Further recommendations for treating ADHD

Misuse of Ritalin is increasing exponentially in Australia according the Australia Data from Poisons Information Centre who reported a 210% increase in ‘Intentional exposures’; ingestion for overdose or recreational reasons rather than therapy.

Professor Louise Newman and co-author Dr Adrian Dunlop have advised that there is also over-diagnosis of ADHD and over prescribing of ADHD drugs especially Ritalin. This contributes to increased rate of poisoning, deliberate overdoses and is further associated with suicide behaviour. Professor Newman also confirmed that some parents are taking their child to a doctor to get the drugs for their own personal use. These actions further highlight the gravity of the problem.

Surely, these findings point to the need of better diagnosis protocols for mainstream conventional care and also a requirement of better treatment regimes for ADHD.

This is also an indication that treatment for mild forms of ADHD should include Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies which include lifestyle advice and food and nutrition advice, which are undeniably important components in the treatment of ADHD.

Benefits of Drinking Tea – Lifestyle advice

There are nearly 9 million new fractures due to osteoporisis worldwide, with an estimated annual cost to our society of  approximately $100 billion  USD.

Black teas has been advised in many Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies as food and nutrition advice for prevention of many diseases For example, in Ayurveda Chai tea has been traditionally advocated as lifestyle advice to improve digestion and from the Ayurvedic perspective improper digestion is the root cause of many disease..

Now researchers have reported that drinking black tea reduces the risk of fractures in older women.

Myers et al carried out a prospective, observational complementary medicine research study of 1,188 women with an average age of 75. The study revealed that having at least 3 cups of tea a day resulted in:
•    34% lower risk of developing a serious osteoporotic fracture
•    42% less chance of sustaining a hip fracture
•    For each 1 cup per day increase in tea intake there was a 9% decrease in the risk of a serious osteoporotic fracture

So how does black tea protect against bone loss?

The most probable mode of action is that the Flavonoids found in black tea inhibit bone resorption and simultaneously stimulate osteoblastic bone formation.

So when you are next at the coffee shop on the way to work in the morning order a cup of black tea instead of coffee for more health benefits.

Grumpy Women Live As Long as Happy Ones

You would think that happier people live longer than miserable folk, however a new complementary medicine research study has reported this is a fallacy in women aged 50 to 69 years.

The study which was published in the Lancet followed 715,000 British women, aged 50 to 69, from 1996 to 2012. During the study, 4% (31, 531) of participants died. Previous studies have linked happiness to longevity but these researchers now say there’s no such scientific connection.

“It’s such a common belief that stress and unhappiness causes death and disease but it’s actually the other way around,” said Professor Richard Peto from University of Oxford, who was one of the study’s authors.

“People should focus on the real issues that shorten their lives, like smoking and obesity.”

It is important to note that there will be future research conducted that will report the contrary. Furthermore, science has yet to determine how to measure happiness, and surely quality of life is an important factor to take into consideration. However, Professor Peto warning that poor lifestyle choices can be detrimental; therefore lifestyle advice is pivotal to good health.

So in the interim it is important that lifestyle advice focuses on preventative.

Yoga therapy is useful in treating PTSD

Doctor with female patient

Many suffer from the anxiety disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although there are pharmaceutical medications that can help these patients, many seek alternative drug-free treatment for a variety of reasons.

For thousands of years Yoga therapy has been a useful Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy in the treatment of anxiety and a recent research study has shown its effectiveness in treating PTSD. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is one of the world’s leading authorities on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Yoga, one of the top ten most widely practiced forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the US. It includes: breathing exercises, asanas, relaxation and mindfulness.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted by van der Kolk et al in 2014 on PTSD. The trial participants suffered with chronic PTSD and were unresponsive to prior PTSD treatment. All participants were female and aged 18-58 years old. In total 64 patients were recruited and were divided into two groups. One group received trauma informed yoga and the other group received educated classes. Each session lasted one hour and 10 sessions were given, one per week (total 10 weeks).

The Yoga Group reported reduced dissociative symptoms, approaching statistical significance. Statistically significant decreases in affect dysregulation and increases in tension reduction activities were also reported by the Yoga Group.

This again highlights the use of incorporating integrative healthcare solutions to combat common stress disorders and the value of exercise lifestyle advice such as Yoga; as reflected by the researchers conclusion; ‘It urges us to expand our more traditional “toolkits” and to embrace the mind-body integration that should help lead to better treatment outcomes and safer communities’.