ADHD Kids May Benefit From Chiropractors

Controversy surrounds the medical treatment, indeed the very existence, of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Psychiatrist Peter Breggin wrote, “Hyperactivity is the most frequent justification for drugging children. The difficult-to-control male child is certainly not a new phenomenon, but attempts to give him a medical diagnosis are the product of modern psychology and psychiatry. At first psychiatrists called hyperactivity a brain disease. When no brain disease could be found, they changed it to ‘minimal brain disease’ (MBD). When no minimal brain disease could be found the profession transformed the concept into ‘minimal brain dysfunction.’ When no minimal brain dysfunction could be demonstrated, the label became attention deficit disorder. Now it’s just assumed to be a real disease, regardless of the failure to prove it so. Biochemical imbalance is the code word, but there’s no more evidence for that than there is for actual brain disease.”

The use of psychotropic drugs in children has exploded in recent years [2]. The number of prescriptions written for methylphenidate (Ritalin) has increased by a factor of five since 1991. The production of Adderall and Dexedrine, also used to treat ADHD, has risen 2,000% in nine years. The increased use of these drugs in the U.S. is at variance with the rest of the world. According to the U.N., the U.S. produces and consumes 85% of the world’s production of methylphenidate.

The use of Class II controlled substances to alter the behavior of children is disconcerting to many parents and chiropractors, as is the issue of whether ADD/ADHD can be properly considered a disease.

ADHD Kids May Benefit From Chiropractors

While chiropractors do not “treat” ADD/ADHD, the effects of chiropractic care on children diagnosed with learning disorders and hyperactivity have been described in a growing body of scholarly publications.

A study published in 1975, compared chiropractic care with drug treatment in children with learning and behavioral impairments due to neurological dysfunction. It was reported that chiropractic care “was more effective for the wide range of symptoms common in the neurological dysfunction syndrome in which thirteen symptom or problem areas were considered.” The author also reported that chiropractic care was 24% more effective than commonly used medications.

Giesen at al conducted a study involving seven subjects. All subjects were of school age and had clinical findings evidencing vertebral subluxation complex. Following chiropractic care, 57% showed an improvement in chiropractic radiographic findings; 71.4% showed a reduction in overt behavior activity; 57% showed improvement in level of autonomic activity, and 57% showed improvement in parental ratings of hyperactivity.
In addition to these small studies, case reports have been published which describe improvement of objective and subjective findings in children with ADD/ADHD and related disorders.

More research exploring the relationship of subluxation correction to brain function is needed. Yet, the dramatic changes that have been reported in children medically diagnosed with ADD/ADHD following chiropractic care must not be ignored.

Every child with a vertebral subluxation needs chiropractic care, regardless of whether or not symptoms are present. By correcting nerve interference, function is improved, with greater expression of human potential. Many report terminating drug therapy, and seeing the personality, will, and soul of the child unfolding.

As Maria Montessori wrote, “It is easy to substitute our will for that of the child by means of suggestion or coercion; but when we have done this we have robbed him of his greatest right, the right to construct his own personality.”
© Copyright 1986-2003 The Chiropractic Journal

Children, ADD/ADHD, and Chiropractic
by Dr. Christopher Kent
(Reprinted with permission from The Chiropractic Journal)    

Dr. Brian M. Moriarty has a B.S. from Oglethorpe University and a D.C. from Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida. Loving Chiorpractic of Stuart is located at 630 SE Monterey Road, Stuart, FL. Phone: 772-219-3313.