ADHD or attention deficit disorder… it’s everywhere!  Kids in their millions are swallowing Ritalin type drugs daily, and in their wake, an ever growing torrent of the newly diagnosed.  Theories about its growing prevalence abound.  Is it modern parenting practice?  Too much TV and screen time?  Too much sugar and processed foods?  I would argue that each of these factors has some impact on childhood behaviour and focus. 

Now there is a new and fairly robust theory, and from my perspective it’s one of the most frightening.  Children whose mothers are exposed to pesticides while they are pregnant are more likely to be destined destined for an ADHD diagnosis.  This recent study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives, shows yet another troubling way in which exposure to organophosphate pesticides can throw the human body into turmoil.

Why do I find this latest finding frightening?  Because organophosphates are everywhere, and it is a rare human being that does not have residues of these powerful chemicals in their bloodstream and tissue.

In this most recent study, researchers tested pregnant women for organophosphate chemicals, and found that the higher the residue in their urine during pregnancy, the more likely their offspring were to have ADHD symptoms at age 5.  A ten times increase in pesticide residues in the mother’s urine, equated to a 500% increase in offspring ADHD by the age of 5.  Interestingly, if the children themselves had organophosphate resides in their urine, but were not exposed in utero, their risk for ADHD still increased, but no as dramatically.  Don’t take too much comfort from this though, as another study demonstrated that children with high organophosphate in the urine were twice as likely as those with undetectable levels to have ADHD.

It hardly seems like rocket science to me.  After all organophosphates are designed to attack the nervous system of bugs, by affecting the neurotransmitters (brain chemicals that carry messages).  One of these affected brain chemicals is acetylcholine, which is vital to the development and function of the human brain.

The good news (yes there is some!) is that swapping to an organic diet during pregnancy, and feeding your children organic fruits and vegetables, will radically decrease organophosphate exposure.  A study in Environmental health Perspectives (2006: 114) looked at pesticide levels in children living in Seattle USA.  For the first five days the children ate their usual shop bought, spayed diet.  For the next five days they ate only organic foods; and finally went back to another 5 days of sprayed foods.  Not surprisingly, researchers found that pesticide residues in their urine were high in the two “conventional food” phases, and virtually non-existent in the organic phase. Take home message?  Organics protect our kids (and us) from damaging and toxic pesticide residues.

In New Zealand the Total Diet Survey has for years demonstrated that our pesticide exposure is many times greater than in other countries.  The 1998 survey estimated Kiwi kids to have organophosphate exposure twenty times greater than their American counterparts! Forget the “clean, green NZ” propaganda.  The truth is that our food and our environment is contaminated with a plethora of agricultural chemicals harmful to our nervous system and hormonal health.

Children actually come out worse off than adults when it comes to pesticide residues, as they eat proportionally more food than adults, and they also tend to eat more fruits and vegetables for their body size.   The latest Total Diet Survey (2003/4) shows that young children get twice as much pesticide in their food compared with adult men.

What to do about all this bad news?  It’s simple really.  Make the choice to pay the extra, and convert your kitchen to organics.  If you can’t go the whole hog, at least convert to organics for the foods most likely to contain organophosphate residues -  bread and wheat products; pears, apples, nectarines, tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce.

One of the most common complaints I hear from my menopausal patients, is the problem of poor sleep.  After a lifetime of sleeping like the proverbial baby, it’s common for perimenopausal and menopausal women to suddenly battle with insomnia for the first time.  Often it’s the problem of frequent night waking, and of course this is not helped by hot flushes or night sweats.  Not only do broken nights leave you feeling like a zombie, it would appear that they also contribute significantly to that other bane of the menopausal years…. weight gain. 

A new study in the International Journal of Obesity had the benefit of assessing participants over a lengthy period of time.  This contrasts with most other research that has looked at sleep and weight issues at a single point of time.. making it difficult to determine, which cane first, the sleep problems or the weight gain?  This latest study suggests strongly that it’s the sleep problems which eventuate first, and over time, contribute to excessively high weight gain.

