Can Chiropractors Effectively Treat ADHD? Should They?
PERSPECTIVE
Trish Leigh
Ph.D., BCN
In chiropractic offices across the United States, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is being treated infrequently and perhaps inefficiently. New scientific studies show that brain functioning can be improved through chiropractic adjustments. Through this mechanism alone, patients experience some improvement in behaviors. Honestly, though, is that enough to rid people of their ADHD symptoms and significantly improve the quality of their lives? Most chiropractors are not attracting ADHD patients because they are not fully convicted in their ability to substantially help people with ADHD. Until now.
What if you knew what was happening in the brain of your patients with ADHD? When you understand that impaired neurological brain performance causes ADHD, and that you, as a chiropractic physician, hold the key to improving it, your confidence in treating ADHD soars. What if you could make strong care recommendations that utilize new advanced treatment options, in conjunction with chiropractic adjustments, to help people with ADHD feel and perform better, and it was all based upon what you objectively measure? Well, you can and now is the time to do so.
ADHD is Proven to Be Caused by Irregular Neurological Function
ADHD is a neurological disorder with behavioral symptoms. Laypeople do not know this truth and many professionals do not understand it as well. The key to helping people escape the symptoms of ADHD is in regulating the nervous system through a multimodality approach, which is the mission of chiropractors far and wide. Therefore, the answer to the question “Can chiropractors effectively treat ADHD?” is a resounding yes. Not only can they treat it, they also should because it is their inherent mission. The best part is that the tools and techniques are high-tech, state-of-the-art therapies, and so many people need such help.
** As you know, scope of practice is dictated by individual state licensing organizations. 5 5
A 2010 study characterized ADHD as “among the most common neuro behavioral disorders presenting for treatment in children and adolescents.” The authors continued, “ADHD is often chronic with prominent symptoms and impairment spanning into adulthood, and the biological underpinning of the disorder is supported by genetic, neuroimaging, neurochemistry, and neuropsychological data.”
In another research article, ADHD is considered a “neurobehavioral manifestation of developmental impairment of the brain.” What is most interesting in this article is that the author talks about the “silent pandemic” of environmental toxins that are found in food, household products, and the air as major contributors to the increased occurrence of the brain impairment responsible for ADHD.
The common thread of these studies, both of which can be found on the National Institute of Health’s website, is the cause being “neuro” in nature. A neurological disorder with a neurological solution is ADHD.
How Can Chiropractors Effectively Help Those with ADHD?
The advancement of the practice of chiropractic is now encompassing brain-based evaluations and treatments. Visualization of brain energy patterns and subsequent improvement of brain performance will be standard practice in the treatment of ADHD within the next 10 years. B. J. Palmer’s philosophy of chiropractic that life is intelligent and that this innate intelligence strives to maintain a state of health through adaptation mechanisms” poises chiropractic at the center of solving the ADHD crisis.
ADHD has long been proven by science to be an imbalanced ratio of slow brain processing speed, called Theta, and ideal faster cognitive processing speed, called Beta. This is the reason that stimulant medications are prescribed—to speed up the brain for a time. The Theta to Beta ratio is considered dysregulated if it exceeds a 3:1 ratio. This ratio can be measured using qEEG brain mapping and then optimized and tracked for improvement using neurofeedback therapy. It is that simple.
Scope of Practice Defines Professional Roles
As you know, scope of practice is dictated by individual state licensing organizations. When you peruse your license’s scope, no matter what state you live and practice in, you will find that the treatment of ADHD using brain-based evaluation and treatment is not only allowable but, in fact, is your role. Quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) brain mapping and neurofeedback therapy are the modalities through which you can live out that purpose.
In my state, North Carolina, licensure statutes read, “Chiropractic is herein defined to be the science of adjusting the cause of disease by realigning the spine, releasing pressure on nerves radiating from the spine to all parts of the body, and allowing the nerves to carry their full quota of health current (nerve energy) from the brain to all parts of the body.”
