Claiming benefits - DLA, Mobility, Attendance Allowance - DO IT NOW!

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

What the World's Healthiest Foods Can Do for Your Children: faqdiscussion
As the structure of the brain is 70% complete at birth and fully developed by around 6yrs old, it is attention to the mother's diet pre/post conception which is probably most important, however, the day to day functioning of the brain can be improved by attention to diet as the above link indicates. But parents wanting advice relating to benefits need to be able to find it and so I have refrained from getting on my omega 3 hobbyhorse in this forum. Perhaps a new childrens diet thread in the Discussion forum may be the best place for continuing this aspect of the discussion?

Since I have no idea what Ted's particular views/hobby horse regarding Omega 3 Oils are, at the great risk of incurring his wrath (on a bad day!) I would make the following observations:

1) A quick search of the Internet will show a fair number of trials of Omega 3 oils, which have shown to be of benefit to ADHD, depression, and bone joint pain, along with some interesting and plausible theories why they might work.

2) At worst, long-term consumption of Omega 3 Oils is unlikely to do any harm to either adult or child.

3) Depending on the condition you are trying to treat, you need to take a therapeutic dose. E.g., for ADHD, research suggests you need to take at least 1000mg of EPA daily. (Omega 3 Oils consist mainly of EPA - Eicosapentaenoic Acid - and DHA - Docosahexaenic Acid)

4) Just to confuse things a bit more, it is believed that in order to treat, say, ADHD, which ever Omega 3 Oil you consume in order to get your 1000mg of EPA, it is preferable to choose one that has the highest ratio of EPA to DHA - i.e. in theory some people think that it would be better to consume Omega 3 Oil that was 100% EPA.

5) In practice, however, most Omega 3 Oils are about a 60:40 split between EPA (which you want) and DHA (which you may not want).

6) Having a child with ADHD, and having trolled through the internet, Boots, Holland and Barratt, Super Drug, etc,etc, the most cost effective capsules I've come across (so far!) are from https://www.naturesbest.co.uk - they sell 1100mg capsules of Fish Oil, each of which contain 310mg of EPA and 210mg of DHA. Hence you need to take 3 capsules a day to get around a total of 1000mg of EPA. 120 capsules cost £12.95. If anyone can suggest a better alternative, I'd love them to make a posting.

7) Some studies have suggested that 1500mg of EPA is more effective - hence you'd need to take around 5 a day. All I will say that it's pretty hard to "persuade" any child to swallow 3 of these things, let alone 5.

8) You probably need to stick with it for 3 months to determine if it's of any use.

Finally, anyone with a child with ADHD who is reluctant to try Ritalin, might want to ask their doctor about a new drug called "Strattera" - Atomoxetine HCl - which is taken just once a day, and works in a completely different way from Ritalin - which is basically what us Crusties would have called "Speed", and paid a fortune for in our mis-spent youth. It's probably also worth noting that any child who has been prescribed Ritalin, will find, as they get older, (i.e. in their teens), that there is a ready market for the sale and abuse of the drug.

And really finally, although I'm sure that diet does play a part in helping in the treatment of many conditions, I've only ever seen it make a significant difference in the treatment of ADHD if the child was originally on a truly dreadful diet in the first place - i.e. one lacking in fruit and vegetables, and full of takeaways and sugar.

Anyway, since we're now way off topic, I'm going to hide in a hole just in case Ted has a real downer on fish oils...........

Best wishes to all.

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

Clearly Nemo has missed my thread Omega Fish Oils thread in the Discussion forum. My frequent posting of links to the www.durhamtrial.org/ with subsequent links to ZIPVIT Omega Juice £4.95 360ml which contains 900EPA and 600 DHA per 5ml 1 tsp. further information can be found in
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]DYSLEXIA, DYSPRAXIA and ADHD - CAN NUTRITION HELP? [/font]

Yep, I surely have, but will be right over there!

Incidentally, I'd like to post my opinions on the "usefulness" of homeopathic ADHD remedies, and the UK doctors that support them, but I suspect that Martin's word removal system would delete 90% of my language....

Best wishes,
Nemo.

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

The trial suggests scientific evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, particularly in the areas of behavioural and cognitive functions.

Whilst I can't argue the methodology of this approach, I've not found any 2 homeopathic doctors who have suggested the same remedy. (Although I have only spoken to three)

Another problem I see in trials of this nature is that there are so few of them. It's certainly true that in properly conducted trials of other drugs that are generally held to be effective, some randomised trials show them to be ineffective.

At the same time, trials of some SSRI's are considered a great success if they help 40% of the trial - whilst a placebo in the same trial is 23% effective.

Personally, I'm not prepared to rule out any treatment for any condition. If history is to be believed, in another 100 years - if not 50 - many of todays treatments will appear barbaric, whilst some of the more esoteric will accepted as the obvious way forward.