NHS prescribing drugs 'when diet might help children with autism'

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her....1107588.0.nhs...


THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.


That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella" subject
in the health service.


Speaking ahead of a major conference on diet and children's behaviour later
this month, Rex told the Sunday Herald that while many NHS professionals
will prescribe powerful drugs, they are reluctant to consider dietary
interventions.


continued...


"It is very strange that we within the NHS are in the culture of prescribing
medication which runs the risk of side-effects," he said, "yet we are so
nervous about giving tailor-made advice on what a healthy diet would look
like.


"As soon as you talk about diet and autism or attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), people assume you are going to be suggesting
something wacky, because some people have done so in the past.


"But you can give responsible, tailor-made advice on diet, which is more
likely to do good than harm."


While there is wide debate about the causes and treatment of autism and
ADHD, some research has suggested that dietary interventions such as
removing milk and wheat, topping up nutrients or using fish oil supplements
can help in some cases.


But Rex, who is one of just a few dieticians employed by the health service
to give specialist advice on such conditions, said that the lack of interest
in the subject within the NHS meant that parents often had to turn to the
private sector for information, without knowing what advice or treatments
could be relied upon.


"There are often all sorts of supplements and potions, sometimes at great
expense. Sometimes they are ones that are potentially useful, sometimes it
is based on half-baked science and sometimes it is downright irresponsible,"
he said.


"I think families feel that they are caught between a rock and a hard place
because, while they would trust the NHS, there isn't enough knowledge or
interest in these topic areas.


[more]

i think your posts have seemed somewhat more rational

--
"Being *able* to do something does not automatically imply that it is easy
or undemanding." - Terry
ASA FAQ: http://www.mugsy.org/asa_faq/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"PromaBoss" wrote in message
...
thanks too

not sure but do my posts seem more rational ??


i personally think they are some of the old timers on here [lol] may be
able
to answer

yes sure i get peed off and annoyed and so black is white

but i am not as bad as i was months ago before going on my ritlalin but my
aspergers is still making me think i am always right lol

regards paul
"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:wU5rh.2268$dV1.1469@trndny02...
PromaBoss wrote:
not only is it not caused by diet changing diet really only helps a
small
perrcentage

Agreed. True AD/HD is independent of diet.


of those parents i speak to on other groups some actually talk in
riddles

as in one mail they say "yes littl johny is much better on this glten
free diet" he exercises and palys sport he eayts this and that


then a few mails down the line its

"well little johny had another tantrum at school"

"he is not concentrasting in class"

and all the same symptoms of the adhd he supposedly got rid ofby
changing
diet and exercising

This phenomena is replicated in other conditions. There are those who
claim that cheatlation cured their Autistic kid, and the kid still shows
every clinical sign of autism that they had before being subjected to
cheatlation.

It is correctly called wishful thinking of parents who look at their
special child as *defective* or *broken* in some manner and in need of
*fixing*. They insist that their child can be *fixed* and try everything
except the things that the child really needs, i.e., love an acceptance
for who they are.

there is no proof ,i dont doubt they can help in sokme areas,just as my
drugs ritalin do,but i dont believe anyone who is so pro there way
works
be it drugs/dance therapy/sport/positivty/diet/surfing/painting/cbt

AD/HD (or ASD for that matter) does not have a 'one fits all' situation.
Treatment had to be highly individualized.

dont care what works for one ADHD Aspie does not mean it works for all
and indeed works in some ways rather than everything miraclulously
fine.

Agreed. It is does not mean that what works today will work tomorrow.

i dont say that about my ritalin its helped in certsain ways i am
thankful for but i am realistic about it not being a mircle cure all
for
everyone

Exactly. There are no miracles, just hard work to deal with the
problems.

regards paul

Nice post. Thanks.

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:Wptqh.2196$q32.118@trndny01...
Mark Probert wrote:
Chris wrote:
that's why I've never gone to a nutrtionist although at it's been
recommended to me.
When we first embarked on our efforts to deal with our son's AD/HD,
we
visited a nutritionist we carefully selected and was recommended by
our
Ped.

