A Good-Sense Guide for Parents of Children With Hyperactivity, Attention Deficits and Other Behavior and Learning Problems

by William G. Crook, M.D.

Provides clear guidance in dealing with the three most important questions faced by "Attention Deficit Disorder" / hyperactive / inattentive children, their parents, and the professionals who care for them.

This book is written for the parents and teachers of children with ADHD – especially those who:

• give a history of colic, respiratory, digestive or skin disorders during the first year of life
• give a history of taking repeated or prolonged courses of antibiotic drugs for ear infections
• are bothered by allergies, including adverse reactions to foods and environmental chemicals
• give a history of craving sugar and eating a nutritionally deficient diet

It is written to provide help for these children without the use of Ritalin and/or other similar drugs. Although medications can help many hyperactive children ‘settle down’ and concentrate, the long term outlook for ADHD children who receive drug treatment only is dismal.

Where I’m coming from: I’m a board-certified pediatrician, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Allergy and Immunology and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine.

When I entered pediatric paractice in 1949 I knew nothing about the nutritional, bilogical, allergic, environmental, toxic and other factors which play an important part in causing ADHD and related behavior and learning problems in children.

In the mid-1950s I learned for the first time that sensitivities to common foods such as milk, chocolate, wheat and corn could adversely affect a child’s nervous system.

In the late sixties and early seventies I learned that other dietary factors, including sugar and food colors, triggered nervous symptoms in many of my patients.

I also began to learn more about nutrition, including the important role that zinc, magnesium, calcium, the B vitamins and other nutrients contribute to normal behavior and learning.

Also, about the same time I learned that environmental toxins, including lead, mercury, insecticides and other chemicals, could affect a child’s nervous system.

Then in 1979, I learned for the first time that repeated or prolonged courses of antibiotics could cause an imbalance of normal bacteria in the intestinal tract. This imbalance led to an overgrowth of the common and usually benign yeast Candida albicans.

I also learned that this yeast could put out toxins which adversely affect the immune system and the nervous system. Yeast-related health problems which then developed included repeated bouts of ear infections and nervous-system disorders, especially irritability, short attention span, inability to concentrate and hyperactivity.

I’ve described my findings end experiences in articles and commentaries in the medical and lay literature, and in my books including The Yeast Connection Cookbook, The Yeast Connection and the Woman, and The Yeast Connection Handbook.

This book summarizes my observations and provides you with easy-to-follow instructions. It is designed to help you help your ADHD child sit still, pay attention and get along better at home, at school and in the neighborhood ? without the use of Ritalin or other stimulant medication."