ADHD and iron levels
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Anonymous
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Has anyone supplemented with iron and/or increased iron levels through diet and seen an improvement with ADHD symptoms?
Second question: If you have a child diagnosed with ADHD, were they by choice/preference or by household preference more vegetarian-diet based? |
Anonymous
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...all that I know about iron is that it can affect a person cognitively if the levels are too low.
Too much iron is seriously toxic and is a cause of accidental poisoning (e.g. Children getting into vitamins containing iron). Take your child to a pediatrician for a blood test if you suspect low iron- then follow your doctor's instructions. A vegetarian diet that isn't well balanced could cause low iron levels. If it's an ongoing issue, you could provide a children s multivitamin with iron. |
Anonymous
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My ADHD child is a huge meat eater. We don't tend to eat a lot of meat in our household, though, so I guess he probably only has red meat once a week or so.
Has anyone checked iron levels and found some connection? Is there any research on this? |
Anonymous
| There is research. I looked at it quickly and got the impression it's a chicken and egg issue (I.e. Kids with ADHD we're found to have low iron levelS but it wasn't clear which caused which). I'd love to be corrected or enlightened if someone has read the research in detail. |
Anonymous
I read that there is some preliminary research showing that kids with unmedicated ADHD may have lower "brain" iron than medicated kids or kids without ADHD. This can happen even if blood iron is normal. If it's a brain iron deficiency (that is, blood iron is normal), a supplement won't solve the problem and a blood test won't show whether iron in the brain is If anyone suspects that their child suffers from low blood iron (anemia) they should get a blood test and follow instructions. Low blood iron can cause side effects like fatigue, inattentiveness, memory, etc. Increasing iron intake beyond the recommended amount is dangerous- so no supplements unless recommended by a doctor. |
Anonymous
Sorry for the typos (blaming the iPad). First paragraph should say "a blood test won't show whether the iron in the brain is at normal levels (at least that was my impression from reading the research)." |
Anonymous
I wasn't planning to self-supplement beyond daily recommended dose without diagnosis of low-iron and instructions from a doctor. I was simply asking if anyone had seen a difference with supplementation. Your response is patronizing. |
Anonymous
NP here. So how would they test fot "brain iron" if not with a blood test, and how do you fix it if that is the issue? |
Anonymous
| I would also research the incidences of ADHD and countries that have a high red meat diet. |
Anonymous
Oh good lord- you asked, I answered the best I could. I thought you were asking for a child- so of course I would be cautious and complete how answer. People are so eager to offend or to be offended. It's ridiculous and exhausting. |
Anonymous
PP here- I didn't get that far in reading the research- but I recall that it may have been via MRI or some kind of scan. I'm not a statistician (or a doctor for that matter)- just a curious person who likes to read. That said, from what I recall of my stats days years and years ago- the sample size for the iron study seemed small. Still, take a look- it's interesting. My DS may be facing an ADHD diagnosis- this question is interesting. |
Anonymous
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My son with the most serious family case of inattentive ADHD is not anemic - however anemia runs in the family and we're all more or less inattentive. So who knows? |
Anonymous
| If you are of European ancestry, you should learn about hemochromatosis before considering iron supplements. Especially if you are any part Irish. |
Anonymous
| This is interesting, I was anemic while pregnant with my 2nd. He does have ADHD. |
Anonymous
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It's not related to the ADHD/iron issue, but I do want to comment on the blood level versus supplements comment. My LO was suffering from breath-holding spells, which while supposedly harmless, was scary for our LO because of a heart issue that makes LO prone to cardiac arrest. So a breath-holding event was terrifying. Anyhow, I did tons of research and while not one doctor suggested it to me, it seemed that there was an iron association, and that for kids with these events, iron supplements decreased or stopped all spells in 90% of cases, with an insanely large and significant odds ratio of over 70 (if you know stats, you know how big that is). While the effect was most pronounced in kids with low blood iron levels, the benefit was seen even in kids with normal blood iron levels.
LO's iron levels came back normal, but we added in iron supplements anyway and she hasn't had one since... Therapeutic iron under a doctor's management IS safe and does not approach poisonous levels as long as it's well controlled. I think we did something like 3-5mg/kg of body weight or something like that. Anyhow, the main point here is that when you don't understand the physiological mechanism, it's hard to know why something does or does not work. Keep in mind that a "normal" blood level for a child without ADHD may be different than what should be the "normal" level for one with ADHD. Normative data are population-based and not always on the greatest data. Some sub-groups may have different needs for certain minerals and supplements, perhaps based on deficiencies in how their bodies process them. In the case of iron, you could always try a supplement under a doctor's watch and see if you note any improvement in 3-4 months. The only real risks are GI-related issues (countered by miralax as needed). |