New York, a state with perhaps one of the most stringent licenses, states, “The practice of the profession of chiropractic is defined as detecting and correcting by manual or mechanical means structural imbalance, distortion, or subluxations in the human body for the purpose of removing nerve interference and the effects thereof.” It continues to contend, “Licensees may use any electrical devices essential to their practice provided such devices have not been disapproved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration or its successors.” Quantitative electroencephalogram brain mapping and neurofeedback are indeed FDA approved.
Why Chiropractors Should Treat ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is being diagnosed in epic proportions. In a 2016 Center for Disease Control (CDC) study, 6.1 million children between the ages of two and 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD, with 61% of those kids taking medications and a resounding two-thirds of them also suffering from behavioral issues and anxiety. Less than half of those kids were also receiving any type of behavioral treatment that had a chance of helping improve their condition in a longterm capacity. This means that there are many children who are diagnosed with ADHD that only address their ADHD through amphetamines. Medications are proven not to change brain performance patterns but just to mask the symptoms while the pharmaceuticals are in the children’s bodies. Thus, this is not effective treatment at all.
Many other children and adults suffer from ADHD symptoms but do not have any help combatting their struggles since they do not have a diagnosis. Additionally, we know from the previously mentioned study that ADHD follows children into adulthood unless the underlying neurological issue is addressed.
ADHD Medications Are Proven to Lack Substantial Safety Testing and Have Harmful Shortand Longterm Side Effects
A Harvard study from 2014 showed that premarket safety for ADHD medications was low. The study concluded that adverse effects and long-term safety were not being assessed. Many ADHD drugs were tested for less than four weeks and then put on the market for mass consumption. The three most common side effects someone experiences while taking ADHD medications include anxiety, eating, and sleeping problems. Other studies have shown that ADHD stimulant medications have long-term negative health consequences, such as heart and blood pressure problems. Other studies show the high likelihood of addiction to ADHD medications. Thus, in the short and long run, ADHD medications are harmful to children and adults and provide no long-term solution for the underlying neurological condition.
Society needs other options that are available in a widespread fashion. Effective, scientific, all-natural brainbased treatment methods exist but are not readily accessible to people, primarily because they don’t know they exist. Chiropractors should step up to help the cause in the form of advanced practice that moves them and society into the future. Quantitative electroencephalogram brain mapping and neurofeedback are considered by many in health and scientific fields to be the future of improving ADHD, and the future is now.
References:
1. Berman, S.M. et al. (2008). Potential adverse effects of amphetamine treatment on brain and behavior: A review, Molecular Psychiatry, 14(2): 123-142.
2. Bourgeois F.T. et al. (2014) Premarket safety and efficacy studies for ADHD medications in children, PLoS ONE, 9(7).
3. Danielson, M.L. et al. (2016). Prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and associated treatment among U.S. children and adolescents, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47(2): 199-212.
4. Key findings: National prevalence of ADHD and treatment: New statistics for children and adolescents, (2016), Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/features/nationalprevalence-adhd-and-treatment.html
5. Lelic, D. et al. (2016). Manipulation of dysfunctional spinal joints affects sensorimotor integration in the pre-frontal cortex: A brain source localization study, Neural Plasticity, 2016: 1-9.
6. Monastra, V.J. et al. (2002). The effects of stimulant therapy, EEG biofeedback, and parenting style on the primary symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Applied Psychophysiological Biofeedback, 27(4): 231-49.
7. Wilens, T.E. & Spencer, T.J. (2010). Understanding attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder from childhood to adulthood, Postgrad Medicine, 122(5): 97-109.
Trish Leigh, Ph.D., BC.N has been an educator for 20 years and operates a thriving Neurofeedback practice, Leigh Brain and Spine, with her Chiropractor husband. With a proven office system in place, she is dedicated to teaching professionals how to build an effective and profitable neurofeedback practice through her 5-week online training course, Neurofeedback Experts. Program details can be found drtrishleigh.com or to talk with Dr. Leigh call 919-401-9933.
PERSPECTIVE
