Treatment of children with ADHD through micronutrition
Summary
Introduction:
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common psychopathological disorder, as indicated by its prevalence of 3 to 5% in school-aged children (Buitelaar, 2000; Lecendreux, 2009). In 1972, Dr. Feingold observed in the USA (4) that children changed their behavior if their diet was modified by excluding dyes, soft drinks and various additives, which significantly reduced phosphates, but not foods naturally rich in them. The objective of this study is to verify the hypothesis that a diet low in phosphate additives would be effective in mitigating the functional disorders of ADHD according to the DSM-IV criteria.
Design:
The selected subjects present symptoms of the 6 types of ADHD according to the DSM-IV consensus criteria. The tested protocol is the low-phosphate diet, which involves foods low in added phosphate and additives for four days, along with a dietary supplement containing two main components: zeolites (2 0.20 mg capsules in the morning) and acetic acid (in the form of three pickles in a single daily intake), which could act together to relieve the symptoms of ADHD with or without hyperactivity.
Phosphate additives, whose adverse effects have been highlighted by the studies of Feingold, Mac Cann 2007 (7) and more recently by the University of Southampton study in 2007 (8), are not without toxicity and appear to be involved in disorders of ADHD. Our epidemiological study will be linear, blind, randomized, controlled without placebo, in parallel groups (girls and boys). The protocol is adaptive, in two phases, with an interim analysis of the first 60 patients included.
Discussion and conclusion:
Effective management of ADHD will only be possible with greater collaboration between public health institutions and political powers. This study will contribute to improving assessment, diagnosis and monitoring practices for ADHD in children. It will allow us to propose concrete answers in terms of nutritional strategies. The interest from a micronutrition perspective will be to detect this connection in patients, implement a specific diet, evaluate the evolution of these patients as described in this study and evaluate the taking of certain dietary supplements that could help restore homeostasis.
