Chiro treatment for ADHD

[KeyT]

I just saw this story on the news, looked interesting.

http://cbs3.com/health/local_story_228205120.html

Health: Alternative Treatment For ADHD

Stephanie Stahl
Reporting

(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA School is right around the corner, which can be a tough time for kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. It is often treated with medication but now there's an alternative. Medical reporter Stephanie Stahl has the latest on a drug free treatment.

Freshman Sophie Bell is focusing on getting her opponents out during a game of softball. But just a few years ago, she couldn't concentrate on a game or anything else.

"School was getting more difficult and she was having a harder time keeping up," said her mom Megara Bell.

Sophie started taking medication, the most accepted treatment for ADHD. It worked, but Sophie wasn't happy with one of the side effects.

"All I remember, when I think back, was being really shaky," said Sophie.

So her family wanted an alternative to medication and turned to Dr. Martin Rosen, a chiropractor.

He believes ADHD can start with a misalignment in the spine which affects the body's balance and ultimately how the brain functions.

"It's irritating. So they start to move and they start to fidget in their seat. The system starts to fire off nerve endings and the constant firing will look very much like hyperactivity," said Dr. Rosen.

In many patients, chiropractic adjustments can solve the problem.

"Just clearing out the nervous system imbalance will allow the brain to reboot itself," said Dr. Rosen.

Sophie's mom noticed a difference right away. And within months of starting chiropractic treatment, Sophie was able to stay focused on homework and stop taking her medication completely.

"I was on task and doing things, and I really felt great," said Sophie.

More studies are now being done on this alternative treatment.

ADHD expert Ned Hallowell said he's open to new options.

"What I say to my patients is look, I'll learn along with you. As long as it's safe and it's legal, you know lets look in to it," said Hallowell.

Sophie's mother said the benefits of chiropractic treatment were significant.

"It was not just the difference in school. It was the difference in all the other things that she does. She does have her guitar practices every day, which I think is amazing," said Magara.

Sophie only needs periodic maintenance adjustments. The treatment for ADHD usually involves several sessions weekly for about six weeks and they are often covered by insurance.

But experts said you should always check with a doctor before trying an alternative treatment like chiropractic therapy.


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I personally believe ADHD is a crock and one of the biggest frauds in medical history. I know several people will come on here and say I have no clue what I am talking about. Of course physicians use to use bleeding to balance the humors, and there was Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss who was laughed at for believing physicians should wash their hands to prevent infections.

Well, at least my pharmaceutical stocks are going through the roof! Now that we have adults taking drugs too I hope they start research for pets having ADHD, I'd like to retire early!

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[Therapist4Chnge]

Placebo effect....

-t

 

[KeyT]

Placebo effect....

-t

If it works. It's better than her taking all those drugs.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

There are a number of non-med interventions that also have show some efficacy in dealing with ADHD. I believe that it is a legit Dx, though it is over-dx'ed in some populations, and under-dx'd in others.

It may look like it 'started' 30-40 years ago, but I think it was just re-classified. Remember when the mentally ill were imprisoned? We know now they weren't criminals.

-t

 

[PsyKardinal]

I like the statement made by the chiro "Just clearing out the nervous system imbalance will allow the brain to reboot itself,” said Dr. Rosen."

1. Clearing out the nervous system, what was gunking it up in the 1st place? 2. If things gunk up the nervous system where can I get ungunked?

I grant the chiro is probably paraphrasing and his statement was moved out of context by the reporting. I am not adverse to helping patients find alternative treatments to medication, but they need to be safe and ultimatly effective. I am still not sure that spinal manipulation is healthy, and I am particularly concerned when it is spinal manipulation on a growing and developing child/teen. I think that I am with T on this it is the placebo effect. The girl mentioned in the article was probably a hyperactive and RXd meds, and as she grew and matured they coincided with her beginning the chiro.

