Pharmacological treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while at the moment more effective than any other treatment option, is still considerably limited in its usefulness. For instance, although stimulants act for only a limited period, symptoms are continuous. Thus stimulants must be given several times per day (or at least daily in the case of sustained release formulations) with concomitant compliance issues.
Common physiological short term side effects of stimulant include insomnia, appetite loss, stomach-aches, dizziness and daytime drowsiness in addition to emotional and motor symptoms, such as mood lability and tics. Psychostimulants can produce abuse and dependency and the potential long-term side effects of lengthy treatments are not unknown. For example, it has been shown that 6% of children treated with stimulant medication developed psychotic side effects.
As such information becomes more widely available, it is not surprising that large numbers of parents seek out complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies as a response to their “concern about the physiological and psychological effects that the drugs may have on their children”.
Support for CAM has also come from clinicians who argue that an emphasis on medical therapy alone draws attention to the control of symptoms, rather than attending to the need for children to acquire important behavioural and social skills. Researchers have been compelled to explore other treatment options by concerns relating to the escalating use of stimulants in the management of ADHD symptoms. Other issues include treatment acceptability, side effects, compliance, potential long-term effects, the danger of drug abuse and dependency and consumer and parent preference of non-pharmacological treatment.
Dr Ramesh Manocha