Second hand smoke and ADHD

[Demarko]

Just saw a story on the local TV news that "children living in homes with second hand smoke are 50% more likely to have ADHD."

I can't help but wonder if they're looking for cause and effect where there isn't one. Maybe, just maybe, the parents have ADHD and are self-medicating with nicotine.

 

[Vocalek]

Correct, Demarko. Correlation is not causation.

 

[Thulium]

I grew up in a home where smoking was considered taboo so I didn't know until recently that all of my grandparents were smokers as well as many other people on both sides of my family. I also grew up unaware that I had ADHD because mine is "primarily inattentive type" and I thought that ADHD meant "hyperactive" which I really wasn't, but now that I am more aware of the disorder I've found it sprinkled throughout the family tree.

The link between psychostimulants like caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and Attention Deficit Disorder is so strong, I think that it should probably be given more consideration in the tobacco Harm Reduction debate. There is a lot of misunderstanding about ADHD and many related disabilities, not the least of which is in regards to self-medications as a "gateway" to potentially harmful addictions.

The "Corporatist" mentality has pervaded our culture so much that we assume that the best way to treat disabilities is through doctor-approved pharmaceuticals. The problem is that we are letting ourselves forget that doctors have bills to pay too--that means there is a subconscious preferences toward pharmaceutical treatments when there is no money to made from non-pharmaceutical cures.

 

[sqirl1]

I grew up in a home where smoking was considered taboo so I didn't know until recently that all of my grandparents were smokers as well as many other people on both sides of my family. I also grew up unaware that I had ADHD because mine is "primarily inattentive type" and I thought that ADHD meant "hyperactive" which I really wasn't, but now that I am more aware of the disorder I've found it sprinkled throughout the family tree.

The link between psychostimulants like caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and Attention Deficit Disorder is so strong, I think that it should probably be given more consideration in the Tobacco Harm Reduction debate. There is a lot of misunderstanding about ADHD and many related disabilities, not the least of which is in regards to self-medications as a "gateway" to potentially harmful addictions.

The "Corporatist" mentality has pervaded our culture so much that we assume that the best way to treat disabilities is through doctor-approved pharmaceuticals. The problem is that we are letting ourselves forget that doctors have bills to pay too--that means there is a subconscious preferences toward pharmaceutical treatments when there is no money to made from non-pharmaceutical cures.

doctors can make 100k+ a year. plus, it's not like doctors get paid commission by pharma companies.... do they? if they do, that needs to change BIG TIME. screw the health reform Obama put out, there won't be true health reform until we put the drug companies in their place. they represent everything that's wrong with our current health care system. Also, I'd like to say that Adderall is one of the most vile drugs ever created and Stonewalls work a hell of a lot better for me than Adderall EVER did.

 

[Vap0rJay]

doctors can make 100k+ a year. plus, it's not like doctors get paid commission by pharma companies.... do they? if they do, that needs to change BIG TIME. screw the health reform Obama put out, there won't be true health reform until we put the drug companies in their place. they represent everything that's wrong with our current health care system. Also, I'd like to say that Adderall is one of the most vile drugs ever created and Stonewalls work a hell of a lot better for me than Adderall EVER did.

Relax man, you sound like you need a prozac!
No? Maybe a xanax?

Don't worry when Big Pharma gets done w/ you you'll be such a zombie anyway you won't even care whats being baned or whats not bein baned. Wait AFK... Pill time!

 

[Thulium]

doctors can make 100k+ a year. plus, it's not like doctors get paid commission by pharma companies.... do they? if they do, that needs to change BIG TIME. screw the health reform Obama put out, there won't be true health reform until we put the drug companies in their place. they represent everything that's wrong with our current health care system. Also, I'd like to say that Adderall is one of the most vile drugs ever created and Stonewalls work a hell of a lot better for me than Adderall EVER did.

Kickbacks have to get laundered through "non-profit" organizations, so sometimes its not direct financial incentives: Sometimes its just really cushy seminar weekends in the Caymans to get educated on all the reasons why their patients would be better off using FDA approved statin drugs than trying any stupid non-pharmaceutical remedies like "diet and exercise" or finding combustion-free alternatives where possible to prevent lung and cardiovascular disease in the first place.

 

[Vocalek]

Kickbacks have to get laundered through "non-profit" organizations, so sometimes its not direct financial incentives: Sometimes its just really cushy seminar weekends in the Caymans to get educated on all the reasons why their patients would be better off using FDA approved statin drugs than trying any stupid non-pharmaceutical remedies like "diet and exercise" or finding combustion-free alternatives where possible to prevent lung and cardiovascular disease in the first place.

Another stupid non-pharmaceutical remedy for cholesterol is good old fashioned Vitamin B3, AKA "Niacin". The only problem is that it can cause flushing, so I have been using "Slo-Niacin" for years and years (500 mg twice a day) which reduces the risk of flushing because it is a slow-release formula.

Well guess what Big Pharma went and did. They created their own (prescription) pill that contains slow-release niacin and call it Niaspan.

Slo-Niacin = $16.99 for 100
Niaspan = $240.97 for 90

They are probably counting on people asking for the prescription version because their insurance pays for it.

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

Another stupid non-pharmaceutical remedy for cholesterol is good old fashioned Vitamin B3, AKA "Niacin". The only problem is that it can cause flushing, so I have been using "Slo-Niacin" for years and years (500 mg twice a day) which reduces the risk of flushing because it is a slow-release formula.

Well guess what Big Pharma went and did. They created their own (prescription) pill that contains slow-release niacin and call it Niaspan.

Slo-Niacin = $16.99 for 100
Niaspan = $240.97 for 90

They are probably counting on people asking for the prescription version because their insurance pays for it.

The VA just figured this out a few months ago, they had me on niaspan for about 3 years and my last refill was late. When I called they said we are changing suppliers and they were just sent out. Slow niacin was what they sent, very little flushing and they work.

 

[hippiebrian]

I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on t.v.

That said, how is it that smoking is at an all time low and a.d.h.d. is at an all time high if there is causation there? Anyone?

 

[Credo]

Another stupid non-pharmaceutical remedy for cholesterol is good old fashioned Vitamin B3.
[SNIP]

How about a tea-spoon of cinnamon on your cereal in the mornings?
Works wonders for several elder members of my family. Course I'm not measuring all the many cholesterol types...just the big number from simpler tests.

 

[Credo]

There is a lot of misunderstanding about ADHD and many related disabilities, not the least of which is in regards to self-medications as a "gateway" to potentially harmful addictions.

Amen...
As an educator I've seen so many fellow educators out there lump learning issues in with 'behavioral' ones, and it drives me CRAZY. The four letters ADHD gets attributed to all the normal parts of being a HUMAN these days. Kids are expected to sit in one spot for up to 12 hours a day and focus on tasks that even well disciplined adults with no known learning disorder have a hard time doing!

I suspect that if I went to be tested for ADHD I could pass as 'having the disorder' and get 'medicated', but I grew up at a time where folks just attributed the 'symptoms' to my 'character and personality'. Instead of handing me a 'pill', my environment was slightly altered, or I was simply taught to 'chunk' tasks and 'self-track' my progress on them.

As for the Hyperactive part...that definition keeps getting broader as well. Is it truly anyone who is ALERT to what the hell is going on in the world around themselves besides what they are TOLD to 'focus on'? If that's the case...I'd hardly call it a DISORDER, and would be more inclined to consider it a GIFT!!!

Think twice before suppressing your gifts with a pill. Only YOU know if it'll improve your life or deter it.