Jeff

 

[KeyT]

Many of those people locked away had real medical conditions causing their problems (syphilis, traumatic brain injury, environmental factors). And of course there were plenty of crazy people also. I think the Quakers had the best idea. They made people with mental conditions work and that seemed to get many them centered and back to normal again.

We would never have progressed as a society if we had comparable rates of ADHD over the past hundred years as we do today. If these kids today can’t function supposedly for the most part without meds, how would kids 100 years ago of adjusted? I don’t think anybody locked up in an asylum years ago had what we now call ADHD. Even the ADHD advocates cannot find anything scientific to explain ADHD past fifty years ago. Some people have tried to reach back to Ancient Greece to find examples, but in reality nothing is really hard ‘evidence’ till after the 1950s.

I personally believe what we call ADHD is partly a result of the way kids are today. I think however the biggest thing is how we take a kid who is above comatose as hyper, and we medicate him/her. This just reinforces a kid’s belief that something is wrong with them and they resign to the 'fact' that they are ‘sick’. I believe this takes a persons natural ability and instinct to resolve their own issues themselves and suppresses it.

It’s like the story I stated about Chiro treatment for ADHD. Yes, I believe it is a placebo. The Chiro said to the kid, “Yes, you have ADHD and this treatment will help you.”, and the kid believed it. That and the muscular tension that is released in massage therapy. I would like to see research were a doctor tells a kid to eat a hamburger as an ADHD cure and see what happens.

Then we have the environmental issue, remember the Feingold diet? http://www.feingold.org/

Seems to have scientific backing. The only group that had any proof against the diet was the Nutrition Foundation, which was formed by companies who put the chemicals in the foods the diet goes against.

 

[phd2006]

...The treatment for ADHD usually involves several sessions weekly for about six weeks and they are often covered by insurance...

For some reason, this sentence jumped out at me -- chiropractic tx for ADHD is covered by insurance and yet MANY dx/tx/assessment provided by a psychologist are not......sorry for the off topic interlude......

 

[KeyT]

For some reason, this sentence jumped out at me -- chiropractic tx for ADHD is covered by insurance and yet MANY dx/tx/assessment provided by a psychologist are not......sorry for the off topic interlude......

I agree, the Chiros have better lobbyists.

I think for anxiety and depression massage or other forms of muscular release are one of the best treatments, however you can do it yourself. The best book on the subject according to me and Dale Carnegie is You must Relax.

 

[Pekoe]

Isn't just about anything better than the drugs for this? A session that is one on one with a doctor, asking how the patient is doing, talking about the stuff that matters-- behavior, school work, with a person who is not Mom and who knows that no matter what happens, they won't be with the patient all afternoon and who can help center him or her and puts them on track-- whether they are doing talk therapy or chiro or yoga, it is positive one on one time with someone who can give advice and listen and probably demonstrate healthy actions. The patient has a relationship with the doctor and staff, thinks about them, a good grade at school is something they can't wait to share with them when they see them, they know that certain good behaviors will make them happy and they know they will be rewarded with smiles and high fives for accomplishing them-- those things matter to kids! They could be gardening or doing art therapy or whatever and the kids are focussed on the relationships and sharing and accountability.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

For some, the meds allow them to look at the other factors in their life, and to learn way to cope with their ADD/ADHD, etc. Without meds, many cannot even get to the point where they can really make meaningful changes in their lives.

-t

 

[Neuro-Dr]

One of the most potent statements I have ever read in graduate school is "Science is not a collection of common sense"

We have an obligation as scientists to "do no harm" and in order make a claim that an intervention is effective or efficacious we must first know what it does and does not do.

There is too much made in popular media about "all natural" interventions or exercise techniques, or tinted glasses, diets, and chiropractic interventions that lack scientific foundations for their theories and data to back their claims.

