Herbal alternatives to Ritalin and other prescription drugs

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I give my daughter a herbal remedy. It's called Focus Formula and made by NativeRemedies. It contains ginkgo biloba, skullcap, gotu kola, green oats stinging nettle and rooibos. She was a hyperactive youngster and I can't say I noticed any major effect on that. We stopped giving it to her for a while. A few months ago, the hyperactivity more or less stopped. So, it's much easier to see any other problems. We've started to give it to her again, to see if it will help with her concentration. I'll keep everyone posted on how she gets on.

I used to work in a health food store. While I eventually got fired because I had a lot of difficulty showing up on time and managed to antagonize customers without meaning to, I also did a lot of reading about herbal remedies while I was working in the store.

The only herb I found that helped with concentration was ma huang, and that's currently illegal in the United States, and I would not suggest administering it because it can have some unpleasant physical side effects (rapid pulse, sweating, etc). It's a natural stimulant, also called ephedra.

Most of the claims about herbal/natural remedies are bunk. They're snake oil. Most of them don't come close to doing what the manufacturers claim they do. While that doesn't mean they're completely useless, it does mean one should approach them with a certain degree of skepticism about claims made regarding their benefits. I do believe they can and do have benefits, but it's usually helpful to do research beyond manufacturer claims to find out what they do.

Also, chelation is nonsense. It is actually dangerous when misused. There is no evidence that autism has anything to do with heavy metal poisoning, and the symptoms of such poisoning are not like autism at all. And here's the worst case scenario:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9074208/ns/ ... n-therapy/

Mud baths also seem to be based on the idea that autism is caused by toxins (perhaps in vaccines? I do not know). It strikes me as highly dubious that it can help at all.

Here's the thing about "natural" autism remedies: Parents with autistic children are often vulnerable to quacks who make big promises but deliver little real help. They want your money, and will promise you the moon if you use their treatments to allegedly "cure" your child. Many of these so-called "cures" are actually dangerous and can kill your child or leave him in worse shape than when you started. One example that has recently made the rounds is the idea that Jim Humble's innocuously named "Miracle Mineral Solution" can cure autism. I will say that using MMS will probably eliminate autism as a concern for one's family, by actually killing the child or leaving the child in even worse shape because MMS is actually a form of industrial bleach.

I want to state in the strongest possible terms that if a treatment promises to cure autism stay away from it. There is no cure for autism, there are only treatments. Mud baths and chelation won't cure or treat your son's autism.

I also think that simply dismissing "man-made drugs" is a mistake. Some of them do things that you simply cannot get with so-called "natural remedies" and often those things are needed, sometimes very badly. I suggest seriously researching stimulant medications to better understand their dangers and benefits rather than simply assuming the worst. Also, talk to your son's doctor about it. I am not saying "You should give your son the Concerta." That's really up to you. I am simply saying that educating yourself on what the drug does, how it is supposed to work, and what it looks like when it's not doing what it is supposed to do actually gives you more options than simply rejecting or accepting it.