The Finnish researchers followed 7,300 people aged 40 to 60 (both men and women) for seven years.  They found that a third of women with sleep problems at the start of the study gained an average of 11 pounds over the seven years, compared with only one fifth of their soundly sleeping counterparts.  And the cruelest twist of all for us mid-life women?  Men showed no such link between weight gain and sleep!

The study authors do comment that while an association between poor sleep and weight gain looks fairly strong, it is impossible to prove an absolute “cause and effect” relationship at this time.   It’s possible that other factors account for the observed relationship. 

Why would insomnia affect our weight anyway?  It seems that a lack of sleep alters our levels of the appetite suppressing hormones leptin and ghrelin, which could lead to overeating.  That makes sense to me.  I always notice that if I’ve had a really bad nights sleep, or been very late to bed, the next day I can’t get enough carbs to satisfy my hunger.

If you’re a woman and battling the bulge, even though the research is not 100% definitive, I would strongly suggest getting some help to sort out your sleep issues, as well as addressing the weight more directly through sensible diet and regular exercise.

AMH TEST

As an acupuncturist and naturopath, working with women trying to conceive is a big part of my daily clinic life.  Recently, many of them have asked me about the new AMH blood  test hitting the headlines in New Zealand. While it’s early days and there appears to be yet more research to do, this simple blood test appears to be a very useful tool  for women wanting a true insight into the state of their remaining fertility.

The AMH tests levels of Anti-mullerian hormone.  This hormone is produced by egg follicles that the ovaries grow in order to prepare an egg for release.  In a nut shell, the more of this hormone you have in your bloodstream, the better off you are in the fertility stakes.  Hormone levels reduce with age, and the lower your levels, the less likely you are to conceive.

AMH levels are a reflection of how many egg follicles you have remaining in your ovaries, and it’s also a reflection of the biological health and vitality of those remaining eggs.  The biological age of a woman’s eggs can differ from her chronological age.  You can be a fit and sprightly 35 year old for example, but have eggs more like those you’d expect to find in a 40 year old woman. A baby girl is born with all the egg follicles she will ever have, and once she starts ovulating from her early teens onwards, the number of egg follicles gradually decline until menopause.  The existing test used to guage fertility is the FSH or Follicle Stimulating Hormone test.  This test is much less sensitive than the AMH test, and is only able to tell a woman her fertility is declining, at an advanced stage of the process.

Developers of the AMH test are really emphasising this use for the test, suggesting that women in their thirties have a test to determine their likely fertility for the following two years.  Based on their results they have a clearer understanding of the potential cost or otherwise of delaying conception.  Perhaps they want to travel overseas; take a job promotion… or simply find a man of “fathering” quality.  A poor AMH result would give them the option of trying to conceive sooner rather than later.  Test results are thought to be 70% accurate.

The AMH also makes the stressful process of fertility treatment a little less of a lottery.   AMH testing of women about to undergo IVF allows specialists a clearer idea of the likelihood of success for a particular woman.  Understanding the biological age of a womans eggs will allow doctors to tinker with fertility drug doses to maximise a womans chance of success, while minimising the risk of “hyperstimulating” her ovaries… a potentially fatal situation. 

Working with women experiencing the grief of infertility, I personally see  a great benefit in this new test.  I would encourage all my 30 something patients, still putting off pregnancy for yet another year, to have this test.

Lynda Wharton is a Traditional Chinese Acupuncturist and Naturopath with 25 years experience in Holistic Woman’s Health.  She is also the author of “Wellbeing – an essential guide to vibrant good health for women available online at www.lyndawharton.com

The most common solution to female hormone imbalance is to impose artificial balance by using the Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill. While this may seemingly offer a solution, it comes with an array of minor and sometimes major side effects. Taking the pill to remedy hormone imbalance, fails to address any of the underlying physical, mental and emotional imbalances which often lay at the root of hormone imbalance.

