A WORM'S EYE VIEW

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011

           Welcome to the Doc Grubb newsletter for September-October 2011.

     September is “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Month.” In my private practice I see many, many children AND adults who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I’ll talk about ADHD in both the kid’s and mom’s sections so there is a better understanding of what ADHD really means and how to effectively treat it.

     I live in the Washington, D.C. area and in the past two weeks we have had…an earthquake (my wife was in a hardware store surrounded by cans and sharp tools…just like a horror movie), a hurricane and…a tropical storm. I’ve been in several hurricanes so I thought it would be timely to write about hurricanes.

     Another issue which I feel is REALLY important is world hunger. World hunger periodically becomes an issue of interest but it mostly is in the background, except for the ads that tell us “one in four children in America go to bed hungry.” There are a lot of myths about world hunger so I thought I would try to clear some of them up.

Back to Top

KID’S CORNER

             How many times during the day do you hear:

"You're not paying attention."

 "Don't you know where you put your lunch money?"

"Stop fidgeting!"

 "Don't interrupt."

     If you hear these comments it can really make you feel sad, and maybe you feel ANGRY because you find it’s hard to sit still in class or to pay attention in class. When you are with other kids it’s hard to wait your turn and you might even get into fights with others when you get frustrated. If you have these problems then you might have a condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

    In reality, if you went ANYWHERE in the world, China, Russia or even Africa you would find that about 10% of kids have ADHD. Boys have ADHD more often than girls which we think is because when we were cavemen and cavewomen boys did most of the hunting and had to be looking around ALL THE TIME so they wouldn’t get eaten by a saber tooth tiger.

     Most kids have problems concentrating and paying attention. But if you have ADHD it’s really hard to pay attention. Some kids with ADHD also might have trouble sitting still in class and waiting for their turn. They might yell out the answers before other kids have a chance to raise their hands. They might lose things and have trouble finishing assignments, talk too much, or interrupt other people's conversations.

When parents and teachers suspect that a kid has ADHD, the first step is to visit your doctor who usually asks your parents and school to fill out some forms about how you do in class and at home. If your doctor decides that you have ADHD, then the doctor, parents, and teachers begin to work together to find out the best way to help. This may include medications such as Ritalin, Concerta or Adderall that will help you to pay attention and concentrate better in school.

     But medicines are only part of helping you do better. Behavioral therapy teaches kids how to set goals for themselves and uses rewards to help them reach those goals. Teachers can give a kid with ADHD a reward for sitting still in class and parents can do the same thing at home.

     Having ADHD can make school hard, but with help from your doctor, parents and school you will be surprised how much better things can be. Having an understanding teacher, and if needed, medication will help you to focus and pay attention. The good news is that many kids’ symptoms get better as they get older. I see many, many adults with ADHD and they are very successful in their jobs and with their families because they have learned how to live and work with ADHD.

Back to Top

MOM’S CORNER                          

ADHD

     If your child (or husband or you) has ADHD you know how hard it can be getting through the day. When your child is having problems in school, at home or in the neighborhood, teachers, doctors, and other parents may tell you that you're just not trying hard enough to manage your child. When you’re under constant criticism it’s really easy to start feeling bad about how you are doing as a mother. Here are some thoughts about how you can look at yourself in a different way:

Don't blame yourself

     It's common for parents of children with ADHD to believe that they're somehow to blame for their child's behavior problems, but as I said before, most experts believe that ADHD is caused by problems with brain chemistry and genetics and is NOT because of anything a parent did or didn't do.

Arm yourself with information

     The more you know about ADHD, the easier it will be to understand why your child takes forever to get his pajamas on at night, forgets to bring his books home from school and keeps losing things. Just remember, ADHD is partly genetic and not just your son or daughter driving you crazy on purpose.

