Evidence of Harm
I think a big part of the reason we see so many more cases today is simply because kids are being diagnosed and treated. Most kids werent dx when we were that age. They were just thought to be troublemakers, lazy etc... That may also explain why you have no family history. It's not that no one had it, they were just never diagnosed. I do believe there are other factors involved in the higher incidence of these disorders, but I think those account for a much smaller percentage. Just my 2 cents.
Kathy
Our son seemed fine before age 4 months, Check out the vaccaine thing there is truth in this. I don't get them do to the reactions I have had.Merck has mislead people to believe not so. They are not to be trusted. The mercury levels can be checked very expensive to do treatments like this. Chealation is what cleans the body of toxins. Been available 50 years in Germany. Our son was blue at birth w/cord around the neck. A injury yes, but had problems before then.Our daughter has had injuries and is fine. I am 42 years old and had trouble ALL MY LIFE!!!!!I started flunking school at age 11.My math scores were 30% and lower.I thought I was THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!!!!I was told I needed to TRY HARDER!!!I was told I was not living up to my potential.And it goes on and on.No matter how hard I trid I JUST COULD NOT KEEP UP!By the time I hit 7th grade I gave up.I started cutting school,started doing drugs etc.etc. I dropped out of high school,Got pregnant, got married had 3 kids,Got divorced,Started using drugs worse than before,started drinking,It was 1 disaster after another.I have now been sober and clean for over 10 years now,But maybe if My mom would have caught on there was something not right with me,Like I caught on to something not right with My daughter,maybe my life would not have been so hard.I found out about 2 years ago that my daughter and I had adhd.She went from a 50 average to an 80 average in NO TIME AT ALL!!!!AMAZING,aint it!Maria 1, The reason why I asked you if your child has ever hit his head is because that is definitley a way to get add.A section of the brain gets the hit and it starts from there.I hope you checked out the amen clinic,like I said you will get alot of answers.Good luck to you and your son.DebbieHas yor son ever had an accident where he has hit his head,Like falling off his bike or falling of his bed.Any hit to the head could cause add.you might be interested in this www.amenclinic.com It is run By a expert in the field.Dr.Daniel amen.You can get soooo much information on the brain,Adhd,add.They even have a good test for add and all the different types.Maria:I have done extensive research into immunizations; many "health nut" types have been reporting for years that there is a connection to immunizations and autism, plus a host of other medical problems - ADHD included.
There are a ton of people who advocate for not getting kids immunized, in fact I have a friend who hasn't immunized any of her 5 children, and a SIL of another friend who hasn't immunized any of her 8 children. The SIL's children got the mumps, and I know of a former neighbor of mine who had measles while growing up - which the docs said caused him to be sterile, so his wife had donor semen to get pregnant. Mumps can cause sterility as well; thus I wonder what's the greater harm - not getting immunized out of a vague fear or contracting a preventable disease with a known cause and effect such as sterility??
From what I have read, I have made the conclusion that it's best to go ahead and immunize kids. It's too much to go into it all now - but that was my conclusion after MONTHS of research. This doctor on TV is not tooting any new horns, he's only stiring up controversy for the purpose of promoting his book!
Dr. Amen's research is solid, and interesting. I HIGHLY recommend "Change Your Brain - Change Your Life" and "Healing ADD" by Dr. Amen.
Dr. Amen does place a little too much (in my opinion) emphasis on the results of head trauma. After reading his books I felt the urge to put protective helmets on my kids 24/7. I don't think a person out there hasn't had some sort of head trauma at sometime of another. Think about it.
There is also some spectulation that a higher number of persons with ADD live in the USA because the genetic tendencies which are inherient in ADD - being impulsive and a risk taker - contributed to our forefathers making the decision to immigrate to the United States. Interesting theory.
I would also agree that ADD is being recognized today, when it wasn't previously. I suspect my father had ADD, and my aunt's recollections of his school years confirms this hunch. He has spent his entire life self-medicating his ADD with alcohol - and it's been a disaster. It's much better now, we can help our kids recognize how their brains work and how to capitalize on that knowledge to be successful in life.
Also, our society is less tolerant of the mode of operation of add-centric types these days. I order to fit into modern society you need to do things a certain way and within a certain timeframe - adders tend to march to the beat of their own drum and that's not as acceptable these days as it was previously. For example, more formal education is required these days, and ADDers often don't do well in formal education environments but often do thrive in non-traditional education environments - especially environments where they can learn by doing.
Many parents decide to homeschool their ADD child for this reason.
Bottom line - don't blame yourself for your son's ADD diagnosis. And don't get distracted by the "theories" of someone trying to make a buck selling his book. He's just cashing in on an ongoing controversy.
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
I have read repeatedly heavy metal contamination is believed by many " experts" to be responsible for the rise in autism the last 20 yrs. The vaccination link may well be true but immunizations were at there peak in the late 50s and 60s. One of today's public helath issues is missed immunizations from what I have read so, I'd of expected if it was the cause it would of shown up earlier
The mercury thing is why Bush's mercury emissions trading rule infuruated me. Mercury as a heavy metal settles close to where it is emitted, it's not like carbon dioxide emissions that spread out. There willb e craploads of mercury hotspots because of this rule
mercury is also a real concern with herbal treatments. Do a google on heavy metal contamination, herbal remdies, chinese herbs.
Canned tuna is the biggest source for most folks...If they tell pregnant women not to eat too much I figuire I will pass onit all together. I eat Cod and flounder only American caught off the georges bank( I am in New England) I wont eat the frozen stuff I dont know what waters in was caught in
article from newsday.com:...yet in some vaccines that amount proved to be 25 micrograms per injection, which in turn is 50 times the EPA safety limit for exposure to mercury for an 11 pound infant...
shortly after the panel's report, the Federal Dept. of Health and Human Services
and the FDA responded to activists' allegations and began considering the following charges: that vaccine manufacturers has misrepresented the safety of thimerosal; that initial results from a 2000 CDC study, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, showed a statistical correlation between mercury exposure through pediatric vaccines and neurological disorders in children, although the association disappeared in the published analysis; and that the data may have since been destroyed....
can't post the link here for some reason. go to newsday.com and enter "evidence of harm" in the search engine.
or you can try this:
http://www.newsday.com/features/booksmags/nyc-botleft42361 67may01
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