Get ready to be barraged by news of a proprietary pine bark extract exhibiting efficacy against attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Today's report by the French company that manufactures a maritime pine bark extract seems to be associated (see press release below fold) with Dr Steven Lamm, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Medical School, and based on results published in the journal, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
I don't believe this is actually "news" as stories such as this one appeared about a month ago. Hence, I fear that today's press release and satellite hook-up will be more hype than health.
Parents: before you go off and buy this product, give me a day to take a look at the data and what is said at this pres. No offense to Dr. Lamm, but his last splash on the public scene was with his book, "The Hardness Factor: How to Achieve Your Best Health and Sexual Fitness at Any Age." Yes, *that* hardness.
His other books have titles like, "Younger at Last," and "Thinner at Last." Although he does indeed appear on NYU's faculty listings as a board certified MD internist, all of his publications listed are popular books. Perhaps a bit odd for an academic doc who did all of his academic training at NYU in the mid- to late-70s. Ahh, but he's been on Oprah. (Note to self: Contact Dr. Lamm's agent to learn how a PhD might parlay pop science writing into a paying job.)
Pine Bark Extract Offers New Hope for Children With ADHD
Monday July 17, 9:28 am ET
Pycnogenol(R) Reduces ADHD Symptoms in Children; Research Shows Pine Bark Extract Decreases Hyperactivity; Improves Attention, Visual-Motor Coordination and Concentration
LOS ANGELES, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 17, 2006 --
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2006
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM (EASTERN) / 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM (EASTERN)
Satellite Coordinates for Both Feeds:
IA-6, Transponder 11 (C-Band)
Downlink Freq: 3920 MHz Vertical
Audio: 6.20 / 6.80
WHAT:
An estimated 3.3 million Americans under the age of 19 take medications for the treatment of ADHD. However, there is now new hope. A recent study shows that the French maritime pine bark extract Pycnogenol (pic·noj-en-all) may serve as an effective natural alternative for children with ADHD. A recent study published in the journal of European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry shows that the pine tree bark extract decreases hyperactivity; improves attention, visual-motor coordination and concentration.
FINDINGS:
Pycnogenol, a super antioxidant, has been widely studied for over 35 years with more than 220 published reports. Published findings supporting its safety and efficacy, demonstrate the supplement's beneficial effects not only for treating ADHD, but also on heart health, circulation and cognitive function. The research team worked with parents and teachers and set several thresholds to evaluate the children -- primarily around the age of 10 -- before, during and after the study.
After a month of treatment, children showed a significant drop in hyperactivity and inattention compared to the start of the study. Also, motor-visual coordination and concentration were noticeably increased after a month of supplementation. And, one month after the treatment stopped, the ADHD symptoms returned to the levels that were measured and recorded before the study. Children in the study received 1 mg of Pycnogenol for every kilogram of bodyweight, every morning for one month. Researchers did not provide any other drugs or vitamins E or C during the study.
For more information about Pycnogenol visit www.pycnogenol.com
NEWS FOOTAGE AND SOUNDBITES WILL INCLUDE:
-- B-roll of children in and outside of classroom
-- B-roll of scientists working with Pycnogenol in laboratory
-- Soundbites/ b-roll featuring Dr. Steven Lamm, Clinical Asst. Prof. of
Med., New York University Medical School
To request a hard copy, please contact Mike Levenstein at 323-930-5827 or mlevenstein@onthescene.com
Contact:
Contact:
Mike Levenstein
323-930-5827
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: OTSP
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YOU could make a lucrative career out of this kind of writing...but you'd not only have to lower your standards, you'd have to write with no standards whatsoever.
a "super" antioxidant??!?
what's next, a "super, duper" antioxidant?
(Note to self: Contact Dr. Lamm's agent to learn how a PhD might parlay pop science writing into a paying job.)....
Do you think it involves putting aside any and all courses on scientific ethics????
The article says nothing about a control group, or about what scales were used to measure hyperactivity and attention, or anything comparing the performance of these children to controls.
They did have a control group, right?
Oh, I guess Oprah's audience wouldn't care about that. I feel sorry for any kids whose parents take them off proven, effective medication to give them pine bark extract. Geez.
How have the standards been in the creation of the label itself: ADHD?
Do you believe it is some kind of single-cause phenomemon? Are we surprised that children, fed fast food and chocolate cereal for breakfast, soda and cafeteria grease for lunch, etc, sometimes have difficulty concentrating on the dull platitudes plunked down as learnin' in public schools (where most of this behavior modification is going on)?
Come on, now, fellas. Sure, you want to give pine tar a hard time, but isn't that the easy part?
So who has the DSM in front of them? What is ADHD?
It's a collection of behaviors, (behaviors we all exhibit), very subjectively interpreted, and absolutely used by frustrated teachers with frustrated students in frustrating situations.
There's a great Sopranos episode in which the Soprano son, Anothony, Junior, is misbehaving and having difficulty focusing in school. The school psychologist brings the parents in to hear the results of A.J.'s ADHD test - and he's not ADHD, officially - but a 'borderline' case.
Like an indeterminate, in other realms.
'How's that,' asks Tony S. How do you judge? The school psychologue (in the good, well-researched writing of Chase and co.) lists the basis for the diagnosis - a number of factors, difficulty focusing, sitting still, lack of responsiveness, fidgeting -
Tony breaks in - 'fidgeting? What constitutes a fidget?'
A fair question for a parent to ask, and certainly included in that television program by writers living in wealthy suburbs, but reading and observing and researching the culture.
So, what constitutes ADHD? What would be your solution to the various constituting elements of the recently assembled diagnosis?
And of course there's hype in the pycnogenol push. We're in America; people sell-sell-sell because history has made us the fiercest capitalists in the world. So, of course there's hype.
But someone answer the query, Que es ADHD, verdadamente?