Mission in a Minute: Sanford Newmark, MD
Recently we have a seen a dramatic increase in the diagnosis of Autism and ADHD, both of which were previously uncommon childhood conditions. Autism, the more severe of the 2, has increased from 1 in 2000 children to 1 in 68 and the numbers to continue to rise. For ADHD more than 10% of our children are now diagnosed and 4.2 million children are taking psychostimulant medications like Ritalin.
My mission as an Integrative Pediatrician is to understand why this epidemic is occurring and to treat these children using the most natural and safe methods possible. We need to look very carefully to find and treat the underlying causes of these diseases, rather than only apply a Band-Aid to the symptoms that come to the surface.
To see a child with autism begin to flourish after a simple change in diet, or an ADHD child respond to safe nutritional supplements and good behavioral management is tremendously rewarding for everyone involved. This method motivates me to not only take care of these children but to teach both families ad other professionals about the importance of this approach.
source