We spent an hour completing page after page of questions about eating
habits, etc. The nutritionist, reviewed our answers, and merely said
that his diet was well balanced, with good sources of protein (fresh
fish (like caught the same day, in season), chicken, rarely read
meat),
vitamins (lots of veggies, fruits, etc.), and carbs (pasta and whole
grain rice).

The only suggestion made was that he could eat bread instead of
putting
nearly everything like peanut butter on unsalted saltines, or, just
cut
down on snacking on the unsalted saltines.

Since then, everyone who has told me that his AD/HD is definitively
caused by diet has merely made me laugh.
For the illiterate readers, note that I said *caused* by diet. In this
situation, diet was good and proper.

N O T

C A U S E D





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Jan Drew wrote:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her...ith_autism.php


THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.

That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella" subject
in the health service.

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

From my personal experience, I also believe diet has an effect on my
behaviour.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

wrote:

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her...ith_autism.php


THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.

That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella" subject
in the health service.

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

If there is no evidence to support such action, just eat healthy and get
proper treatment.


From my personal experience, I also believe diet has an effect on my
behaviour.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

Mark Probert wrote:
wrote:

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

If there is no evidence to support such action, just eat healthy and get
proper treatment.

A question is whether one can rely upon a doctor to give proper
treatment?

How knowledgeable is a doctor? They may know perfectly what they have
been taught, but have they been taught everything?

Even if they are knowledgeable, there are other risks. In the UK at
least, and this may be a bit of a stereotype, doctors have a bit of a
reputation of prescribing medicines just to get patients to leave the
surgery quickly without debate, rather than some other non-medicinal
treatment that might be less readily accepted by the patient.

If you take the same view as me, I think it is important when you see a
doctor (on general health grounds) to make clear that you want a
prescription of medicine or drugs to be a last resort, and emphasise
that you are prepared to follow the doctor's advice to try something
else if they think that has a good chance.

Going back to autism, my thoughts here are that the diet may not work,
but if you don't try it you will never know. Is there a harm in
postponing the start of medication for a few months? If the answer to
that is yes (for example, because of the strain put on the carer), then
perhaps the change of diet should have been tried earlier.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:Jawsh.2169$qN1.1776@trndny02...
wrote:

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her...ith_autism.php


The disbarred lawyer shows he is still dishonest..

Jan Drew wrote:



THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help
children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.

That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can
help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella"
subject
in the health service.

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

If there is no evidence to support such action, just eat healthy and get
proper treatment.


From my personal experience, I also believe diet has an effect on my
behaviour.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

thanks trouble is it still causes problems

as i still always think i am right no matter what and now in last few weeks
on my own radio email groups i have alientated a lot of my members by being
more "in my own worrld" aspie than before so the things ritlain have done on
the adhd traits have made some apsie traits worse

but whn people attack me and idsagree i dont come back shouting and swearing
andb abusive etc ,and in real life have not had a meltdown rage attack since
the first ritalin i toolk on november 25th 2006 so pretty amazing

but still oads of issues as said some have gone but replaced worse in others
but would not go back to pre ritalin days thats for sure

i may never be proudctive in socities eyes ie worrking etc but least i can
be a bit camler

regards paul
"Chris" wrote in message
.. .
i think your posts have seemed somewhat more rational

--
"Being *able* to do something does not automatically imply that it is easy
or undemanding." - Terry
ASA FAQ: http://www.mugsy.org/asa_faq/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"PromaBoss" wrote in message
...
thanks too

not sure but do my posts seem more rational ??


i personally think they are some of the old timers on here [lol] may be
able
to answer

yes sure i get peed off and annoyed and so black is white

but i am not as bad as i was months ago before going on my ritlalin but
my
aspergers is still making me think i am always right lol

regards paul
"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:wU5rh.2268$dV1.1469@trndny02...
PromaBoss wrote:
not only is it not caused by diet changing diet really only helps a
small
perrcentage

