Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Do you find it hard to pay attention? Do you feel the need to move constantly during times when you shouldn’t? Do you find yourself constantly interrupting others? If these issues are ongoing and you feel that they are negatively impacting your daily life, it could be a sign of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
ADHD is a disorder that makes it difficult for a person to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. He or she may also be restless and almost constantly active.
(National Institute of Mental Health)
ADHD is not just a childhood disorder. Although the symptoms of ADHD begin in childhood, ADHD can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Even though hyperactivity tends to improve as a child becomes a teen, problems with inattention, disorganization, and poor impulse control often continue through the teen years and into adulthood.
Rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have reached epidemic levels in the United States. To properly treat the symptomology associated with ADHD, a comprehensive neurologic and metabolic assessment is warranted. Once these tests are conducted, specific networks of dysfunction can be localized. From this information, a personalized treatment plan be prescribed to help re-integrate dysfunctional connections in the brain.
A pattern that is consistent with most individuals who suffer from ADHD is a decrease in connectivity and integration in the right hemisphere, specifically the frontal lobe. The first symptom that parents often notice is a change in behavior. Other common presentations of right hemisphere delays are poor body movement and coordination, inappropriate social skills, extremely picky eaters and poor nonverbal communication.
Whenever one side of the brain is not oscillating at the correct frequency, there is going to be compensation in the other hemisphere. Therefore, it is common to see individuals who suffer from ADHD have their weaknesses in right brain skills and strengths in left brain skills. This is why most children who have ADHD or autism have trouble some academic subjects like reading comprehension (right brain skills) but excel in mathematics (left brain skills).
There are certain instances where the neurologic examination of a person with ADHD reveal a global brain weakness. A common cause of this is retention of primitive reflexes. Finding a practitioner that is able to evaluate and apply proper remediation exercises for all primitive reflexes is imperative. This topic will be covered more in a future blog post.
Another cause of global brain delays is metabolic dysfunction. Since the right brain shuts off the immune response, right brain delayed individuals are much more susceptible
to suffer from autoimmune based conditions. A common comorbidity in most individuals who suffer from ADHD is intestinal permeability, also known as leaky gut. In short, leaky gut can cause your immune system to attack different foods you eat which causes systemic inflammation. A proper metabolic evaluation and history will reveal which specialty lab tests may be ordered. Common tests ordered are food sensitivity panels and organic acid tests. Organic acids testing or OAT testing, measures multiple different markers via urine testing, and have been shown to be associated with different components of internal health.
How is ACNC different?
Most standardized treatments for ADHD are solely based on symptom management. Central nervous system stimulants (medications) are often prescribed to mitigate inattentiveness and hyperactivity related to ADHD (such as Adderall). However, the individual suffering from ADHD does not have an “adderall deficiency”. This is simply masking the symptoms while the underlying cause continues to function out of control.
- Primitive reflexes
- Neurological function and firing rates at different regions of the brain through neurological rehabilitation, exercises and Neurofeedback (HEG and EEG)
- Metabolic instability (inflammation, leaky gut, glutathione depletion, chronic infection in the gut or system, diet, lifestyle)
Think about a fire alarm going off in your house. Instead of simply clicking the “off” button on the alarm, we locate the fire is and extinguish it.
If you or a loved one is suffering from ADHD or any other developmental issue, please contact our office at 480-756-2600 to see if we could help.
