Dear Healthy Friend,

When I got my daughter's end of term report, I joked with my sister that the fact that it says "Morgyn is an extremely energetic child" was paving the way for me to be told later on that she has attention-deficit disorder. It was a joke at the time. But the more I think about it, the more worried I get. The last thing I want is for my little girl to be put on a lifetime of scripts to help "calm her down".

My fears are not without reason! Read the article below to see what the latest research shows about ADD and ADHD.

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. South Africa has quickly followed the rest of the world in the bottled water craze... but is this such a smart idea? See the concerns raised with Dr Wright.

-----------------------------------

Deadly dangers of ADHD drugs
Dr WC Douglass
Editor of Healthier News

For years, we've been warned about the potential dangers of the drugs that kids are being pumped full of to combat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And now, finally, there are some other doctors who've found a link that could be frightening enough to curtail the use of these drugs.

A new study funded by the FDA and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) claims that kids taking popular ADHD drugs are many times more likely to die suddenly, and for unexplained reasons, than kids who aren't on these drugs.

We've been told for some time now how dangerous these drugs can be. But this new announcement about links to unexplained sudden death is by far the most extreme. And as sad as this is, it's hardly surprising.

The speculation among doctors is that taking these stimulant drugs routinely increases the heart rate and has an impact on the cardiovascular system.

And yet, in spite of these links to possible sudden death, the FDA doesn't feel the need to toughen up the prescribing guidelines for ADHD drugs. That inaction alone needlessly and irresponsibly exposes the more than 2.5 million kids taking attention-deficit order drugs to danger.

In typical half-measure fashion, the FDA even held a press conference to downplay the importance of the findings - yes, the findings of a study that the FDA themselves helped to finance. The agency claimed that the study was too small to allow far-reaching conclusions to be drawn, and that the incidence of sudden death (less than one in 10,000 kids) was too rare to limit the use of drugs to treat a "serious illness" like ADHD.

The fact that even one child has died as a result of taking dangerous drugs to treat this "disorder" is an utter and complete outrage.

You should look at these results the way I have - legitimate proof of the dangers of all ADHD drugs. The suspicions have been there for years (and they weren't just mine). But the drug companies are making too much money and too many people in the medical community have bought into the lie of ADHD.

All I can do is spread the word to you and hope that parents get all the information.

-----------------------------------

Bottled water is safer than tap water... or is it?

Q: Yesterday my daughter told me I should stop buying bottled water because the plastic bottles are toxic. I thought bottled water was healthier than drinking flouridated, chlorinated tap water, so now I'm thoroughly confused - and worried. Can you tell me what to believe?

Dr. Wright: Well, you and your daughter are both right. Most municipal water supplies do contain flouride and chlorine, which have both been implicated in numerous health concerns. So bottled water seems like the wise alternative. However, plastic bottles contain a substance called bisphenol A, a chemical that mimics oestrogen activity in both humans and animals. Bisphenol A is a potential carcinogen and may also increase your risk of type II diabetes.

Unfortunately, avoiding it isn't as easy as boycotting bottled water: Bisphenol A is one of the 50 top-produced chemicals in the world. And in addition to being the building block of most plastic products, it's also one of the primary ingredients in the resins used to line over 100-billion different canned products.

Of course, Bisphenol A has been in the news lately - people are finally starting to catch on to its dangers. But who knows how long it will be until it's wiped out from the supermarket shelves? In the meantime, invest in a high-quality water filter that will eliminate the potentially harmful chemicals from your tap water (and make sure to use only filtered water to make ice cubes).