| The nutritional aspects of learning disabilities are quite diffuse and complex because of the "individuality factor." Our food supply has been bastardized by the food industry, starting at the farm site and carrying right through to the factories that process the foods. The farmer does not grow organic foods, so chemicals contaminate the food. The farmer uses soil over and over, depleting the minerals. The food manufacturing plants process the food so it is able to withstand a long shelf life. All of this did not happen in 1790. Thanks to all these processing techniques, foods have lost a large percentage of their nutrient value. What happens as a result of the farmer and food processor's techniques is we eat a product which is alien to our systems. Poor food supply leads to poor fuel for the neurochemical processes necessary for learning. Finally, there is the immediate environmental impact on children and their ability to learn. It has been said that the air in our world today has 30% less oxygen in it than the world in which pre-historic man lived. Do you think this might have an impact on the learning abilities of our children? This, of course, is in addition to the trillions of tons of chemicals and heavy metals we put in our bodies through the air. If nothing else, it certainly had a damaging impact on our molecular systems. We place our children in classrooms for eight hours, five days a week. In those 40 hours, they breathe in chemicals from carpets, paints, pesticides, toxic cleaning fluids, furniture, office machinery, etc. In addition, most schools are contaminated with molds to add another major burden to the child who is not adapting well to his/her environment. And if the school building is more than 25 years old, you can add in the asbestos factor. Therefore, alien chemicals, heavy metals, and contaminated air and water can cause an individual child's immune system to become damaged. This can cause sensitivities to certain foods, chemicals, preservatives, and molds. As a result, the child may develop a learning disability. Food which lacks appropriate nutrients - thanks to poor farming techniques and food processing for long shelf life-in essence starves a child's brain of what it needs to function properly. These nutrient deficiencies can also result in learning disabilities. In looking at the various causes of learning disabilities, we see that the incidence breaks down as follows: Genetic only: Rare Birth injuries: Rare Previous infections: Rare Accidents: Rare Dysfunctional home with stressors: Common Biochemical aberrations (nutritional): Common Toxic Dysfunction: Common Allergic (sensitivity) syndrome: Most Common Specifically, studies have found correlations between certain toxic agents / nutrient deficiencies and learning disabilities. These include: Calcium deficiency and ADHD High serum copper and ADHD Iron deficiency can cause irritability and attention deficits Magnesium deficiency is characterized by fidgeting, anxiousness, restless, psycho- motor inability, and learning difficulties Malnutrition in general is related to learning disabilities; the child does not have to look malnourished, a fact forgotten in affluent countries Dyslexic children seem to have abnormal zinc and copper metabolism-low zinc and high copper Iodine deficiencies have been linked to learning difficulties Traditional medicine would have us make a diagnosis using the signs and symptoms, and then find a therapy to fit the diagnosis. But this can never work in complex chronic illness. You must know why the process exists in order to stop it. The current modes of treating ADHD is drug therapy (Ritalin) along with calmness training, endurance training, activity level training, etc. All these are band-aids for the signs and symptoms. Why not find out why and fix it? The easy way out for schools is to treat the symptoms. This certainly allows the child sometimes to function in the school environment, but at whose expense? Addictive "brain" drugs and tedious control measures have been shown to lead to teenagers and adults who do not function well in our society. Several studies over the last 20 years have focused on the learning disability characterized by hyperactivity (ADHD). What we have discovered is that in the majority of cases caused by an immune defect and sensitivities to food additives, preservatives, chemicals, or inhalants, when we correct the sensitivity abnormality, the hyperactivity disappears. This is accomplished by both immunotherapy and dietary interventions. So what is the environmental approach to dealing with these problems? First we take a comprehensive environmental history, documenting chronology, environment, nutrition, allergies, family, toxic exposures, and normal living characteristics. We conduct both a physical exam and an extensive laboratory evaluation (testing nutritional deficiencies, occult infections, heavy metal build-up in the body, toxic chemicals, and sensitivity testing). Armed with these results, we can focus on the individual's imbalances, deficiencies and toxicities. We can prescribe individualized nutritional supplements, correct the defects caused by excess heavy metals, outline an avoidance diet, implement environmental controls, and start Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization (EPD-an immunotherapy vaccine), to start the child back on the road to overcoming learning disabilities like ADHD, rather than just masking the problem and hoping it can be "drugged" away. I have taken care of many children with learning disabilities, and my colleagues, like Dr. Doris Rapp, have been doing it for over two decades. We have shown that by following the therapeutic and philosophical guidelines I have described, it can make for a "new child" who can function at or near full potential. The following are among a few of the cases I have treated. I use them here as examples: 8 year old male (son of pediatrician and psychologist) Mother-allergic Infancy: colic; didn't sleep through night until age 4-1/2; hyperactivity from first few months Infections: recurrent ear infections; chronic sinus problems Age 2: asthma Ages 3-5: Violent, hostile, unmanageable; chronic sleeping problems Treatment Ages 3-7: Ritalin, Dexedrine; several side effects from both. Cylert increased his rage First seen 9/93: food cravings; stomach pain; bad breath; nasal congestion; wheezing; headaches; nightmares; mood swings; hyperactivity; attention deficit; behavior disorder; hostile; short attention span; sound sensitivity; eczema Laboratory findings: mild mercury burden; mild lead and aluminum burden; overgrowth Candida and citobacter in colon. |
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