Holistic healing addresses causal imbalance rather than merely treating symptoms. So what are the common causes of female hormone imbalance, and what can you do to really remedy the problem?

The main organs involved in balancing a woman’s hormones are the hypothalamus (a tiny organ in the brain), the pituitary gland and the ovaries. The hypothalamus is like the conductor in the hormonal orchestra, directing the pituitary gland to start the hormonal process which in turn stimulates ovarian function. This interaction can be negatively effected by long term or intense emotional or physical stress, irregular sleep patterns, nutritional deficiency, excessive consumption of alcohol, cigarette smoking, obesity or underweight, amongst others.

For many women, remedying hormonal imbalance involves a “whole life” approach including stress management, dietary change, exercise, along with specific corrective therapies such as acupuncture, homoeopathy, herbal remedies etc.

The typical western diet is far from “hormone friendly”. For example PMS, dysmenorrhea (period pain) and endometriosis are all aggravated by the typical high saturated fat consumption. If you consume red meat regularly, drink your two glasses of milk a day, or eat cheeses, fried foods, takeaways etc regularly, you could be causing some of your hormonal problems.

An overabundance of saturated fats stimulates your body to produce an inflammatory prostaglandin (local hormone) which worsens these conditions. Try cutting down on saturated fats while increasing your intake of monounsaturates such as olive oil, flax seed oil, canola oil and avocados. This way your body produces a anti-inflammatory prostaglandins which will reduce your PMS, period pain or endometriosis. Supplementing with Evening Primrose Oil will also stimulate this change in prostaglandin production.

Other quick fix nutritional changes for hormonal health? Reduce your meat intake, and wherever possible buy organic meats which have not been fattened with estrogen. Eat more fish especially salmon, herrings, pilchards; Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables which are high in soluble fibre, and help reduce excessive levels of circulating estrogen which aggravate endometriosis and PMS.

Stay away from the wine bottle and other alcohol. Make alcohol a once or twice a week treat rather than a nightly accompanyment to dinner. This has a great impact on PMS, especially fluid retention and breast tenderness.; reduce your caffeine intake by drinking herbal teas or water decaffeinated tea and coffee. Caffeine increases excretion of many of the hormone friendly nutrients including B vitamins and magnesium. It is also a stimulant which will aggravate tension and irritability symptoms of PMS.

“Phytoestrogens” have become almost a nutritional panacea for hormonal health of late. Phytoestrogens are plant based estrogen like substances which are approximately a thousand times weaker than the estrogen produced in your own body.

Many female hormonal problems are thought to be caused or aggravated by excessive exposure to environmental estrogen or estrogen like substances (collectively known as xenoestrogens. We ingest these substances through agricultural sprays used on our food; through plastics we use in the home every day such as plastic kettles and food containers and even cling film we wrap our food in.

We can limit our exposure to xenoestrogens by using organic foods wherever possible, and by avoiding plastics in the home. We can also increase our bodily resistance through eating a diet high in phytoestrogens. When we ingest these estrogen like substances they fit into the estrogen receptor sites on our cells, effectively filling the site and making it unavailable for much stronger potentially toxic estrogens. This process is thought to explain the cancer protective effect of phytoestrogens. Increasing phytoestrogens in your diet can also reduce PMS and endometriosis symptoms, and help support the transition through menopause when the body’s production of estrogen slowly declines.

Boost phytoestrogens by stocking up on soy milk, tofu, flax seed oil and linseed (try delicious soy and linseed bread), apples, oats, carrots, pulses and legumes, alfalfa sprouts. Try drinking red clover tea daily. Phytoestrogen rich herbs include black cohosh, motherwort, licorice, burdock, wild yam and dong quai.

Take a look at the balance in your life. Female hormones are all about rhythm, flux and balance. Do your hormones mimic your life… chaotic? If the answer is yes, take some time to find ways of reducing stress. Take up tai chi or yoga, practice meditation daily, or simply make time for quiet contemplation in a busy world. Try journal keeping, affirmations, visualisations… whatever it takes to bring harmony back to your life and hormones

Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com