Image
© Alliance for Natural Health
Some doctors are now prescribing long-term ADHD medications to low-income kids who don't have ADHD - simply to boost academic performance.

One physician, Dr. Michael Anderson of Canton, Georgia, calls ADHD a "made up" disorder, "an excuse" for doctors to prescribe Adderall to treat poor academic performance in inadequate schools. According to a disturbing article in the New York Times, increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in low-income areas - even though the child may not have ADHD - because the drugs are thought to help the kids achieve higher grades.


Comment: Read the following articles for more information about how 'increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in low-income areas and foster kids':

Adderall may seem to help kids improve their grades. It is in the class of drugs called amphetamines which are also called "speed." But they are also highly dangerous and controlled substances with recognized side effects including growth suppression, increased blood pressure, and in some cases psychotic episodes: seeing people and hearing voices that are not there, and feeling suicidal.


Comment: Another excellent example of Big Pharma's Crooked Crusade to Push Pills on Little Kids:
Every year, pharmaceutical companies spend billions to get doctors to prescribe drugs to children. Johnson & Johnson even distributes tons of Legos that advertise its latest anti-psychotic, which causes diabetes, weight gain, and even breasts in boys and girls who take it.

In the past decade, America's pharmaceutical industry has knowingly marketed dozens of dangerous drugs to millions of children, a group that executives apparently view as a lucrative, untapped market for their products. Most kids have no one to look out for their interests except anxious parents who put their trust in doctors. As it turns out, that trust is often misplaced. Big Pharma spends massive amounts to entertain physicians, send them on luxury vacations and ply them with an endless supply of free products. As a result, hundreds of thousands of American kids - some as young as three years old - have become dependent on amphetamines like Adderall and a pharmacopeia of other drugs that allegedly treat depression, insomnia, aggression and other mental health disorders.
  • "I think in 10 years time we will ask ourselves what we were thinking giving these children amphetamines."



If a child has real, not phony, ADHD or ADD, better, more natural alternatives exist to treat it. There's also a promising new treatment to add to the list: neurofeedback training.

Even when doctor and patient reject a more natural approach and want to use a drug, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Human beings have important differences, and not just the obvious ones of age or gender; differences which are currently ignored in drug research.

For example, SSRIs and the smoking cessation drug Champix have been linked to suicides or violence - results which could reflect genetic variations that make the drugs metabolize poorly. Consider this:
  • The primary metabolism of many drugs is governed by cytochrome P450 (CYP), a group of enzymes in many tissues including the intestines and liver. If someone is lacking one of these CYP enzymes, they may be unable to detoxify their body from SSRIs and other drugs, leading to psychotic episodes.
  • Other people are deficient in glutathione (or may be lacking a glutathione gene altogether), the molecule that helps detoxify the body, acts as an antioxidant, and strengthens the immune system.
  • Other genetic variations affect drug transporters and receptors.
In other words, no medication should be given to all patients as a kind of panacea - least of all children with their growing brains and immune systems. Drugs should always be carefully tailored to an individual's specific needs.