ADHD diagnosis & your child's birthday - the correlation

Two interesting articles published in the September issue in the Journal of Health Economics shows that children who were younger than their classmates were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and were more likely to be medicated for ADHD. This raises some intriguing points about diagnosis and expectations that we (parents & teachers) place on children. An older child will act differently than a younger one. A child that is 10 months younger that his/her peers is probably less mature psychologically than their older counterparts, yet we expect all kids to act and behave uniformly. Perhaps we need to factor in birthdays when making these diagnoses. See references below should you wish to read the studies in its entirety.

In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, we are shown the same correlation between birth dates and hockey players. Gladwell shows that a disproportionate amount of NHL players were born in the early months. The theory being that earlier birthdays equals greater physical maturity and hence they tend to do better at sports at a younger age. A guy that hits puberty first will have a significant height and strength advantage over his less mature teammate. The 'older male' having shown greater promise at a younger age leads to more coaching and ice time, which leads to even better play and thus increases ones skill level. This pattern repeats itself from peewee hockey to the minors and leads to a greater chance of making it to the NHL. Mind boggling, isn't it how the day you're born can play such an important factor in your life. If I recall properly, I've also read papers linking your birthday to other health factors as well.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

References

1. Elder TE. The importance of relative standards in ADHD diagnoses: evidence based on exact birth days. J Health Econ. 2010;29:641-656. Abstract
2. Evans WN, Morrill MS, Parente ST. Measuring inappropriate medical diagnosis and treatment in survey data: the case of ADHD among school-age children. J Health Econ. 2010;29:657-673. Abstract

In the News: Banning food dyes; Autoimmune drug may increase cancer risk

Movement to Ban Controversial Food Dyes Gaining Steam in the US

A U.S consumer advocacy group is calling for the ban of artificial food dyes because of there link to serious behavioural and attention-deficit problems in children. The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal published a study last fall that uncovered a link between additives and hyperactivity in children. The researchers found children with no history of serious behavioural problems showed signs of hyperactivity after drinking fruit juice that contained various levels of additives over a period of several weeks.

The organization singled out eight widely used synthetic dyes for elimination from food:

• Yellow 6 or sunset yellow
• Yellow 5 or tartrazine
• Orange B
• Red 3 or erythrosine
• Red 40, also known as allura red
• Blue 1 or brilliant blue
• Blue 2 or indigotine
• Green 3 or fast green

All of these dyes, with the exception of orange B, are permitted for use in Canada. Many of the dyes are derived from coal tar and have been linked to health problems in past scientific studies. The dyes can be found in a wide range of products including juices, ketchup, chips, chocolate bars, cereals, cheddar cheese, liqueurs, etc...

Unfortunately Canadian labeling standards do not require companies to list which dyes they use in their products - you'll often find products with information stating contains "colours" on the packaging.

In truth, I don't believe that we really need these dyes. They're used for marketing purposes and to make products more appealing to the eyes. Other safe alternatives to these dyes already exist, so why not use them?

Methotrexate (a common drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis) may Increase Cancer Risks

Methotrexate, an immuno-suppressive drug that's often prescribed to suffers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune conditions increases their risk of developing certain types of cancers:

• Five-fold increased risk of developing Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma compared to the general population.
• Three-fold increased risk of melanoma.
• Three-fold increased risk of lung cancer.
• Overall, RA patients taking methotrexate were twice as likely as those without the condition to develop cancer.

These findings, in a way should not be surprising considering that cancer development is often halted by our own body's immune system. Cancer cells are often damaged or mutated cells and a good functioning immune system recognizes these anomalies and destroys them.

Please don't go off your prescription medications without consulting your health care professional. One always has to do a risk reward analysis when considering options, but I can assure you that there are other options out there that may help you to decrease your dosage of drugs.