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Biomechanical therapies include surgery, massage and "spinal manipulation" (including chiropractic)." According to Chan, very few studies of children in ADHD exists. And she's right. Furthermore, Chan admonishes the aggressive and widespread alternative therapies advertised as "miracle cures" for ADHD in the lay press and Internet. For your interest, I have provided in the newsletter reference section (see below), articles and websites that Dr. Chan has listed as resources for CAM and ADHD. To empower you with addressing questions from parents and medical doctors alike, you should be aware of these websites and be able to address the issues involved.
The Chiropractic Perspective
Recent research efforts are now bringing into fruition supporting evidence upon the chiropractic principle of the supremacy of the nervous system. ADHD is a central nervous system disorder Attempts at understanding the underlying neurobiology of ADHD remains a challenge.
In chiropractic, to the best of my knowledge, the first and only documentation in the scientific literature addressing the effects of chiropractic care in children with hyperactivity was performed by Giesen et.al. (17). The principle aim of their study was to determine the effectiveness of chiropractic manipulative therapy in the treatment of children with hyperactivity. Using blinds between investigators and a single subject research design, the investigators evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment for reducing activity levels of hyperactive children. Data collection included independent evaluations of behavior using a unique wrist-watch type device to mechanically measure activity while the children completed tasks simulating school-work. Further evaluations included electrodermal tests to measure autonomic nervous system activity. Chiropractic clinical evaluations to measure improvement in spinal biomechanics were also completed. Placebo care was given prior to chiropractic intervention. Data were analyzed visually and using nonparametric statistical methods. Five of seven children showed improvement in mean behavioral scores from placebo care to treatment. Four of seven showed improvement in arousal levels, and the improvement in the group as a whole was highly significant. Agreement between tests was also high in this study. For all seven children, three of the four principal tests used to detect improvement were in agreement either positively or negatively (parent ratings of activity, motion recorder scores, electrodermal measures, and X-rays of spinal distortions). While the behavioral improvement taken alone can only be considered suggestive, the strong interest agreement can be taken as more impressive evidence that the majority of the children in this study did, in fact, improve under specific chiropractic care. The results of this study, then, are not conclusive. However, they do suggest that chiropractic care has the potential to become an important non-drug intervention for children with hyperactivity. Further investigation in this area is certainly warranted.
Considering that all of the alternative therapies as described by above are incorporated in a number of chiropractic practices or at least networked into by most, it is my contention that chiropractic provides the best "alternative" for children with a diagnosis of ADHD.
References & additional resources available on-line at:
http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/references.html
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