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2008-02-25 12:33:37
by Nina Larson Sun Feb 24, 1:52 PM ET
Tears streak Rita's cheek as she recalls what it was like trying to figure out
what was wrong with her son more than a decade ago, but she breaks into a smile
when she explains how changing his diet made all the difference.
"I could tell something was wrong with him as soon as he began eating solids as
a baby. It was if the food was draining him," says Rita, 50, describing how her
son Christoffer had yoyoed between passive and hyperactive behaviour until she
had removed several staples from his diet including milk and grains.
Christoffer, today a normally developed 14-year-old, is one of 23 children
suffering from hyperactive disorders who were put on milk-free diets in
1996-1997 and whose development has been tracked ever since by a small group of
educators and researchers in the southwestern Norwegian town of Stavanger.
The group set out to prove a theory by Oslo-based scientist Karl Ludvig
Reichelt that a metabolic disorder making it difficult to break down certain
proteins, including casein (the protein in milk that makes it possible to make
cheese), could cause mental problems like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD).
"One of the kids I worked with started on the diet on Wednesday and by the
weekend his parents said they saw a huge positive change in his behaviour,"
says special educator Magne Noedland, who helped spearhead the diet project.
All 23 children, who were between four and 11 years old when the project
started, were suspected of having ADHD and had been shown to have abnormal
levels of peptides in their urine.
The accumulation of peptides, which are short compounds containing two or more
amino acids, is an indication that the enzyme needed to fully break down
certain proteins is inhibited or missing, and can have an opium-like effect on
the brain, according to Reichelt.
Much international research has been done linking such protein disorders to
cases of autism and schizophrenia, and a growing number of studies also hint
that some cases of ADHD are connected with the digestive problem.
There is however a lot of scepticism to the theory in medical circles, with
many doctors believing medication like Ritalin is the best way to treat the
condition.
Noedland acknowledges the Stavanger project does not meet all scientific
standards, claiming the main problem is the lack of comprehensive studies on
how many ADHD children suffer from peptide abnormalities.
"There is no reason to put everyone with ADHD on a diet if only 10 percent of
them have protein imbalances," he says.
The children in the Stavanger project all followed a strict casein-free diet
the first year, and the results were overwhelmingly positive, Noedland says,
pointing out that 22 of the 23 families reported clear improvements in their
child's behaviour and attention-span.
A number of the children have since stopped following the diet for different
reasons and some were put on medication, but after eight years six were still
strictly avoiding all milk products and several had also cut out gluten, which
is found in wheat, rye, barley and to some extent oats.
"We see a clear difference between those who stopped and those who stayed on
the diet," Noedland says.
"Seeing these kids going from one day not being able to learn a thing to the
next day being receptive; as a teacher that's a wonderful feeling," says
Kristine Fosse, one of the educators involved in the project.
To illustrate her point, Fosse pulls out a writing test by a six-year-old boy
who took part in the project.
The boy was asked to write his numbers after involuntarily breaking his diet
and ingesting milk on September 22, 1996. The result was a confused and jumbled
mess of squiggly lines. Just two days later, again strictly steering clear of
casein, he repeated the exercise, this time writing four clearly legible
numbers in an even line.
"It's incredible. We've seen intelligence tests that had gone steadily down
suddenly turn around and go back up" after a change of diet, says Ann-Mari
Knivsberg, who covers the research end of the Stavanger project.
One of the children who still avoids milk and gluten, 17-year-old Sigbjoern,
says any lapse in his diet affects his performance in school.
"I can tell right away when I've eaten something I shouldn't. It's really hard
to concentrate. I'm always careful before tests," he says, taking a big bite of
gluten and milk-free carrot cake.
Considered a hyperactive problem child with retarded development in nursery
school, Sigbjoern today ranks among the best students in his class.
"He had a slow start and a lot of trouble learning to begin with, but by
secondary school he was really doing well," says Sigbjoern's mother Grete, 52.
Both Grete and Rita asked that their families' last names not be used for fear
of stigmatisation.
"It is considered shameful to have ADHD," Grete says. "When they're on a diet
they're just like everyone else. Just look at them. We have two normal, great
kids. I'm eternally grateful that Sigbjoern was included in the project."
Hundreds of other Norwegian children with ADHD, mainly in and around Stavanger,
have in recent years been put on milk-free diets to help deal with their
condition, but Fosse complains many doctors don't inform parents of the option.
"We want to get the word out that this can be an alternative. Parents have to
do a lot of searching before they get this information," she says.
"The scepticism is infuriating. I'm glad I have a good education and can stand
up for myself when I meet doctors who ridicule what I'm doing," says Grete,
putting her arm around Sigbjoern's shoulder.
"I mean, as a parent, wouldn't you want to at least try switching your child's
diet before medicating him?"