Spring-Summer Neurofeedback Regimen Will Help Kids Manage ADHD All School Year Long

A Spring-Summer Program with Lasting Results

 From Alternatives Newsletter Spring 2010

About 5 percent of all children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (they might act without thinking about what the result will be), and in some cases, are overly active.

Many Omaha parents are well-acquainted with this troubling disorder.  They are living with the kind of turmoil that makes home and school life challenging for their kids.  While several drugs have been developed for ADHD, they come with side effects ranging from nervousness to insomnia to stomach problems.  That’s what makes Neurofeedback a program worth investigating.  For months now, Alternatives’ Neurofeedback program has been generating impressive results for children with ADHD and other behavioral disorders.  The spring-summer season is a great time to sign up your kids for this innovative technology to better prepare them for the next school year.

Spring-Summer Neurofeedback Regimen Will Help Kids Manage ADHD All School Year Long

About 5 percent of all children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20080723/cdc-about-5-percent-of-kids-have-adhd.

Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (they might act without thinking about what the result will be), and in some cases, are overly active http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html.

Many Omaha parents are well-acquainted with this troubling disorder.  They are living with the kind of turmoil that makes home and school life challenging for their kids.  While several drugs have been developed for ADHD, they come with side effects ranging from nervousness to insomnia to stomach problems http://www.adhdnews.com/adhd-drug-side-effects.htm.

That’s what makes Alternatives’ NeuroIntegration System worth investigating.  For months now, this program has been generating impressive results for children with ADHD and other behavioral disorders.   The regimen has improved both classroom grades and behavior for several dozen patients since the technology became available at Alternatives last year. 

Here’s how: the NeuroIntegration System strives to normalize and manage the complex and varied waves in an individual’s brain.  A brain produces four distinct types of brain waves.  People usually have a mixture of frequencies at any given time, but the dominant frequency varies depending on the state of consciousness and on individual differences, according to the Clear Mind Center www.clearmindcenter.com. 

Someone with brain irregularities may have too much frontal theta or delta waves being produced when their beta waves are supposed to keep them awake, alert and focused.  By re-training these abnormal patterns in the affected areas, symptoms and disorders are often improved or eliminated.

The process is simple:  first, sensors are placed on the head of a patient and connected to a computer system, which recreates that individual’s brain patterns for a technician to monitor and read.

The patient then wears glasses that display different colors of lights in various patterns.  These “photic” cues, which are transmitted through the glasses, can guide the brain to the frequency it needs to learn.  Patients watch a video or listen to music and the brain will learn what it needs to do to keep the video going.  The system works by incorporating photic stimulation and music to help normalize brain activity.   The theory is that praising and rewarding a child when he steps up production of beta waves by concentrating on the game or movie should therefore teach him how to focus at will in other settings, such as doing homework assignments or cleaning his room

  

“Like any successful program, results don’t occur overnight,” said Dr. Patricia Ryan, Alternatives’ founder.  “Ten to 20 45-minute sessions may be needed to achieve optimal results.  That’s what makes spring and summer the perfect times to enroll your child in Alternatives’ Neurofeedback program.  By the time the new school year rolls around, they could have made significant headway into the issues that could be inhibiting their learning.”

Youthful patients at the clinic have seen a decrease in ADHD medication, a lessening of anxiety, improvement in insomnia and even better grades, according to Jamie Moore, RN, Alternatives’ trained Neurofeedback professional.  At least 60 different programs address various conditions from overeating to insomnia to ADHD.   

Scientific research has confirmed these promising results as well.  A German study published last year found that Neurofeedback improved attention and reduced impulsivity and hyperactivity http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19712709.  By research standards, the study was fairly large (94 children ages 8 to 12) and included a control group.  Fifty-nine of the children received 36 sessions of Neurofeedback over three to four weeks, while the other 35 children were trained in a different technique designed to improve attention.   Observations by the children's parents and teachers indicated that most kinds of ADHD-related behavior improved much more in the Neurofeedback group than in the control group.

“Neurofeedback is a process worth considering for a number of conditions, but ADHD response has a proven track record of success,” Dr. Ryan said.

For more information about the NeuroIntegration System, contact Alternatives at 827-9450.

NeuroIntegration System Showing Great Promise in Treating ADD, Insomnia and Tremors

NeuroIntegration System Showing Great Promise in Treating ADD, Insomnia and Tremors

From Alternatives Newsletter Winter 2008-2009

When part of the brain is operating at an abnormal frequency – too fast or too slowly – problems are bound to result, according to Dr. Patricia Ryan, founder of Alternatives: A Center for Conscious Health.  Abnormal brain frequency can contribute to issues associated with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), insomnia and depression, and a variety of other conditions, she noted.  Remarkably, researchers have discovered that the brain can learn to normalize activity through a process called Neurofeedback, leading to better health and alleviation of symptoms for many who’ve suffered for years with no relief, according to Dr. Ryan.

One of Alternatives’ latest tools – the NeuroIntegration System – works to teach the brain how to do just that – normalize activity.  “If you tell the brain what it needs to do to be normal and reward the brain for doing that task correctly, the brain gradually learns to do more of the normal activity and less of the abnormal.”  As the brain gets better at the activity through regular sessions on the system, the threshold is raised.  “Eventually the brain learns so well that the sessions are no longer needed,” Dr. Ryan said.

The system incorporates photic stimulation and music to achieve the desired results.  Here’s how it works:  First, sensors are placed on the head of the patient and connected to a computer system, which recreates that individual’s brain patterns for a technician to monitor and read.  The patient then wears glasses that display different colors of lights in various patterns.  These “photic” cues, which are transmitted through the glasses, can guide the brain to the frequency it needs to learn.  “Patients watch a video or listen to music and the brain will learn what it needs to do to keep the video going,” Dr. Ryan explained.

At least 60 different programs address various conditions from overeating to insomnia to ADD.  Jamie Moore, RN, Neurofeedback Clinician at Alternatives, said the machine has produced impressive results in the few months the clinic has been using the innovative technology.

“One patient has been suffering from genetic ‘Parkinson’s-like’ tremors for most of his life,” said Moore, who has recently joined the Alternatives staff after a career in Hyperbarics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  “The patient’s goal, when he began the therapy, was to carry his own dinner plate to the table and pour his own milk.  We are now nearing that goal,” Moore noted.  Handwriting analysis since the beginning of treatment shows a dramatic improvement in legibility as well.   

A child being treated for ADD has seen his need for medication decrease since beginning the therapy program.  “What’s more, his behavior is much better both at home and at school,” Moore said.  Another patient with insomnia and depression has had her medication cut in half and is now sleeping through the night.  “The results have been phenomenal,” Moore said.  “And these patients have not even finished the protocol yet,” Dr. Ryan added.  “We expect even more improvement.”

 

“This is just one more tool to help people who have fallen through the cracks and may have been unable to have their problems properly diagnosed and treated through traditional medicine,” Dr. Ryan said.