Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and the official title Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) are the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders, with dramatically rising numbers displaying the common ADHD symptoms of distractibility, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. It is conservatively estimated that 3-5% of the school-age children have ADHD. In reality, in clinical observation, the figure is more like 10 times higher. In addition, a growing number of adults in the United States (estimated at over 8 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD. The adult population is approximately three times the size of the children's.

Both genetic and environmental factors can cause ADHD symptoms. These factors can affect brain chemistry by creating imbalance and neurotoxicity (actual brain damage). Factors such as diet and nutrition, prescription drugs, home/work environment, quality of relationships and teaching methods can also have a major impact on an individual's success.

Not surprisingly, the preferred treatments by many physicians include the well-known psychiatric drugs like Zoloft, Ritalin, Prozac, Adderall, Strattera, and many more. Well over one million American children are on drugs for ADHD. Many children take these powerful drugs for years, even though most of these drugs have not been tested for long-term effects, and particularly, have not been tested on children. Drugs for attention disorders bring in $2.2 billion a year in profits. Between 1990 and 1996, prescriptions for the drug, know as Ritalin, increased more than 60 percent, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Studies show that up to 10 percent of children in second through fifth grades are on prescription drugs for ADHD.

The prescription drugs used to treat these disorders often result in serious side effects (sometimes severe and tragic) and complications. Possible side effects include decreased appetite, stunted growth, insomnia, increased irritability, behavior disturbances, thought disorders, psychotic episodes, anxiety, restlessness, seizures, suicide, impaired judgment, agitation, amnesia, confusion, apathy, depersonalization, hallucinations, hostility, paranoid reactions, personality disorders, and delusions. Cardiac side effects include hemorrhage, hypertension, angina, arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attack, rapid heart beat, arterial fibrillation, cerebral embolism, and heart block just to name a few.

Adults have an advantage in this situation in regard to taking drugs: they can refuse. Children, on the other hand, are depending on and trusting their parents to provide the best treatment for them. At the same time, parents are being influenced by advertisers and drug companies to buy and use questionable prescription medications. This is too often to the detriment of their child.

Rather than rely on powerful psychiatric drugs and risk the negative side effects that come with them, we encourage you to experience the well-researched program offered by Dr. Ross Stewart and the NeuroWellness staff, which includes Neurotransmitter supplementation, Nutrition, and Dietary Modifications. Our treatment programs are designed to eliminate symptoms by identifying and eliminating the underlining causes of the existing condition. You and your child will actually experience positive improvements affecting all aspects of health and life.