ADHD has been around under some name since the 1930's. We decided that "minimal brain dysfunction" and other "soft neurological" conditions could eventually be distilled into more clear conditions and mbd was broken into ADHD, ODD and dyslexia (incidentally, chiropractors have claim to treat dyslexia with manipulations as well). As of this writing every industrilized nation that keeps track of MH dx has similar rates of ADHD, they do not all have the ability market drugs to the public. some of you might not remember this but in the early 1990's the pharm companies were able to market to the public if they also provided the most common side effects and the use of meds sky-rocketed. This has little to do with their efficacy or necessity it has to do with their sales.

If you believe ADHD exists, then the best accumulation of literature states that meds account for the highest percentage of the variance in the remediation. If you do not provide this information to your patients, you are (in my view) unethical. You may collectively determine not to pursue this route for a variatey of reasons, or after other interventions, but to not discuss this openly with your patients means that you are (again in my opinion) pushing YOUR sociopolitical agenda and not practicing science.

I see numerous kids who I believe have ADHD, and do not recommend meds becaus of comorbid factors or family issues needing intervention first. That does not mean that I don't allow my patients' families to discuss all choices.

This happens frequently with autism, where diets, suppliments, chelation therapy, play therapy, art therapy, music therapy are all widely advertised on the web as effective treatments for autism and these families spend thousands of dollars finding out that they have little impact on their child's condition. And behind every one of these failed attempts is a practitioner saying "it is safe and will do no harm if it doesn't work and hey it is not drugs". If you think a family spending their limited disposable income on unproven interventions is not harmful, then again this is a problem of ethics for my.

just my 10.5 cents.

 

[Ollie123]

Did anyone else just flat out forget there were still people who didn't "believe" in ADHD until they read this thread?

I guess I knew they had to exist somewhere since there's a group for everything these days, but still...

 

[FranniePsy]

I'd want to see some clear evidence of a causal relationship between "chiropractic adjustments" and an improvement in ADHD symptoms before sending an ADHD patient to a chiropractor. There are a variety of reasons why bogus therapies often appear to work. There's the placebo effect. Then there's the fact that the disease or disorder may have been misdiagnosed in the first place (in the case of ADHD, which is, all things considered, a controversial diagnosis, this point seems particularly relevant. I.e. treat a bogus condition with a bogus therapy...). Patients may also hedge their bets and ascribe the improvement in their condition to alternative therapies rather than simultaneously administered science-based treatments. There are more reasons along those lines.

I wouldnt discourage an ADHD patient from exploring alternative therapies for their condition if that works for them. But in the absence of some pretty compelling evidence supporting this chiropractor's claim, I would rather hesitate to ascribe the effect of such therapy to science.

 

[michalita]

just my 10.5 cents.

Is this $0.02 adjusted for inflation?

 

[michalita]

Did anyone else just flat out forget there were still people who didn't "believe" in ADHD until they read this thread?

I guess I knew they had to exist somewhere since there's a group for everything these days, but still...

Oh yeah, there are a'plenty...

I do believe it is over-diagnosed or incorrectly diagnosed in a lot of people (especially children who are acting out) but I have also worked with adolescents who very obviously cannot focus through a day of school, and that's *after* other factors have been accounted for. Still, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for some kids and they use it as an excuse rather than an explanation and a way to overcome barriers.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Is this $0.02 adjusted for inflation?

That's *exactly* what I thought when I read it, but decided to let it go....I'm glad others thought this too!

😆

-t

 

[Neuro-Dr]

I felt like I typed too much to just call it 2 cents, sorry

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I felt like I typed too much to just call it 2 cents, sorry

On the contrary, it was a great post!

-t

 

[Ollie123]

Oh I completely agree its over-diagnosed in many populations, and over-medicated in nearly all populations, I was just referring to the idea that it might not exist at all or is somehow (only) due to bad parenting.

After working in a child clinic for a year it was easy for me to forget there are still people floating around who don't believe it exists. To me, that seems like not believing in the sun.