance: caffeine allergy, a masked cerebral

allergy and progressive toxic dementia. Trafford Publishing, 2005. ISBN-10:

1412050006; ISBN-13: 978-1412050005. Reviewed in J Orthomolecular Med, 2005.

Vol

20, No 3, p 215-217 and at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v5n11.rtf_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctor

yourself.com/news/v5n11.rtf) Synopsis at

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/caffeine_allergy.html _

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/caffeine_allergy.html)

 

(4) Bateman B, Warner JO, Hutchinson E et al. The effects of a double blind,

placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative

challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool

children.

Arch Dis Child. 2004. Jun;89(6):506-11.

 

(5) Interview, in the documentary film, Food Matters. Permacology

Productions, 2008. _http://www.foodmatters.tv_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.fo\

odmatters.tv)

 

(6) Feingold BF. Why Your Child is Hyperactive. NY: Random House, 1985.

ISBN: 0394734262. List of Dr. Feingold's publications:

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_feingold.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctoryourself.com/biblio_feingold.html)

 

(7) _http://www.feingold.org/pg-research.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.fe\

ingold.org/pg-research.html)

and _http://www.feingold.org/pg-news.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.fe\

ingold.org/pg-news.html) Free

email newsletter available.

 

(8) Hoffer A. Healing Children's Attention & Behavior Disorders:

Complementary Nutritional and Psychological Treatments. Toronto: CCNM Press,

2004.

ISBN-10: 1897025106; ISBN-13: 978-1897025109. List of Hoffer's publications:

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_hoffer.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctoryourself.com/biblio_hoffer.

html) See also: _http://www.doctoryourself.com/review_hoffer_B3.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=96 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctor

yourself.com/review_hoffer_B3.html)

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight

illness. For more information: _http://www.orthomolecular.org_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org)

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and

non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Damien Downing, M.D.

Harold D. Foster, Ph.D.

Steve Hickey, Ph.D.

Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.

James A. Jackson, PhD

Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D

Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D.

Erik Paterson, M.D.

Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D.

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., Editor and contact person. Email:

_omns_ (omns)

 

 

 

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