ADHD Diagnosed With Subjective Symptoms Of Inattention, Impulsiveness, and Hyperactivity Often Willful Misdiagnosis

Because the root cause of ADHD is supposedly unknown, no one is taking an ADHD drug for the root cause of ADHD. Current ADHD treatment with ADHD drugs calms ADHD symptoms and keeps the ADHD illness. The name ADHD stands for “Attention Deficit and/or Hyperactivity Disorder”. The symptoms of ADHD are usually inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. There are many nutritional root causes of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, none of which are a “disorder”.

If the root cause of ADHD is unknown and ADHD symptoms are also symptoms of many known nutritional root causes of ADHD symptoms, does ADHD even really exist?

Many people (including children) have nervous adverse reactions of inattention, impulsiveness, or hyperactivity to chemical food additives, including yellow dye #5 (tartrazine), silica (silicone dioxide), and MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate). Sugar in abundance, especially in liquid food and soda, causes loss of blood sugar control (drop in blood sugar) which would definitely cause inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. When blood sugar is too low, brain cells literally function abnormally. Nutritional deficiencies, particularly magnesium, potassium, zinc, and B-vitamins (and choline, and omega 3) cause inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity because these nutrients are necessary a healthy nervous system and for normal brain function. Difficult family life and worries (legitimate or not) cause people to be preoccupied and appear to be hyperactive or unable to concentrate.

The lower half of a PBS web page is one place where you’ll find the official list of ADHD symptoms or examples or behaviors of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity of ADHD that doctors use to determine whether a person has ADHD. Many nutritional deficiencies cause a number of these symptoms; niacin (B-3) deficiency causes absolutely every single one of the symptoms in the list. If a niacin (nicotinic acid, avoid niacinamide) deficiency does exist, it won’t be the only deficiency – niacin will help (if you have a niacin deficiency) and won’t solve all your problems. Thiamin and folic acid deficiencies cause some (not all) of the symptoms in the official list. If a doctor determines a patient shows ten of the these 18 symptoms, the patient is diagnosed as having ADHD and prescribed Ritalin, Adderall, or a similar drug. Ritalin has been prescribed for ADHD since the 60s.

A recent study found that from 2000 to 2004 the number of people age 20-44 on ADHD prescription drugs doubled. In 2005 over 1.5 million Americans were taking a prescription drug for symptoms doctors claim are ADHD. (ABC News September 15, 2005) In 2008, almost 5 million people were prescribed an ADHD drug. The goal of the typical American private practice doctor for many illnesses is to create repeat business for personal gain by causing the patient to become dependent on the doctor for a medication to ensure long term repeat business. Finding and fixing a root cause of a patient’s symptoms ends most, if not all, profits from the patient.

Here’s one logical way to start chipping away at determining whether one actually has the ADHD “disorder”. Take half (1/2) a capsule of magnesium (magnesium asporotate) every other day before bed (not at any other time). Choline deficiency causes inattention, so eat two eggs every other day. Take a teaspoon of perilla oil or flaxseed oil every day for omega 3. Get a supplement of niacin and take 25mg a day, some may need 50mg a day. Completely avoid soda and avoid all food products that have ingredients that are not food. Eat three meals a day. Find something physical to do for 1/2 and hour every day and drink 2 large glasses of water a day. After 3 weeks, chances are pretty good inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity will disappear or will be significantly reduced. If not, get tested for food allergens to determine a healthful diet of three meals a day.

People, including children, with no disorder, illness, nor deficiency of any kind who are healthy, very active, very curious, or have an impatient personality, or are worried about something are often “misdiagnosed” as having ADHD and prescribed an ADHD drug. Healthy people diagnosed as having ADHD and put on an ADHD drug develop inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity symptoms because ADHD drugs are powerful stimulants. (It’s the doctor’s self fulfilling diagnosis.) False diagnosis and misdiagnosis of this sort can only be described as making healthy people sick for a profit.

Realize that if a nutritional, allergy, sugar or food additive chemical sensitivity or allergy is causing inattention, impulsiveness, or hyperactivity symptoms and the symptoms are quieted with an ADHD drug year after year, then you have two big problems. First, the untreated medical, nutritional, or allergy problem you don’t know you have because it’s hidden with an ADHD drug remains unknown and untreated and will develop into more serious health problems in the future. The second problem is needlessly being on a drug which undoubtedly has its intentional affects and also its side effects, not to mention unnecessary cost.

Since an accurate diagnosis of ADHD cannot be made using symptoms until nutritional, allergy, sensitivity, chemical, emotional, and social root causes have been ruled out, and because common doctors don’t look for these root causes for inattention, impulsiveness, or hyperactivity of ADHD, and because people generally are not born with a disorder nor easily develop a disorder, with over 5 million people on ADHD drugs, ADHD appears to grow in number as fast as profits grow.