Take care of yourself

     Taking time for yourself will allow you to stay centered and be a more patient parent. Make a weekly date for grown-up activities you find relaxing, such as dinner and a movie, a long walk, or a baseball game. Try to give yourself regular breaks rather than waiting until you bottom out and run off screeching. "You need to take care of your needs in order to take care of your children's needs," says Denver psychologist Ann Prosser, who specializes in treating children.

Establish structure and stick to it

     Say after me “consistency…consistency…consistency.” Children with ADHD are more likely to succeed in completing tasks when the tasks occur in predictable patterns and in predictable places. Your job is to create and sustain structure in your home, so that your child knows what to expect and what they are expected to do.

• Follow a routine. I like to use a weekly calendar that I tape to the door of the refrigerator. WRITE ON THE CALENDAR anything that will help your child with their schedule and chores. Establish simple and predictable rituals for meals, homework, play, and bed. Have your child lay out clothes for the next morning before going to bed, and make sure whatever he or she needs to take to school is in a special place, ready to grab.
• Use clocks and timers. Put a big one in your child’s bedroom. Allow enough time for what your child needs to do, such as homework or getting ready in the morning.  I like to use an egg timer when they are doing homework to be sure they take breaks every 15-20 minutes.
• Create a quiet place.  Make sure your child has a quiet, private space of his or her own for studying or if they just need a place to calm down when they get excited.
• Organize. Organize your home with everything in its proper place.

SPORTS AND ADHD

     Since we’re talking about your child, I’m a big fan of getting them involved in sports, for two different reasons. One it helps them to learn how to interact with others in appropriate ways, and the second is…running up and down a soccer field can really tire them out and use up their excess energy. It is important that if your son or daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD, then you find a sport that fits with their personality. Team sports are often an excellent choice for someone with ADHD.

Running or track. kids can run and burn off excessive energy. They also do not have to use a lot of concentration in such sports.

Hockey requires a lot of action and is a fast paced game. In the average hockey game, there is very little down time in which the kids need to remain calm and quiet.

Karate not only gives the child the ability to burn off some of his excess frustrations, it also gives the child the ability to learn discipline and structure.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

     Organizations such as CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders) and ADDA (National Attention Deficit Disorder Association) can be a big help because you meet parents who are struggling with the same issues as you. Your school counselor can also be a BIG help in creating a behavioral modification plan that can work in both the school and home setting to help your child pay attention and do better scholastically. Is that a big word or what!

Back to Top

DAD’S CORNER     

Domestic Violence Awareness

Facts on Domestic Violence

• Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
• Three to four million women in the United States are beaten in their homes each year by their husbands, ex-husbands, or male lovers.
• One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States.
• One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
• 85% of domestic violence victims are women.
• Battering occurs among people of all races, ages, socio-economic classes, religious affiliations, occupations, and educational backgrounds.
• Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next.
• The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.
• There are 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence annually, which costs $37 billion.
• Women accounted for 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence, men for approximately 15%.
• Between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year, and between 100,000 and 6 million men, depending on the type of survey  used to obtain the data.

              You as a father can take a stand against domestic violence and teach your children, especially your sons, positively impact the future of families and women in abusive relationships. It’s never too soon to talk to a child about violence. Show him ways for him to express his anger with words or in exercise.

      Be with your children. Spend time with them. Every night my son asks me for “daddy time” and he tells me he misses us spending time together. My wife says that she is reassured that if anything would happen to her, because of the time I have spent with my son, bonding with him, that I will be able to take care of his emotional needs.

Back to Top

THE PLANET EARTH

                                                          World Hunger

     Over the past 20 years, the number of hungry people has risen significantly from 822 million in 1990 to a billion people in June 2009. That's about one in seven people on earth. Each year about 8.8 million people, mostly children, die from starvation.

I remember clearly how John Denver, the late singer and musician (a really talented man) was very involved in solving world hunger and how the organization he worked with set very aggressive goals to end world hunger. But they didn’t.

