Natural remedy ADHD - fish oil supplement?

Fish oil as a natural remedy (food as medicine) for hyperactive, impulsive and disruptive children and teenagers? Scientists based on the premise fish oil from oily fish like salmon and sardines with high content of fatty acids, is brain food and , are testing to see if giving fish oil supplement to children and teenagers with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and other disruptive behaviour (defying parents and teachers, and engaging in fighting, stealing or other anti-social activities) can improve their conduct. The fatty acids are believed to help the brain work properly.

These suspicions seem bolstered by the findings of Prof. Ong Wei Yi, professor of anatomy from the NUS (National University of Singapore) who found from tests on rats given anti-depressant medications release fatty acids from nerve terminals in the brain.

The research team from Singapore and Philadelphia is led by principal investigator Daniel Fung, the Head of the Child and adolescent psychiatry department of the Singapore Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and assisted by Prof. Rebecca Ang of Nanyang Technological University while Adrian Raine, a criminologist from the University of Pennsylvania is conducting the trial in Philadelphia.

The study plan to test 600 patients, aged nine to 16, who have sought treatment from the Child Guidance Clinic which will be divided into 2 groups with half randomly assigned to take four Omega 3 fatty acids fish oil capsules a day for 6 months while the other half will be given dummy sunflower oil capsules (placebo) with only a tinge of fish oil to give it an oily taste.

While the results are not known yet, earlier tests in Britain and Nederlands have shown that aggressive young prisoners and children with coordination disorders behave better after taking fish oil supplement.

Those who took fish oil became more attentive, less hyperactive and less impulsive, among other behavioural and learning improvements.

Source: The Straits Times

Plastic baby bottles leach toxic bisphenol A into milk, infant formula and other liquids

Why use glass baby bottles (feeding bottles)

According to GreenLivingOnline, the Environmental Defense in a study on plastic baby bottles (feeding bottles) sold in Canada, found that 90% of them leach Bisphenol A into liquids such as milk, infant formula, etc. I would suppose that also include natural expressed mother's milk and I think that working mothers who expressed their milk, refrigerate them and caretakers heat up the milk to be put into baby bottles should be warned about this. They should use glass baby bottles (feeding bottles) instead of plastic baby bottles of those under their charge. The study mentioned showed that heating the feeding bottles resulted in exponential increase in leaching of Bisphenol A.

Glass baby bottles from Amazon

A graph of something increasing in an exponential way is shown below. Note that this is a logarithmic graph, and the increase shown is not in equal steps, but in multiple of 10. If plotted on normal graph paper, the rate in increase will look even more frightening:

Image of graph is property of Indi Samarajiva

Bisphenol A (BPA)

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound with the formula (CH3)₂C(C₆H₄OH)₂. According to Wikipedia on Bisphenol A, there is a current controversy over BPA's effect on health. While it stated that Bisphenol A has a low acute toxicity and negligible skin permeability and widely used in cosmetics and foods as antioxidants. Wikipedia also mentioned about the growing concern that exposure to Bisphenol A may induce adverse effects in humans, citing some hormone disrupting effects in studies on animals and human cancer cells.

According to Wikipedia on Bisphenol A, recent studies have confirmed that bisphenol A exposure during development has carcinogenic effects and produce precursors of breast cancer, have developmental toxicity, carcinogenic effects, and possible neurotoxicity (toxicity on brain cells). Exposure to Bisphenol A may also be linked to triggering fat-cell activity, thus leading to obesity. Other research also endocrine disruptors like BPA may be implicated in schizophrenia pathogenesis (progression of a disease).

GreenLivingOnline went even further and mentioned association of exposure to Bisphenol A to early puberty in girls, Attention Deficit Disorder (AHDH) and hyperactivity disorder.

In the Canadian study which studied 3 branded plastic feeding bottles, leaching of bisphenol A produced concentration of Bisphenol A within a range of 5 to 8 ng/ml (parts per billion). Recent scientific research shows that bisphenol A can be harmful at doses below the levels found in the study.

Dr. Smith, the Environmental Defense Executive Director recommended that the Canadian federal government must act immediately by banning Bisphenol A from baby bottles and other food and beverage containers.