43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING!, October 26, 2005
This review is from: The ADD Answer: How to Help Your Child Now--With Questionnaires and Family-Centered Action Plans to Meet Your Child's Specific Needs (Hardcover)
There are many great ideas presented in this book about dealing with your add child, BUT the chapter on meds is completely off base. Let me preface the following with MY opinion (I am not an MD or an expert) that children with ADD need a team approach in helping them deal with the condition (if you choose to call it one) and there is a place for meds for many kids, BUT it is only a piece of the puzzle. Parents, teachers, family members, Md's, and behavioral specialists are all crucial. I happen to work indirectly with many of the world thought leaders and experts on ADD (ie. Joseph Beiderman, Mass General Hospital, Boston MA/ Harvard Medical School, ... look up his credentials). First Dr. Frank Lawlis is not an MD, this means he has not been to medical school- that is not to say he isn't a great psychologist, just that he HAS NOT and DOES NOT write prescriptions for these meds and has NO first hand experience with directly managing these meds himself. In this book there are many things that are completely false regarding ADD meds. For example he states that they only work for about 50% of kids. FALSE Let me cite 3 credible sources that disputes this (notice in the book that he does not talk about HIS credible source)
1. "approx 70% of patients respond to the first stimulant agent administered with resulting improvement in their ADHD symptoms." - Practical Considerations in Stimulant Drug Selection for the ADHD Patient- Efficacy, Potency and Titration Beiderman, Today's Therapeutic Trends, 02'
2. "Improvement occurred in 65-75% of 5,899 patients randomized to stimulants." - Practice Parameter for the Use of Stimulant Medication in the Treatment of Children, Adolescents, and Adults, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Feb02'
3. "At least 80% of children will respond to one of the stimulants if they are tried in a systemic way." Clinical Practice Guideline: Treatment of the School-Aged Child with ADHD, Published in American Acedemy of Pediatrics, Oct 01'.
All of these quotes are credible and are opinions based on evidence-based medicine from the experts. Lawlis also states that there has been little research in children and that most studies have been done on adults and rats/mice. This is Completely False! The Journal noted above, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (that was a review of "161 randomized controlled trials that have been published encompassing 5 preschool, 150 school-age, 7 Adolescent, and 9 adult studies" Where does Dr. Lawlis get his information?
The review noted above by the American Acedemy of Pediatrics, identified for analysis 2405 citations, 92 reports, and 78 different studies. This is American Acedemy of Pediatrics- They are only interested in children and adolescents! Not Rats, Mice, and Adults.
These are the most credible Medical Journals published. These are not the biased trials sponsored by big pharma. The information in these Journals is taken very seriously by Pediatricians and Child Psychiatrists, and is heavily relied upon by these professionals.
Lastly, he also states that these drugs are identical to cocaine in their affect on the brain. This is not true, they have similarities, but by NO-Means identical. Yes it is true that stimulant medications can be abused and can also be addictive, but some of the newer formulations of these meds have lessened their abuse and addictive potential by altering the speed at which the drug is released into the bloodstream thereby somewhat flattening the curve (Cocaine use produces a curve that is almost straight up-this is what gives the "high") The most common way for these drugs to be abused is by crushing them and snorting them (which allows for fast absorption and steep curve), and some of the newer meds are crush resistant and/or cannot be turned into a fine enough substance to be snorted. There has also been data published that shows a DECREASE not increase in drug abuse for patients who have taken stimulants. It is believed that kids who are treated (drug treatment and otherwise) are less likely to associate with kids who are failing academically/socially and who are more likely to be using drugs. (This is not to say that high all high achievers abstain from using OR that ALL children who are failing ARE using) It is just a point that kids who are treated are more likely to be focused on school and their responsibilities and are less likely to be involved in drug use. Kids who are failing in school academically/socially are often looked at as outcasts and are often looked down upon by peers, teachers, and family, and this can cause a child to look for an escape... sometimes drugs. Children who Do benefit from stimulant medication sometimes have more self-esteem because of their success, and certainly less scrutiny from peers, teachers etc.
Lastly, Lawlis tells a story about a man who died from long-term stimulant medication. I am not going to say that this did not happen, but I will say that stimulants have been used since the 1950's, and the medical community agrees that they are safe when managed properly. The medical community and FDA have pulled MANY medications that were deemed unsafe from the markets (many times against the will of BIG Pharma) and the stimulants would not have remained on the market for OVER 50 YEARS, if stories like this were common or the least bit likely.
I am not at all stating that stimulant meds are the answer because they are not, but they can be a small piece of the puzzle that is helping these kids with ADD. The book is full of great ideas and approaches to ADD, but he is not accurate about the stimulant medications. Parents who see value in them should not feel ashamed and or frightened by what he says because most of it is just not accurate. Good luck and I hope this was helpful.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Educate yourself, but use your judgement, July 7, 2005
This review is from: The ADD Answer: How to Help Your Child Now--With Questionnaires and Family-Centered Action Plans to Meet Your Child's Specific Needs (Hardcover)
Dr. Lawliss notes in "The ADD Answer" that we should not put teachers, doctors, or Dr. Lawliss himself above our parental observations and intuition. There are some unproven methods in this book, but there is also a ton of insight on family dynamics and treating the environment of the child. Learn from this book and then you decide how or if to apply the methods. I have been putting teachers on a pedestal, believing they know more about child behavior. No more of this - they know more about children in general, but I know my own child best, and being that I am willing to honest with myself and my child I can effectively use what is pertinent to our situation from this book.
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120 of 159 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Appallingly ill-informed, September 29, 2004
This review is from: The ADD Answer: How to Help Your Child Now--With Questionnaires and Family-Centered Action Plans to Meet Your Child's Specific Needs (Hardcover)
Be very careful about this book. Dr. Lawlis is not a physician, nor does he provide scientifically accurate information. For example, he says, "There are at least two well-documented ways to determine if your child has a neurologically based disorder of ADD or ADHD: a spectrogram or an EEG can identify specific patterns in certain parts of your child's brain."
But according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (as reported in the medical journal Pediatrics in May 2000), "Brain imaging studies and electroencephalography do not show reliable differences between children with ADHD and controls. Although some studies have demonstrated variation in brain morphology comparing children with and without ADHD, these findings do not discriminate reliably between children with and without this condition. In other words, although group means may differ significantly, the overlap in findings among children with and without ADHD creates high rates of false-positives and false-negatives."
Other controlled studies have also failed to establish reliable correlations between diet and symptoms of ADHD.
Both Dr. Phil and Dr. Lawlis may sound inspiring on TV, but don't trust your children's well-being to this kind of pseudo-science. Insist on a thorough evaluation from a genuinely qualified physician before either putting your child on or taking him off medication.
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