Finnish Study Questions Long-Term Effectiveness of ADHD Medications

The article is a bit dated, but it’s a MUST READ! Written by Melissa Healy of the Los Angeles Times and printed in Newsday this past year, the title says it all:

“ADHD Studies Raise Questions On Drug Treatments”

In the article, Ms. Healy cites a series of studies following 457 Finnish children from birth to ages 16 to 18, noting that ”the studies raise provocative questions about the long-term effects of treating those symptoms with medication.”

The studies compared 188 Finnish teens considered to have "probable or definite ADHD" and 103 youths with conduct disorder - behavior that fell short of ADHD but put them at higher risk for similar problems – to a group of Finnish teens with no ADHD diagnosis.

Researchers found the following: “the can't-sit-still kids - the stereotype of the ‘ADHD generation’ - were most likely to mature out of the disease. Among those with persistent ADHD, . . . half have problems with cognitive skills that are key to success in adulthood, but half have no such deficits.”

But, here’s the amazing part:

The researchers found that

“By the time [the ADHD children reach] their late teens, those who receive drugs for attention problems seem to fare about the same as those who do not.”

This finding seems to lend support to the idea that some children do actually grow out of ADHD. See “ADHD Kids Can Get Better,” Krista Mahr, Time.com.

So, as one of the authors of the study eloquently put it, "This begs the question: Are current treatments really leading to improved outcome over time?"

And, finally, UCLA neuroscientist Robert Bilder said the studies suggest ADHD might best be treated by “shoring up weaknesses in underlying cognitive skills.”

For more about the long-term problems of using drugs to treat ADHD, check out "Talking Back To Ritalin," by Dr. Peter Breggin. For a wonderful discussion of non-medication, neurological approaches to treating attention and learning issues, see "The Mislabeled Child," by Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide. In fact, Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide describe in great detail, many of the theories and approached utilized at Spark Development!

Neither Dr. Bilder nor Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide received any remuneration from Spark Development.

You Know, I Used To Be A Lawyer

While Spark Development officially opened its doors in April of 2005, its origins date back to December of 1989 when my first son, Robert (aka "Poppy"), was born.  You see, if there had been no Robert, there would be no SPARK.

If you were to meet Robert today, you would find a creative and intelligent college student, gifted in art and music.  You would also find an amazingly independent, confident and unique (I, for one, could live without the lip ring, but his girlfriend and his sister both say he looks good with it.  Go figure.)  young man with many goods friends.  So, what's his connection to Spark?

Before he turned five, Robert had been diagnosed with "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" possibly coupled with "Oppositional Defiance Disorder."   By age six, "Pervasive Developmental Disorder" had been added to the list (just in case anyone is wondering, these were official diagnoses made by a team of specialists at Schneider Children's Hospital, three school psychologists, a neurologist, and three "big-deal" psychiatrists (I won't mention any names. . .))

Despite the efforts of his special education teachers and one-to-one aide, individual and group counseling and multiple drug therapy, Robert made little progress.  Indeed, in many ways, Robert’s issues only worsened.

Desperate, Tina and I began exploring alternatives including dietary changes and sensory integration training.  Employing such therapies, by third grade, Robert had been mainstreamed and was off all medications.  By sixth grade, Robert demonstrated few, if any, issues.

During this time, I was practicing law.  I was a litigator at a fairly large mid-town Manhattan law firm. The hours were killing me, and the time I spent traipsing around from one doctor/program/specialist to another for Robert was tearing me apart.  It was no cake-walk (does anyone know where this expression comes from?) for Tina either.  Robert was more than a handful, and I was barely around to help.

I started working part-time, which, for all intents and purposes, put an end to my legal career, but you do what you have to do for your family.  Also, as I looked into Robert's issues, schooling, and therapies, I found that I was fascinated.  I was actually in the process of starting a school for kids like Robert -- a mainstream school for this incredibly intelligent kids with attention and behavior issues (but that's another story entirely), when we began using these alternative therapies on Robert.

Suffice it to say that Robert’s remarkable recovery spurred me into leaving the law behind to pursue a career of helping children like my son.  Even more remarkable to me, it led Tina to return to graduate school to add a Masters degree in Nutrition to her BS degree in Biology.

So, now you know the inspiration for Spark Development.  We employ the same therapies (and a few new ones we picked up along the way) that worked for Robert here at the center.

I've been at this now for over ten years.  Where did the time go?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!

Rob