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As The Post's Liz Sly recently noted, the war in Syria has become a tangled web of conflict dominated by "al Qaeda veterans, hardened Iraqi insurgents, Arab jihadist ideologues and Western volunteers." On the surface, those competing actors are fueled by an overlapping mixture of ideologies and political agendas. Just below it, experts suspect, they're powered by something else: Captagon. A tiny, highly addictive pill produced in Syria and widely available across the Middle East, its illegal sale funnels hundreds of millions of dollars back into the war torn country's black market economy each year, likely giving militias access to...

Researchers Say Precise Link Between Sweets And Violence Unclear We know candy is bad for your children's teeth. But could it also cause bad behavior later in life? CBS 2's Jim Williams looks at a new study linking kids and sugar to violent crimes. Laura Budill had her hands full with her sons, Nathan, 3 and Tyler, 2, at a Lincoln Park playground Tuesday. They were active enough without sweets; but with sugar? "Every child is different," said Budill. "For my children, I know that it causes them to act out in hyperactivity." So Laura only allows them to have...

Did hyperactivity evolve as a survival aid for nomads? 11:39 10 June 2008 NewScientist.com news service Ewen Callaway Impulsivity and a short attention span may be the bane of every parent with a hyperactive toddler, but those same traits seem to help Kenyan nomads keep weight on. A gene mutation tied to attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is also associated with increased weight among a chronically undernourished group of nomads called the Ariaal. Notably, the mutation offers no such benefit to a cousin population that gave up the nomadic lifestyle in the 1960s. The nomads' active and unpredictable life centred...

The great ADHD mythBy JENNY HOPE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:34pm on 9th March 2007  Have hyperactive kids been misdiagnosed with ADD? The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder - the condition blamed for the bad behaviour of hundreds of thousands of children - has admitted that many may not really be ill. Dr Robert Spitzer said that up to 30 per cent of youngsters classified as suffering from disruptive and hyperactive conditions could have been misdiagnosed. They may simply be showing perfectly normal signs of being happy or sad, he said. 'Many of...

Go outside and playhttp://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1158309564312510.xml&coll=2 http://tinyurl.com/pg6bd That's the advice nature educators have for increasingly reined-in kids and their very protective parents Friday, September 15, 2006 Susan Glaser Plain Dealer Reporter When Steve Cadwell was a kid, he had the North Chagrin Reservation in his back yard, and he used to disappear for hours. "My mom said, 'Go outside, and don't come back until the streetlights are on,' " said Cadwell, 47, now executive director of the Nature Center of Shaker Lakes. Rare is the mother who issues that directive these days. Thanks to everything from fears about stranger danger to video...

Prescribing of hyperactivity drugs is out of control 31 March 2006 NewScientist.com news service Peter Aldhous Rise in ADHA? THE figures are mind-boggling. Nearly 4 million Americans, most of them children and young adults, are being prescribed amphetamine-like stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Up to a million more may be taking the drugs illegally. Now, amid reports of rare but serious side effects, leading researchers and doctors are calling for a review of the way ADHD is dealt with. Many prescriptions are being written by family doctors with little expertise in diagnosing ADHD, raising doubts about how...

Prescribing of hyperactivity drugs is out of control 31 March 2006 NewScientist.com news service Peter Aldhous Rise in ADHA?THE figures are mind-boggling. Nearly 4 million Americans, most of them children and young adults, are being prescribed amphetamine-like stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Up to a million more may be taking the drugs illegally. Now, amid reports of rare but serious side effects, leading researchers and doctors are calling for a review of the way ADHD is dealt with. Many prescriptions are being written by family doctors with little expertise in diagnosing ADHD, raising doubts about how many...

(AgapePress) - A study by Israeli researchers shows treatment of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders in children can lead to a significant reduction in symptoms associated with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).The study found that children diagnosed with ADHD had much higher levels of sleeplessness during the day than did non-ADHD youngsters. Dr. Giora Pillar is head of the Pediatric Sleep Lab at the largest hospital in northern Israel, and an associate professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, which conducted the study.Pillar says sleep apnea or sleep disturbances can lead to daytime sleepiness -- and children who are...

Fatty Acids Help DCD Kids to Behave  www.NutraIngredients.com, May 3, 2005   Supplementation with fatty acids may be a safe and effective way of dealing with educational and behavioral problems among children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), according to an Oxford University study published in the May issue of Pediatrics. DCD is a condition affecting around five percent of school-aged children and is linked to behavioral and learning difficulties, problems with motor function and psychosocial issues that may continue into adulthood.   According to study authors Alexandra Richardson and Paul Montgomery, both of Oxford University, there is currently no...

Magnesium VitB6 Intake Reduces Central Nervous System Hyperexcitability in Children Marianne Mousain-Bosc, MD, Michele Roche, PhD, Jean Rapin, MD, PhD and Jean-Pierre Bali, MD, PhD Department of Pediatry (M.M.-B.), CHU Nimes, FRANCEDepartment of Biochemistry (M.R.), CHU Nimes, FRANCELaboratoire de Biochimie, Groupe Hospitalier Carémeau (J.P.B.), Nimes Cedex, FRANCEDepartment of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bourgogne, Dijon (J.R.), FRANCE Address reprint requests to: Dr. Jean-Pierre Bali, Laboratoire de Biochimie, Groupe Hospitalier Carémeau, Place du Professeur Robert Debré, 30029 Nimes Cedex, FRANCE. E-mail: bali2003@yahoo.frObjective: Ionic magnesium (Mg2+) depletion has long been known to cause hyperexcitability with convulsive seizures in rodents, effects...

Pills vs. Talking When It Comes to Mental Illness, Parents Face Dilemmas Over Medication, Talk Therapy By Bryan Robinson June 7, 2004 — When Chad Taylor noticed his son was apparently experiencing serious side effects from Ritalin prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he decided to take the boy off the medication. Now, he says he may be accused of child abuse. In February, 12-year-old Daniel began displaying some symptoms that his father suspected were related to the use of Ritalin. "He was losing weight, wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just...

Check your local listings for airtimes. (Current show is updated every weekday at 5pm EST.) HEALTH Health Experts Warn of Antidepressant Dangers for Children, Teens By Darla SittonCBN News Producer In America, Prozac is the only drug the FDA has "approved" for pediatric depression. CBN.com – (CBN News) - As many as one in eight adolescents suffers from clinical depression. And these kids are often treated with anti-depressant drugs that have been tested and approved for adult use. But the drugs may not be safe for children. Corey Baadsgaard doesn't remember storming into his honors English class with a...

The following are short pieces recently written by Neal Boortz regarding Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, appearing in Neal's Nuze: DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS. JUST KEEP DRUGGING YOUR KIDS.More and more medical and psychological professionals are speaking out against this phony disease of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Bob Jacobs, a psychologist, is on the advisory board of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. He recently told a conference in Australia that ADHD is a behavioral problem, not a medical disorder. He correctly points out that there is no proof that...

<p>WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday he does not plan to be inoculated with the smallpox vaccine and recommends that other Cabinet members not request the inoculation either.</p> <p>"I do not believe it is necessary or should be taking place," he said.</p>