Agreed. True AD/HD is independent of diet.


of those parents i speak to on other groups some actually talk in
riddles

as in one mail they say "yes littl johny is much better on this glten
free diet" he exercises and palys sport he eayts this and that


then a few mails down the line its

"well little johny had another tantrum at school"

"he is not concentrasting in class"

and all the same symptoms of the adhd he supposedly got rid ofby
changing
diet and exercising

This phenomena is replicated in other conditions. There are those who
claim that cheatlation cured their Autistic kid, and the kid still
shows
every clinical sign of autism that they had before being subjected to
cheatlation.

It is correctly called wishful thinking of parents who look at their
special child as *defective* or *broken* in some manner and in need of
*fixing*. They insist that their child can be *fixed* and try
everything
except the things that the child really needs, i.e., love an acceptance
for who they are.

there is no proof ,i dont doubt they can help in sokme areas,just as
my
drugs ritalin do,but i dont believe anyone who is so pro there way
works
be it drugs/dance therapy/sport/positivty/diet/surfing/painting/cbt

AD/HD (or ASD for that matter) does not have a 'one fits all'
situation.
Treatment had to be highly individualized.

dont care what works for one ADHD Aspie does not mean it works for all
and indeed works in some ways rather than everything miraclulously
fine.

Agreed. It is does not mean that what works today will work tomorrow.

i dont say that about my ritalin its helped in certsain ways i am
thankful for but i am realistic about it not being a mircle cure all
for
everyone

Exactly. There are no miracles, just hard work to deal with the
problems.

regards paul

Nice post. Thanks.

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:Wptqh.2196$q32.118@trndny01...
Mark Probert wrote:
Chris wrote:
that's why I've never gone to a nutrtionist although at it's been
recommended to me.
When we first embarked on our efforts to deal with our son's AD/HD,
we
visited a nutritionist we carefully selected and was recommended by
our
Ped.

We spent an hour completing page after page of questions about
eating
habits, etc. The nutritionist, reviewed our answers, and merely said
that his diet was well balanced, with good sources of protein (fresh
fish (like caught the same day, in season), chicken, rarely read
meat),
vitamins (lots of veggies, fruits, etc.), and carbs (pasta and whole
grain rice).

The only suggestion made was that he could eat bread instead of
putting
nearly everything like peanut butter on unsalted saltines, or, just
cut
down on snacking on the unsalted saltines.

Since then, everyone who has told me that his AD/HD is definitively
caused by diet has merely made me laugh.
For the illiterate readers, note that I said *caused* by diet. In
this
situation, diet was good and proper.

N O T

C A U S E D





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

i would say the other way round start with the drugs

you can always take people off drugs and the effects good or bad are usaualy
noticed very early

if all bad then ytou dont take any more if good then carry on

the food approach is fine if you have the concntration and attentioons and
organisational ability in the first place

if you dont the drugs can help there

it annoys me the NHS wasted 40 yrs of my life by not allowing me access to
ritalin ok only last 4 yrs since aspie diagnosis and last 8 months adhd on
top but why owhy is it so hard ot get the drugs??

ritalin has been used sucessfully in the main for 35 yrs if it dont work
then you take person off it,yes it has to be well controlled

but for me and otherrs its a life saver i can say i was probably going to be
found dead this xmas if i had not finally got the ritalin i had fought for


can you imagine

9 weeks no tantrums
9 weeks 8 hours sleep
9 weeks of moderate concentration
9 weeks of bweing able to read more than a few lines reading a book for
first time 22 pages ,ok i cant get organised and do these things often but
my life has changed and yet some asdvocate not using the drugs

great so make it worse for some of us,fine if the persoin can make lifestyle
changes all well and good but for many such things are impossible or without
the help of the ritalin

its the riltalin that now means i eat less ,i dont sse need when out to go
from cafe to cafe,sometimes i was doing 6 fast food rrestuarant and 3-6
cagfes and ice cream parlous in 8 hours

in london on saturday i did not go into a food place till i was on station
resady to come home after being out 12 hours !!

regards paul

its all about choice and being given support not only with drrugs but other
stuff too sadly my LD department cant offer anything else apart frrom
"lifestyle choices" so i think i will part company with them soon as it
does my head in all there urbbsih and not listenionf to my needs


wrote in message
oups.com...

