From Grist: Another reason why zapping kids and fetuses with pesticides is not a good idea

Bonnie Azab Powell, writing today in Grist:

A new study, published last week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, looked at the effects of both prenatal and childhood exposure to organophosphate pesticides -- of which 73 million pounds are applied each year in the U.S. -- and found yet another link to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Not surprisingly, children living in agricultural areas are even more at risk.

UC Berkeley researchers have been studying more than 300 Mexican-American children living in California's Salinas Valley, a.k.a. America's "Lettuce Bowl." They tested for levels of pesticide metabolites in urine in pregnant mothers, their newborns, and at 2 years old. The findings? Each tenfold increase in pesticide levels in the mothers' urine was associated with a fivefold increase in attention problems, and boys had it worse than girls.

This study does not surprise me. I've written often about my family's experience with ADHD and ADD. There are environmental and hereditary contributors to ADHD. More research is needed. But the most controversial aspect swirling around this disorder pits ADHD believers against the non-believers. Also, the drug therapy crowd vs. the "don't drug our kids" crowd. I believe that ADHD exists. And I've seen Ritalin and Concerta work on my kids and my wife. More here than meets the eye, Jim.

A bit of French DNA makes me nostalgic on Bastille Day

Not much singing in my grandfather's house on Bastille Day.

Martin Hett was born on July 14 inside a thatched hut in County Roscommon, Ireland, either in 1899 or 1900 -- there always seemed to be some confusion about the year. My sister Molly had to dig up his birth certificate in order to apply for dual Irish/U.S. citizenship. Maybe she knows the year.

Martin had many siblings -- and step-siblings. An evil stepmother, too. If it was a nice day in Roscommon on that Bastille Day so long ago, he might have been born outside to avoid the crowds. A few hundred miles away in Paris, fireworks were erupting, illuminating the Eiffel Tower and the wine-flushed faces of thousands of French citoyens. By 1918, a lot of them would be dead in the mud of their homeland.

And Ireland would be a free state. And Martin Hett would be in America not singing "La Marseillaise." He'd be working, though. A hard worker, not much for singing, even though he came from Irish and French stock. De la Hett was the family name, according to one family geneologist. The name brought to Ireland with a Frenchman intent on kicking Brit ass but probably winding up hanged from a gibbet, or just hanged, which was more economical.

But not before he gave a Roscommon lass his Gallic seed and part of his name.

"Let's storm the Bastille!"

"Fine, but let's make some time for a pint."

The French were many times unsuccessful in dislodging the British from Ireland, which was then part of the globe-spanning British Empire. Not clear how many French soldiers survived to mate. At least one.

And here I am, contemplating Bastille Day on a Wyoming afternoon.

I don't feel French. But I do like "La Marseillaise." A rousing anthem about revolution. Remember the scene from "Casablanca" when Victor Laszlo leads the patrons in "La Marseillaise?" One of my favorite movie moments.

During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, many American super-patriots hated the French, who would not cooperate in our misadventure. You recall the whole "freedom fries" fiasco? I do. So stupid. The French have been with us in Afghanistan. The last time I checked icasualties.org, 45 French soldiers had died in the fighting.

I have DNA ties to Ireland and France, although I've never visited either country.

Now, let's celebrate with a pint (or maybe a hometown microbrew) and then storm the Bastille.

Gene research could hold clues to ADHD

Fascinating piece Friday on NPR’s Talk of the Nation Science Friday about new research on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To listen to the interview, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92455272. Here’s a synopsis:

This week in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists report that in two brothers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a genetic change appears to make one of the brain's neurochemical pathways — the dopamine transporter — run in reverse. The result of that miswiring is that the brain acts as if amphetamines are always present, the researchers say.

Randy Blakely, one of the study's authors, and Allan D. Bass, professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, talk about the findings and what they might mean for ADHD treatment.

So, the dopamine transporters in these two brothers run backwards and that causes their ADHD? That could explain a lot, as too much dopamine leads to anxiety and nervousness and hyperactivity. The studies could lead to some breakthroughs in treatment for ADHD. It also explains the workings of Ritalin and Concerta and other central nervous system stimulants. They cause the dopamine tranporters to reverse their actions which, in the case of the two brothers, means that they are shifted from reverse into forward. Weird, eh?

Both my kids have ADHD. When we first put our son on Ritalin at the tender age of five, his pediatric psychiatrist admitted that scientists didn’t understand why Ritalin worked – it just did. Not exactly what parents want to hear when their five-year-old is being given a drug on the DEA’s list of Schedule II controlled substances, just one step down the scale from heroin, Quaaludes, magic mushrooms and LSD (also, inexplicably, marijuana).

So here are some new clues to the workings of ADHD medications.

I’ve written a lot about our family’s experience with ADHD. One of my early published essays on the subject in the now-defunct Northern Lights magazine was named "Hummingbird Minds" after a description of ADHD by hypertext pioneer Ted Nelson. He had ADHD in a big way and said that he and my son and millions of others had "hummingbird minds." That phrase became the title of my web site and later on my blog. In the beginning, I wrote a lot about ADHD but not so much any more. My son is 23 and in college. My daughter is about to enter high school. My son Kevin no longer takes medication for ADHD as he’s come up with other coping skills. It may be that ADHD is losing some of its sting as he ages. Not sure.

Some of my published work about ADHD can be found on my web site. Go to the "Writing" section on the sidebar and click on "On ADHD." Here’s an excerpt from my essay "We Are Distracted" published, in a slightly different form, in the 1996 book In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction by W.W. Norton and co-edited by Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones:

Physicians have been prescribing Ritalin (a.k.a. methylphenidate) for more than 30 years for a condition that has been known as Minimal Brain Damage (MBD), Minimal Brain Dysfunction in Children (MBDC), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and ADD with Hyperactivity (ADHD). If some progressive therapists and groups such as CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) have their way, the official designation may one day be changed to Attention Deficit Syndrome with hyperactivity (ADHS). This alphabet soup can be confusing. Once, on his first day at a new school, my son announced in front of the class that he had ADHD. The next day, several very nervous parents called the school, concerned about the new student who had AIDS. Being a "hyper" kid turns you into one type or pariah; AIDS carriers get special mistreatment. It was weeks before the confusion was straightened out. But the impression had been made. Kevin was different; different is bad.