Within the last 10 years, prescriptions for Ritalin have increased five-fold, with 90% being consumed in the United States alone.
Parents today are becoming more leery of treating their children with Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs — and according to the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association, doctors of Chiropractic offer parents an effective treatment, without the use of drugs.
Unlike drug treatment, Chiropractic targets the underlying problems, not just the symptoms —to resolve the tics, tremors, balance and postural problems, unusual sensitivity to touch, movements, sights or sounds, that are common with ADHD patients.
Chiropractic focuses on postural muscles, nutrition and lifestyle changes that affect the brain’s activity.
“Motor activity — especially development of the postural muscles — is the baseline function of brain acclivity,” according to Dr. Robert Melillo, a Chiropractic Neurologist. “Anything affecting postural muscles will influence brain development. Musculoskeletal imbalances will create an imbalance of brain activity, and one part of the brain will develop faster than the other, and that is what’s happening with ADHD patients.”
Dr. Melillo tests his patients before they start the treatment program and every three months thereafter. “Within the first three months, the children get a two grade level increase on average…with children on medication, the improvement in academic performance is short-term and lasts only as long as they take the medication.” Melillo says their treatment changes brain function and the improvement doesn’t go away.
In addition to Chiropractic treatment, nutrition and lifestyle changes are recommended — dietary changes, such as eliminating foods with dyes, preservative, and additives; eating more natural, organic foods, that haven’t been treated with pesticides and herbicides; and having children tested for allergies to dairy, gluten, and other foods, and adhering to elimination diets.
For more information on natural treatments to ADHD, consult with your chiropractor.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Chiropractic Association, 2002; PRNewswire, September 27, 2002; HealthWorld On-line, http://health.net