11-13-98

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS SHOW PROMISE FOR SOME ADHD PATIENTS

	COLUMBUS -- Some patients with Attention Deficit 
Hyperactivity Disorder may benefit more from alternative 
treatments than from psychoactive drug regimens and behavior 
therapy, according to an Ohio State University researcher.

	Alternative therapies treat the causes of ADHD rather than 
the symptoms, said L. Eugene Arnold, professor emeritus of 
psychiatry at Ohio State.  He will talk about some of these 
treatments during a National Institutes of Health consensus 
development conference on ADHD Nov. 16-18 in Bethesda, Md.

	ADHD is the most common childhood behavior disorder, 
affecting about 3 to 5 percent of all school-age children, 
according to the NIH.

	While almost 90 percent of these children respond adequately 
to a regimen of drugs or behavior therapy or both, the NIH said 
an increase in the use and availability of stimulants in recent 
years for treating ADHD has raised concerns about overuse and 
possible abuse.

	“Currently the best documented and most common treatments 
for ADHD are stimulant medication and behavioral treatments,” 
Arnold said.  “While these treatments help about 90 percent of 
the patients who try them, they target the symptoms rather than 
the causes.”

	Arnold said nearly 200 alternative therapies exist for ADHD 
-- a disorder that can cause short attention span, impulsive 
behavior, abnormally high activity levels, underachievement, 
depression, discouragement and poor relationships with peers.  
About two dozen of these therapies have enough data to warrant 
scientific evaluation.  But while the treatments hold promise for 
addressing causes of ADHD, only a select number of patients would 
likely benefit.

	“Most alternative treatments are targeted to specific 
causes, and only those patients who have a particular cause will 
benefit,” Arnold said.  Alternative therapies range from dietary 
restrictions to treating thyroid abnormalities.

	For example, about 2 to 5 percent of children with ADHD have 
abnormal thyroid activity.  Arnold said treating these children 
for their thyroid problems often substantially reduces the 
symptoms of ADHD, while treating hyperactive children with no 
thyroid abnormalities is not helpful.

	He said that research is necessary to make these alternative 
treatments a viable option.

	“The alternative treatments have been relatively neglected 
by the scientific community -- even though some look very 
promising,” Arnold said.  “These treatments have generally been 
approached more with dogma than with data.”

	The NIH will publish a consensus statement at the end of the 
conference.  The report is meant to provide health professionals 
and the public with a greater understanding of the issue.  The 
consensus statement will be published online following the 
conference at http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/cons.htm

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Contact: L. Eugene Arnold, (614)292-9780; Arnold.6@osu.edu
Written by Holly Wagner, (614)292-8310; Wagner.235@osu.edu