There are many things individuals and governments can do to address the world hunger. Here are some examples:

Develop new ways to grow food. Many parts of the world are just not capable of producing sufficient food crops for the number of people living there. If we can develop new methods for maximizing crop growth on substandard land, inhabitants can grow enough food to meet their needs.

Improve the way we distribute food throughout the world. Many countries actually grow large surpluses of staple crops and grains, especially wheat, rice and corn which are replenished regularly through subsidized farming. The delivery of surplus food to famine-stricken areas would go a long way towards solving the problem of world hunger but many of the countries have governments which prevent or slow down the delivery of relief foods.

Teach farmers in poorer countries to use basic farming techniques such as crop rotation to keep the soil healthier season after season. Provide higher quality seeds with higher yields or resistance to insect or weather damage that can help farmers grow more usable crops on the same amount of arable land.

There are poor linkages between the farmers and the markets they’re trying to access. With production limited due to outdated technology, and a low incentive to invest in technology that would allow the farmer to expand her product, farming remains a poorly monetized and inefficient business in developing countries.

The constantly growing world population is much higher than the amount of food that farmers are able to produce without a marked improvement in the food distribution system. Large scale efforts to control population growth have proven to be extremely unpopular and nearly impossible to enforce.

Back to Top

THE LATEST NEWS

                                                      HURRICANES

If you've heard this old mariner's poem about Caribbean hurricanes:

June- too soon.
July-- stand by!
August-- look out you must.
September-- remember.
October, all over.

      Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, was not only the most disastrous hurricane in U.S. history, it was the nation's worst single weather disaster. The storm stretched about 200 miles in diameter, packed winds up to 145 miles per hour, produced torrential rain and huge waves, spawned twisters throughout the region, and pushed up a 28-foot storm surge-a surge usually found only in category 5 hurricanes. Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, were hit the hardest hit. About 90 percent of the structures along the Gulf Coast were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by Katrina. The storm was so destructive that rescue and recovery would years. Katrina's aftermath was felt in every state of the union: volunteers shored up efforts to assist survivors who were being relocated in an effort to ease the burden on the afflicted region; schools across the nation opened doors to displaced students; fuel prices skyrocketed and natural gas and heating oil prices promised to follow, as offshore rigs and Gulf Coast refineries suffered; and most Americans worried about the government's response to the catastrophe.

    Before Katrina, the deadliest hurricane to strike the United States was an unnamed category 4 storm that struck Galveston, Texas, in 1900. The September 8 storm claimed at least 8,000 lives (some estimates place the number as high as 12,000). Even if a hurricane doesn't officially make landfall, its effects can be devastating. Hurricane-force winds can extend 90 miles out from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds might cover over 200 miles!

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF A HURRICANE- BE PREPARED

• Have a first-aid kit and if you have any medications you take every day, get them filled in case you can't get to a pharmacy after the storm.
• Have plenty of drinking water, canned food, batteries, candles, flashlights and an AM-FM radio.
• If you have a cell phone, have it charged and close by. Remember that cell phones commonly lose their signal during storms or if their towers are destroyed.
• Put up boards on your windows (or anything that can withstand strong winds).
• Pick a safe room in your house and have everyone in your house stay there.
• If you are told that you should evacuate, do it. Staying will endanger your life and your families. Always wear a pair of sneakers or something on your feet, just in case you have to walk over glass or other debris.
• Do not go outside or stand near a window during the storm. Even after the storm passes, there could be dangers like fallen trees and power lines.

Back to Top

ARRANGE A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE WORM’S EYE VIEW

Our free newsletter “The Worm’s Eye View” is uploaded to the computer each month. Each issue includes valuable information for all members of the family as well as the inclusion of the most up-to-date information concerning medical research and treatments.

As a subscriber you will be sent announcements of my new books, CD, and seminars at reduced prices and fees. Sign-up now.

You should read my latest book, “Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle.” Please go to the order page and read part of the first chapter. You will learn a lot from this book why everyone has gained weight and the Three Secrets to normalize your weight.