Jan Drew wrote:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her...ith_autism.php


THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help
children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.

That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can
help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella"
subject
in the health service.

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

From my personal experience, I also believe diet has an effect on my
behaviour.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

do we say to someone with cancer

lets wait for 12 monthws before we give chemotherapy ??

NO i hope not we do it asap

its dangerous as well and is not always sucessful but its worth given the
patient the option

we should have same options drugs or non drugs or a mix of both

our needs are as valid to deal with something that blights our lives,if it
does not blight ones life then not a problems i am all for people being
proud of what they have if that suits them but allowing others to deal with
it in best ays they wish if its affecting the edication/jobs and life in
general

and thats what the musdley in london go by the docs there prescibe drugs if
its having a serious bad affect on ones life if not then no drugs

regards paul
"PromaBoss" wrote in message
...
i would say the other way round start with the drugs

you can always take people off drugs and the effects good or bad are
usaualy noticed very early

if all bad then ytou dont take any more if good then carry on

the food approach is fine if you have the concntration and attentioons and
organisational ability in the first place

if you dont the drugs can help there

it annoys me the NHS wasted 40 yrs of my life by not allowing me access to
ritalin ok only last 4 yrs since aspie diagnosis and last 8 months adhd on
top but why owhy is it so hard ot get the drugs??

ritalin has been used sucessfully in the main for 35 yrs if it dont work
then you take person off it,yes it has to be well controlled

but for me and otherrs its a life saver i can say i was probably going to
be found dead this xmas if i had not finally got the ritalin i had fought
for


can you imagine

9 weeks no tantrums
9 weeks 8 hours sleep
9 weeks of moderate concentration
9 weeks of bweing able to read more than a few lines reading a book for
first time 22 pages ,ok i cant get organised and do these things often but
my life has changed and yet some asdvocate not using the drugs

great so make it worse for some of us,fine if the persoin can make
lifestyle changes all well and good but for many such things are
impossible or without the help of the ritalin

its the riltalin that now means i eat less ,i dont sse need when out to go
from cafe to cafe,sometimes i was doing 6 fast food rrestuarant and 3-6
cagfes and ice cream parlous in 8 hours

in london on saturday i did not go into a food place till i was on station
resady to come home after being out 12 hours !!

regards paul

its all about choice and being given support not only with drrugs but
other stuff too sadly my LD department cant offer anything else apart
frrom "lifestyle choices" so i think i will part company with them soon
as it does my head in all there urbbsih and not listenionf to my needs


wrote in message
oups.com...

Jan Drew wrote:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/her...ith_autism.php


THE NHS is failing to provide advice on nutrition which could help
children
with conditions such as autism and attention deficit disorder, amid a
culture of prescribing powerful drugs with potential side-effects.

That is the claim made by Dave Rex, lead child health dietician with NHS
Highland, who has warned that despite evidence that special diets can
help
some individuals, nutrition is still being treated as a "Cinderella"
subject
in the health service.

I agree that one should try natural remedies (e.g. changing diet)
before resorting to medicine.

From my personal experience, I also believe diet has an effect on my
behaviour.

Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

it's progress. it doesn't change the fact that you have problems but it's
still something positive

--
"Being *able* to do something does not automatically imply that it is easy
or undemanding." - Terry
ASA FAQ: http://www.mugsy.org/asa_faq/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"PromaBoss" wrote in message
news
thanks trouble is it still causes problems

as i still always think i am right no matter what and now in last few
weeks
on my own radio email groups i have alientated a lot of my members by
being
more "in my own worrld" aspie than before so the things ritlain have done
on
the adhd traits have made some apsie traits worse

but whn people attack me and idsagree i dont come back shouting and
swearing
andb abusive etc ,and in real life have not had a meltdown rage attack
since
the first ritalin i toolk on november 25th 2006 so pretty amazing

but still oads of issues as said some have gone but replaced worse in
others
but would not go back to pre ritalin days thats for sure

i may never be proudctive in socities eyes ie worrking etc but least i can
be a bit camler

regards paul
"Chris" wrote in message
.. .
i think your posts have seemed somewhat more rational

--
"Being *able* to do something does not automatically imply that it is
easy
or undemanding." - Terry
ASA FAQ: http://www.mugsy.org/asa_faq/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"PromaBoss" wrote in message
...
thanks too

not sure but do my posts seem more rational ??


i personally think they are some of the old timers on here [lol] may be
able
to answer

yes sure i get peed off and annoyed and so black is white

but i am not as bad as i was months ago before going on my ritlalin but
my
aspergers is still making me think i am always right lol

regards paul
"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:wU5rh.2268$dV1.1469@trndny02...
PromaBoss wrote:
not only is it not caused by diet changing diet really only helps a
small
perrcentage

Agreed. True AD/HD is independent of diet.


of those parents i speak to on other groups some actually talk in
riddles

as in one mail they say "yes littl johny is much better on this
glten
free diet" he exercises and palys sport he eayts this and that


then a few mails down the line its

"well little johny had another tantrum at school"

"he is not concentrasting in class"

and all the same symptoms of the adhd he supposedly got rid ofby
changing
diet and exercising

This phenomena is replicated in other conditions. There are those who
claim that cheatlation cured their Autistic kid, and the kid still
shows
every clinical sign of autism that they had before being subjected to
cheatlation.

It is correctly called wishful thinking of parents who look at their
special child as *defective* or *broken* in some manner and in need
of
*fixing*. They insist that their child can be *fixed* and try
everything
except the things that the child really needs, i.e., love an
acceptance
for who they are.

there is no proof ,i dont doubt they can help in sokme areas,just as
my
drugs ritalin do,but i dont believe anyone who is so pro there way
works
be it drugs/dance therapy/sport/positivty/diet/surfing/painting/cbt

AD/HD (or ASD for that matter) does not have a 'one fits all'
situation.
Treatment had to be highly individualized.

dont care what works for one ADHD Aspie does not mean it works for
all
and indeed works in some ways rather than everything miraclulously
fine.

Agreed. It is does not mean that what works today will work tomorrow.

i dont say that about my ritalin its helped in certsain ways i am
thankful for but i am realistic about it not being a mircle cure all
for
everyone

Exactly. There are no miracles, just hard work to deal with the
problems.

regards paul

Nice post. Thanks.

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:Wptqh.2196$q32.118@trndny01...
Mark Probert wrote:
Chris wrote:
that's why I've never gone to a nutrtionist although at it's been
recommended to me.
When we first embarked on our efforts to deal with our son's
AD/HD,
we
visited a nutritionist we carefully selected and was recommended
by
our
Ped.

We spent an hour completing page after page of questions about
eating
habits, etc. The nutritionist, reviewed our answers, and merely
said
that his diet was well balanced, with good sources of protein
(fresh
fish (like caught the same day, in season), chicken, rarely read
meat),
vitamins (lots of veggies, fruits, etc.), and carbs (pasta and
whole
grain rice).

The only suggestion made was that he could eat bread instead of
putting
nearly everything like peanut butter on unsalted saltines, or,
just
cut
down on snacking on the unsalted saltines.

Since then, everyone who has told me that his AD/HD is
definitively
caused by diet has merely made me laugh.
For the illiterate readers, note that I said *caused* by diet. In
this
situation, diet was good and proper.

N O T

C A U S E D





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com







--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com