Attention Deficit Disorder is a problem with many children. New research indicates that common household products may be related to your child's ability to focus in school. Most parents don't realize that their kids are being exposed to various chemicals daily in their home and school. If your child has been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, there are a few things to consider before you ask the pediatrician to prescribe Ritalin or the like. Phthlates, a additive to plastics to allow plastics to become softer and more flexible have been implicated in ADD in children. The phthlates are disrupting normal hormone synthesis and transmission leading to neurological toxicity or ADD. Phthlates are a fat soluable toxin which has also been implicated in the development of diabetes.
So let's think about this....if phthlates are in molded plastics and soft plastic things like vinyl or flexible plastic toys you can imagine that your child has been exposed to a lot of phthlates in the short amount of time that they have been around. Also, since phthlates are fat soluble molecules the exposure to them can easily be stored in our fat cells and one of the biggest repositories of fat in your body is your brain. Apparently, mothers who test high in phthlates while pregnant will have children who score worse in aggression, attention and conduct than those children whose mother's had low levels of phthlates.
If you are like me and was born in the 60's when the use of plastics was just starting to get integrated into everything we eat, drink and put on our skin. When I was a kid, Coke came in glass bottles or aluminim cans. Now even our water bottles are plastic. So not only is ADD and ADHD being diagnosed at record levels, so too is autism (something almost unheard of 25 years ago) and childhood obesity.
No we can't blame it all on phthlates but it's a start to keep your kids healthy in the future. Remember that food colorings have also been implicated in ADD/ADHD so if your child is predisposed to have attention or focus problems, cutting out the Skittles and M&M's would be another step in the right direction. Lastly, I've found that many children in my practice who have temperment issues and frequent meltdowns or who deal with anger issues are vitamin B12 deficient. Particularly the methyl form of B12 injections can benefit them. Usually in these cases oral B12 supplements don't seem to work well. The most common form of B12 injections is in a cyano form meaning that the binder is bound to cyanide rather than methyl groups. The methy B12 is MUST more effective in children with temperment problems. A trial injection will give you a hint on whether or not this may be helpful for your child. Methyl B12 needs to be compounded by a pharmacy and are usually given in very small syringes with a very thin needle and is virtually painless.
Parents can check their beauty products, skin products for chemical contamination on the Environmental Working Group's website. The Cosmetic Safety Database is an invaluable resource for choosing healthier products for our kids. Try and choose products that are 5 or less on the toxicity scale, preferably 3 or less.
Share





You are so full of knowledge Dr. Wang. My son is now 15 and has autism and we've been trying to heal him using different alternative treatments, and of course try to go as natural and chemical-free as possible. I love reading your blog. Please check out mine: http://greendesignbystephanie.blogspot.com
Posted by: Stephanie Nickolson | February 08, 2010 at 05:51 PM
Send Flowers to Hyderabad, Flowers Hyderabad, Send Flowers Hyderabad, Flowers in Hyderabad, Florist in Hyderabad, Flowers delivery Hyderabad, Sending Flowers to Hyderabad India.
Posted by: Srikanth Reddy | September 09, 2010 at 04:01 AM
Send Flowers to Hyderabad, Flowers Hyderabad, Send Flowers Hyderabad, Flowers in Hyderabad, Florist in Hyderabad, Flowers delivery Hyderabad, Sending Flowers to Hyderabad India.
Posted by: Srikanth Reddy | September 09, 2010 at 11:06 PM
hyderabadgift.com helps you to order online to send flowers to Hyderabad, Gifts to Hyderabad, Birthday gifts to Hyderabad,
http://www.hyderabadgift.com
Posted by: Madhu | September 10, 2010 at 03:43 AM
http://www.giftspune.com
Send Gifts to Pune , Gift Pune delivery, Cakes to Pune, Birthday Gifts to Pune, Birthday Cakes to Pune, Pune Gift Shop
Posted by: Prakash | November 02, 2010 at 09:19 PM
Order online to send flowers to Bangalore, Gifts to Bangalore, Cakes to Bangalore. You can also send flowers and gifts to bangalore for different occasions like Birthday, Anniversary , wedding etc. on any desired date or on same day. We have cheap gifts and flowers to select from to send them to Bangalore.
Posted by: madhu | November 10, 2010 at 01:28 AM
Order online to send Valentine gifts for delivery within India, valentines day gift to India, valentines day gifts India, valentine's day gifts to India.
Posted by: Arun Singh | December 08, 2010 at 02:42 AM
Send Flowers to Delhi, Gifts Delhi, Send Flowers Delhi, Flowers in Delhi, Florist in Delhi, Flowers delivery Delhi, Sending Gifts to Delhi.
Posted by: Alok Gujar | December 09, 2010 at 08:26 PM
Hyderabad gift.com helps you to order online to send flowers to Hyderabad, Gifts to Hyderabad, Birthday gifts to Hyderabad,
Gifts to Hyderabad from US, UK, USA, Flowers to Hyderabad India
Posted by: Madhu R | April 20, 2011 at 03:45 AM
indiaflowerplaza.com helps you to order online to send flowers to India , Gifts to India, Cakes to India, Birthday Gifts to India.
Posted by: karthik kumar | May 20, 2011 at 04:53 AM
It's so nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easier!! Thanks.
Posted by: MBT Shoes | July 18, 2011 at 01:45 AM
Send flowers to Mumbai for same day delivery or delivery on your desired date. One can also send gifts, cakes for delivery in Mumbai. We are local florists and gift shop at Mumbai to send flowers, gifts, cakes to Mumbai and all over Maharashtra.
Posted by: Ravikumar | July 25, 2011 at 03:06 AM
What a excellent resource!
Posted by: Ugg Bailey Button | December 09, 2011 at 10:58 PM
Mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I'm more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful.
Posted by: Onitsuka Tiger | December 27, 2011 at 07:51 PM
Great article. Some of these conditions are getting worse or spreading faster as time goes by because of everything that is coming out in our environment. I do hope that we can do something to prevent these things from happening.
Posted by: pelican bay homes | January 05, 2012 at 04:15 PM
I really like this website , and hope you will write more ,thanks a lot for your information,thank u very much.
Posted by: Blue Screen | January 25, 2012 at 07:55 PM
thank you for nice information.. I am going to bookmark this page. we will meet soon.
Posted by: Runtime error | January 25, 2012 at 09:04 PM