Healing Children's Attention & Behavior Disorders: Complementary Nutritional & Psychological Treatments [Paperback]

Abram Hoffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2004

This work offers new hope for children with ADD and behavioural disorders. Food allergies and nutrient deficiency are the predominant causes of chronic attention and behaviour disorders, says Dr Hoffer, who has treated over 2,000 children. Nutritional therapy is superior to pharmaceutical, psychotherapeutic, and surgical intervention in treating these disorders. Nutritional therapy for both physical and mental illness restores well-being with a combination of optimum nutrition from common foods and vitamin and mineral supplements. The book features: case studies; guides to the nutrient content of common foods; optimum diet plans; and, guides to vitamin and mineral supplements for children, with recommended dosages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

""Dr. Hoffer offers vital information concerning the prevention and healing of mental disturbances and violence demonstrated by too many of today's children."

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Ccnm Press; 1 edition (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897025106
• ISBN-13: 978-1897025109
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vitamin Therapy Beats Ritalin or Adderall Hands Down, July 4, 2009

By 

Andrew W. Saul (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing Children's Attention & Behavior Disorders: Complementary Nutritional & Psychological Treatments (Paperback)

(The reviewer is Assistant Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine)

A riddle: how many years does it take for a new way of treating behavior disorders in children to be generally accepted? The answer is forty, according to Abram Hoffer, M.D, Ph.D. There are few physicians who have sufficient experience to personally validate such a claim, but Dr. Hoffer can. He pioneered megavitamin research and treatment back in the early 1950's, and, half a century later, has still been largely ignored by the medical profession. Why? Because Dr. Hoffer treated learning disabled and/or ADHD kids with vitamins. And, he got results.

This is a concise and powerful book. It contains more than enough information to set the medical profession on its ear. In my opinion, it is the most elegant explanation of orthomolecular (megavitamin) medicine since Linus Pauling's historic 1968 paper in Science. In fact, Hoffer had a 17 year jump on Pauling; vitamin B-3 (niacin, or niacinamide) to treat behavioral disorders was first used by Hoffer and colleague Dr. Humphrey Osmond in 1951. Niacin worked then, and it works now.

I know a 10 year old boy who was having considerable school and behavior problems. Interestingly enough, the child was already on physician-prescribed little bits of niacin, with a total daily dose of less than 150 mg. Not a bad beginning, since the RDA for kids is under 20 mg/day. But it wasn't enough to be effective, and the boy was slated for the Ritalin-for-lunch bunch. Dr. Hoffer suggested trying him on 500 mg niacinamide three times daily (1,500 mg total). That's a lot, but niacinamide is a comfortable, flush-free form of vitamin B-3. So Mom tried it.

What a difference!

People often ask, "If this treatment is so good, how come my doctor doesn't know about it? How come it is not on the news?" The answer may have more to do with medical politics than with medical science. Consider Hoffer's views on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: "The DSM system (the standard of the American Psychiatric Association) has little or no relevance to diagnosis. It has no relevance to treatment, either, because no matter which terms are used to classify these children, they are all recommended for treatment with drug therapy" combined, sometimes, with other non-megavitamin approaches. "If the entire diagnostic scheme were scrapped today, it would make almost no difference to the way these children were treated, or to the outcome of treatment. Nor would their patients feel any better or worse." Statements like these do not exactly endear one to the medical community.

And, as if such statements are not enough, Hoffer then devotes the balance of the book to setting out genuine nutritional alternatives to drug therapy for ADHD children. He provides vitamin dosage details, food tables, along with a large number of references. In addition, many case histories are included, along with a bad foods list, numerous research summaries, precise recommendations for optimum diet, comparisons of drugs and vitamins, a discussion of allergies and food additives, behavioral self-tests, and, most importantly, a wealth of professional experience.

The best part is that this is a book of practical, positive advice. Criticisms and even lawsuits over the hazards of tranquilizers, Ritalin, and related pharmaceuticals are on the rise, but neither court nor controversy can cure your child. "Battered parents" (Hoffer's term) need to know what to do, and now. Saying no to drugs" also requires saying "yes" to something else. That something else is nutrition, properly employed.

For those who say there is insufficient scientific evidence to support megavitamin therapy for children's behavior disorders, I say they haven't been looking hard enough. Hoffer and his colleagues conducted the first double-blind controlled vitamin trials in psychiatric history in 1952. He was among the first to employ vitamin C as an antioxidant, use the B-vitamins against heart disease, and, with Dr. Osmond, was the first to employ niacin to treat behavioral disorders. Dr.Hoffer has over 500 publications to date. This single book (and he has written nearly 30 others) will present the reader with the most comprehensive and comprehensible review of vitamin therapy for ADHD that I have yet seen.

The simple way to determine whether vitamins will help your child is to try them. When you read Dr. Hoffer you get invaluable guidance from the foremost authority on the subject.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help with Asperger's Syndrome, April 29, 2008

By 

Judith M. Turner "In the Zone" (Dover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing Children's Attention & Behavior Disorders: Complementary Nutritional & Psychological Treatments (Paperback)

This book was recommended by our doctor for help with my son and Asperger's Syndrome. After reading the book, we started him on the vitamin regime in August 2006 and have had success with it ever since. We can not imagine life without this regime now. For help with a support group to follow this plan - go to Yahoo Group - [e-mail]. This is a support group only.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book which saves children., November 9, 2009

By 

Reuven Gilmore "author: "Nutrition and Yo... (NJ and Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Healing Children's Attention & Behavior Disorders: Complementary Nutritional & Psychological Treatments (Paperback)

I'm rating this book 5 star, because the criterion for Amazon 5-star rating is "I love this book!", and I really do. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know the foundations of orthomolecular medicine, and the basics of nutrition for children.

That said, this book is almost completely a republishing of the great Dr. Hoffer's "ABC of Natural Nutrition for Children". The present title is not truly representative of the content, as the information contained is vital for all children. Additionally, the subject matter largely deals with other problems such as schizophrenia. I personally was disppointed when I bought this book, because I have the previous edition, and I felt ripped off, having bought the same book twice, and having read the previous edition three times. Three times? Yes, it's that good.

The late and great Dr. Hoffer, one of my lifetime heroes, was most important pioneer of orthomolecular medicine, which I believe will one day be recognized as primary medicine, the primary disease prevention modality and first line of cure. This is especially true of psychiatric medicine, the convention approach to which has never found a cure for anything. On the contrast, the orthomolecular approach as outlined in the present book actually cures people, sending them back to their families and society as well beings. Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that many actual case histories are brought, turning theory into proven fact.

Dolev Gilmore, author: Nutrition and Your Child's Soul: Don Quixote's Heart-Cry