By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Rachael Droege

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder and rising numbers of children are being found to display the tell-tale symptoms: distractibility, impulsiveness and hyperactivity (with hyperactivity the diagnosis becomes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)). Not surprisingly, the preferred treatments by many physicians are the widespread and well-known stimulant medications like Ritalin. Well over 1 million American children are on drugs for ADHD.

Many kids take the drugs for years, which is akin to a large experiment because the long-term effects are not known. In fact, in a Canadian Medical Association Journal study researchers found that the average length of randomized trials of Ritalin is 3.3 weeks, and the effect of treatment beyond four weeks has not been demonstrated. In other words, no one knows what the long-term effects will be.

Nonetheless, drugs for attention disorders bring in $2.2 billion a year. Although these are already huge profits, they will soon get even bigger because drug companies have discovered a new attention-drug market: adults. There is currently only one ADHD pill--Eli Lilly’s Strattera--on the market that is FDA-approved to treat adults, but others are seeking approval.

Although it is estimated that more than 8 million adults in the United States have ADHD, the disorder is typically thought of as something that is outgrown during adolescence. Why, then, would adults need these drugs? Perhaps it has something to do with one pharmaceutical executive’s statement in a Reuters interview, "The adult market is three times the size of the children's market. The market is ripe and is moving in the right direction."

The logic behind it, which some experts are now echoing, is that lots of adults may have had ADHD as children but were never diagnosed.

The major problem here is not new, but rather is an extension of the same routine often applied to drugs. However, instead of adult drugs being marketed to children, "children’s drugs" will be targeted at adults. But adults have an advantage in this situation in regard to taking drugs: they can refuse. Children, on the other hand, are not able to decide for themselves whether or not to take medication, and, in a sad statement of our world today, parents are often pressured to keep their kids on psychiatric drugs or face allegations of child abuse.

Rather than rely on drugs, both children and adults can use natural methods to address ADHD, and rather than risking the negative side effects that surround most all drugs, if you use natural methods you will actually experience positive and pleasant improvements in all aspects of your health.

Natural Methods to Treat ADHD

The great majority of people would notice amazing improvement in their ADHD by following these three steps:

• Increase intake of omega-3 from fish oil or cod liver oil. Omega-3 oil, specifically the type found in fish oil, is probably the single most important nutrient for someone with ADHD to take. An excellent resource on this topic is Dr. Stoll's book The Omega-3 Connection. He is a Harvard psychiatrist who has done a great job compiling evidence supporting the use of fish oils.

• Drink only water for a beverage, taking care to avoid fruit juices, soda and pasteurized milk.

• Restrict sugars and grains, which cause insulin levels to be elevated.

If this sounds too simple to be true, I encourage you to give it a try and see the results for yourself. No one, no drug company or other corporate conglomeration, has anything to gain but you.

Related Articles:

Maybe Attention Deficit Isn't the Real Problem

Ritalin is More Potent Than Cocaine

US Courts Forcing Parents to Medicate Kids for ADD/ADHD

Does Your Child Have ADHD? Consider Fish Oil Over Ritalin

High U.S. Costs for Treating Attention Disorder

US Congress Told of ADHD Overdiagnosis in Schools