There are a variety of causes of ADHD in kids

I’m writing this article because I made a post on the Learning Abled Kids Facebook page sharing “Natural Remedies for ADHD.” That article gives a variety of solutions for treating ADHD based upon a variety of causes of ADHD in kids.

In the natural remedies article, I talk about a variety of steps parents can take to lessen or eliminate symptoms of ADHD in their child.

In case you hear it elsewhere, an individual responded to my post saying: “ADHD is caused by a parasite in the pancreas Taking 4-5 drops of lime oil in a glass of water 3 times a day for ten days kills the parasite.” I did some research to see if there’s any basis for that belief in scientific fact. Pancreatic parasites are not a cause of ADHD in the individuals in any peer-reviewed research I could find. In fact, there is very little (to no) scientific research that proves any parasite, intestinal or pancreatic, is responsible for ADHD. It’s highly unlikely that treating your child with lime oil will solve anything.

True Causes of ADHD in Kids

The causes of ADHD are very similar to the causes for difficulties with reading. There are many different possible causes of ADHD in kids, just like there are many causes of dyslexia.

There is no one generic, one-size-fits-all solution for ADHD, because there is no singular cause for ADHD.

For each child, there is a cause, or multiple causes, of ADHD in that child.  

For example, in some kids, the cause is dietary–dyes and additives. These chemicals can activate hyperactive behaviors or cause brain fog in kids whose bodies don’t process and eliminate the chemicals.

For other kids, their sleep is poor or inadequate. The lack of restorative sleep severely impacts the child’s brain recovery. Deep sleep helps the brain process the day’s activities and information. It also helps the brain recover chemically. Thus, a child with sleep difficulties can have major problems with focusing and functioning during the day.

For many kids, ADHD is caused by a fundamental imbalance of attention-based chemicals produced in the brain. The responsible chemicals produce at-will attention for topics that are not of interest to the child.

MOST kids with chemical imbalances as their cause of ADHD can attend very deeply to things of interest to them–like video games, sports, etc. This makes some people think a child is “just lazy” because he pays attention when he’s interested. When a child’s interest center is activated, his brain produces the necessary chemicals. However, he can’t attend when he is NOT interested. That is because his brain doesn’t fire up to produce the necessary chemicals to create focused attention.

Examples of Types of ADHD in kids

In our older son’s case, he was diagnosed with “secondary ADHD, inattentive type,” which was caused by his specific learning disabilities. The cause of his ADHD was NOT chemical, dietary, nor sleep based. His LDs made it difficult for him to engage with the material, because he didn’t understand what was going on. Our neuropsychologist told us if we addressed the underlying LDs, our son’s ADHD would go away. Sure enough, it did!

Our younger son’s ADHD is “primary ADHD, mixed type.” His ADHD is caused by an imbalance in his brain chemistry.  Since we didn’t know the root cause of that imbalance, we pursued the Natural Remedies for ADHD. Some of these are recommendations by our neuropsychologist (exercise and restorative sleep).  I learned about the dietary approach when reading through research on the causes of ADHD.

SO, basically, a parasite in the pancreas is highly unlikely cause ADHD; it’s not proven by research to be a primary cause of ADHD. Assuming a parasite in your child is not likely to be the solution, but if you want to give your child lime oil, it probably won’t hurt anything–just be sure lime isn’t something your child is allergic to!

Solutions for the Causes of ADHD in YOUR child

My recommendation is to learn more about the Natural Remedies for ADHD, which are good first steps in managing your child’s ADHD symptoms.  Then, as you see success with specific areas, dig deeper. Learn all you can about addressing those specific causes for your child’s ADHD.

If the cause is a parasite, well, that’s quite possibly the easiest solution of all! However, it is also the most unlikely cause of ADHD in kids! 😉