Abstract
Current evidence suggests that the syndrome of hyperkinesis occurs in a heterogeneous group of children and results from multiple etiologies. Hyperkinesis can occur in children with normal intelligence who have emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, phobias, psychoses, and personality disorders. It is frequently found in children with minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) where it may be associated with “soft neurological signs” such as impairment of laterality and spatial orientation, and evidence of motor incoordination (Wender, 1971). Hyperactivity in children has been related to organic brain syndromes, sensory disorders like blindness or deafness, endocrine disorders like hyperthyroidism and possibly hypoglycemia, and toxicity from environmental pollutants like lead. The fact that the syndrome is from four to nine times more prevalent in males than females suggests that there may be a genetic factor as well. In addition to those factors that have been unequivocally demonstrated to contribute to etiology, claims have been made that the hyperkinetic syndrome may be associated with food allergy, vitamin deficiency, stress from fluorescent lighting and television cathode tubes, and the ingestion of food additives.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brenner, A., 1977, A study of the efficacy of the Feingold diet on hyperkinetic children, Clin. Pediatr. 16: 652–656.
Conners, C. K., Goyette, C., Southwick, D. A., Lees, J. M., and Andrulonis, P. A., 1976, Food additives and hyperkinesis: A controlled double-blind experiment, Pediatrics 58: 154–166.
Cook, W. S., and Woodhill, J. M., 1976, The Feingold dietary treatment of the hyperkinetic syndrome, Med. J. Aust. 2: 85–90.
Feingold, B. F ., 1975, Why Your Child Is Hyperactive, Random House, New York.
Goyette, C. H., Conners, C. K., Petti, T. A., and Curtis, L. E., 1978, Effects of artificial colors on hyperkinetic children: A double-blind challenge study, Psychopharmacol. Bull. 14: 39–40.
Harley, J. P., Ray, R. S., Tomasi, L., Eichman, P. L., Matthews, C. G., Chun, R., Cleeland, C. S., and Traisman, E., 1978a, Hyperkinesis and food additives: Testing the Feingold hypothesis, Pediatrics 61: 818–828.
Harley, J. P., Matthews, C. G., and Eichman, P., 1978b, Synthetic food colors and hyperactivity in children: A double-blind challenge experiment, Pediatrics 62: 975–983.
Harper, P. H., Goyette, C. H., and Conners, C. K., 1978, Nutrient intakes of children on the hyperkinesis diet, J. Am. Diet., Assoc. 73: 515–520.
Lafferman, J. A., and Silbergeld, E. K., 1979, Erythrosin B inhibits dopamine transport in rat caudate synaptosomes, Science 205: 410–412.
Levy, F., Dumbrell, S„ Hobbes, G., Ryan, M., Wilton, N., and Woodhill, J. M., 1978, A double- blind crossover trial with a tartrazine challenge, Med. J. Aust. 1: 61–64.
Logan, W. J., and Swanson, J. M. L., 1979, Erythrosin B inhibition of neurotransmitter accumulation by rat brain homogenate, Science 206: 363–364.
Mailman, R. B., Ferris, R. N., Tang, F. L. M., Vogel, R. A., Kilts, C. D., Lipton, M. A., Smith, D. A., Mueller, R. A., and Breese, G. R., 1980, Erythrosine (Red no. 3) and its nonspecific biochemical actions: What relation to behavioral changes? Science 207: 535–537.
Mattes, J., and Gittelman-Klein, R., 1978, A crossover study of artifical food colorings in a hyperkinetic child, Am. J. Psychiatry 135: 987–988.
Morrison, M., 1978, The Feingold diet (letter to the editor), Science 199: 840.
Salzman, L. K., 1976, Allergy testing, psychological assessment and dietary treatment of the hyperactive child syndrome, Med. J. Aust. 2: 248–251.
Swanson, J. M., and Kinsbourne, M., 1979, Artificial color and hyperactive behavior, in: Treatment of Hyperactive and Learning Disordered Children: Current Research, ( R. M. Knights and D. Bakker, eds.), pp. 131–149, University Park Press, Baltimore.
Swanson, J. M., Kinsbourne, M., Roberts, W., and Zucher, K., 1978, A time-response analysis of the effect of stimulant medication on the learning ability of children referred for hyperactivity, Pediatrics 61: 21–29.
Weiss, B., Williams, J. H., Margen, S., Abrams, B., Caan, B., Citron, L. J., Cox, C., McKibben, J., Ogar, D., and Schultz, F., 1980, Behavioral responses to artificial food colors, Science 207: 1487–1489.
Wender, P., 1971, Minimal Brain Dysfunction in Children, Wiley-Interscience, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lipton, M.A., Wheless, J.C. (1982). The Hyperkinesis Controversy. In: Jelliffe, E.F.P., Jelliffe, D.B. (eds) Adverse Effects of Foods. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3359-3_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3359-3_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3361-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3359-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive