Natural Treatments for ADD and ADHD www.Drdanachurchill.com

www.Drdanachurchill.com
Natural Treatments for ADD and ADHD
ADD and ADHD are treatable. Here are some methods I have employed to treat those with ADD and
ADHD at Heartfelt Medicine with positive results.
They can be applied individually but are most effective when applied together.
ADD/ADHD Treatments
Food Sensitivity
The first step is to find and eliminate all food sensitivities (IgG) and allergies (IgE). I use several different
labs to measure he food sensitivities. The blood is the best media to test. We can do a blood spot for
kids ( only requires a quick finger stick).
It is necessary to test for Candida (GI Health Panel) and usually there is a Gluten/Casein intolerance.
Most cases I like to use Great Plains Lab for all the tests necessary. Dr. Shaw specializes in lab work for
ADD/ADHA and Autism Spectrum Disorder, which Dr. Churchill treats very often too.
All these can be eliminated with a very comprehensive rotation diet which the lab prepares for you and
at the same time all the foods that you reacted to will be eliminated from the diet for 3 months. This
gives the immune system enough time to re-set.
I have seen many of the symptoms that my patients arrive with go away as a result of diet modification,
because remember we are usually dealing with food sensitivities, not allergies, which the patients are
fully aware of and avoid.
On another note I have seen most of the women who undergo these tests and follow the diet lose many
pounds just from eliminating the foods that their immune systems have become intolerant of.
This is a mechanism that involves cortisol and our metabolic systems.
Detox and reinoculate with probiotics: GI tract
First do comprehensive GI Health Panel: ( Blue Cross usually covers this 100%) You have to completely
clean up the GI tract, kill all pathogens (using herbal tinctures and teas like gentian and worm wood,
Biocidin Advanced Botanical tincture…) and stop bad bacterial overgrowth. You then re-seed and feed
the GI tract with good bacteria and food that the enterocytes like to eat (pre and pro-biotics).
We also have to eliminate all inflammation causing factors in the gut, and this is done using a number of
Nutraceuticals, botanical tinctures, teas, and super foods, especially E-3 Live. This will stop any leaky gut
syndrome also known as intestinal permeability food particles from entering the blood stream so that
the immune system will stop attacking the body where ever these particles land on (they can and do
cross the blood brain barrier, and are therefore harmful).
Eliminate Harmful Pharmaceuticals
Take out any pharmaceuticals causing any kind of GI inflammation (antibiotics and non-steroidal antiinflammatories are two of the worst causes).
Check for Nutritional Deficiencies
You can do a Nutritional PE for nutritional deficiencies using Dr. Russel Marz’s extensive health history
PE and or SpectraCell’s Functional Intracellular Analysis of vitamins (both lipid and water soluble),
minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and carbohydrate metabolism and fatty acid metabolites or use our
in house lab machine called Solaris Body Composition Analyzer, using the patient’s own urine and saliva
in 10 minutes.
Apply Herbal Remedies
To improve memory, cognition, decrease restlessness, lessen distractions, difficulty listening and
improve the ability to finish tasks, I use a combination of herbs. I have found the best herbs for treating
ADD and ADHD are Rhodiola in fairly high doses, as well as Ashwaganda, Gotu cola, Eleuthrococcus, and
Rosemary.
Apply Homeopathy
The most comprehensive way to assess and treat this disorder is using homeopathy.
I will not give any specific remedies here because you have to undergo a proper constitutional intake
with a trained homeopath to find a remedy specific for each case.
I use the spider remedies quite a bit, which many kids think is really cool. Tarantula Hispanica is the main
theme for this remedy and is used to treat overstimulation of the nervous system. There are others
such as Theridien or Aranea and a non-spider nosode that works great is called Tuberculinum. Using any
one of these remedies can usually result in everything slowing down. As a result the mind can work
much more efficiently and many of the self esteem issues that cause these kids and sometimes adults to
be very self conscious will go away, and they will once again feel confident and trust their abilities to
perform tasks that most of us take for granted.
Homeopathy is so important in helping the patient heal because it addresses the mental emotional
component in the case. At the very least it can decrease stress that can impair memory and or cognition
through regulation of the adrenal/pituitary axis.
Another way to do this is to look at the family dynamics. The parents or care givers can be exerting a lot
of pressure on the child for any number of reasons; this can lead to increased stress which in turn can
decrease memory and or cognition. I have given one or both of the parents a remedy in a few cases and
then the child progressed quite nicely.
Recognize Their Inherent Intelligence and Abilities
One final note…
ADD and ADHD diagnosed people are usually highly intelligent, hence the perpetual boredom. They can
truly see things in a different light compared to the rest of us and have great and innovative ideas. Put
in the correct environment and work position they can be extremely productive and give any company
or business a competitive edge in creativity and design. Now many companies are actively seeking
individuals with ADD for their marketing and design departments. Many of the most successful people in
the world are ADD. So be kind to yourself and give yourself a pat on the back!
By Dr. Dana Churchill, a Naturopathic physician in LA and La Jolla