It’s back to school time!

Happy mother and child smilingPerhaps, amongst your family or your friends, there are children who never seem to rest, and “exhaust” everyone around them. They are very active, even aggressive, and find it very hard to stay focused on a task that requires a few minutes of continuous concentration. Far from being ‘rude’, these children may suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Disabling symptoms

Inattentiveness, impulsivity and hyperactivity are the main characteristics of ADHD. Of course, you must know how to distinguish a character trait from a real symptom, the presence of one or two indicators is not necessarily significant. Affirming that a child suffers from ADHD is the job of a psychiatrist, who will use specific tools to make a diagnosis: tests, grid reading and result weighting, etc.

Although statistically, children with ADHD are no less intelligent than other children, they will encounter more difficulties acquiring academic and social skills. In the majority of cases, the disorder will disappear during adolescence, but in 13 to 17% of cases, it persists.

The adults concerned are more prone than others to various forms of instability (emotional, social, professional) and addictions (tobacco, alcohol). They are more likely to behave dangerously, and are also statistically twice as exposed to the risk of premature death.

Oxidative stress

The causes of ADHD are still unknown, but scientists say they are likely to be biological and multifactorial. Among the more frequently mentioned causes, there are genetic factors, heavy metal pollution, food allergies or nutritional problems. In no case is the quality of education invoked.

More recent studies tend to highlight a causal link between ADHD and oxidative stress, which is responsible for the abnormal metabolism of certain catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine). It is this proliferation that could be the source of the different symptoms of ADHD.

Due to the multifactorial origin of ADHD, caregivers confront individualized treatment, according to each child, based on the collaboration of doctors, therapists, teachers and family.

Medication has its role to play, and for many years, products such as methylphenidate molecules have been used. Even though they help the children and families, these treatments are not without side effects. For example, the loss of appetite that sometimes accompanies their use may result in a delay in a child’s growth and weight gain, and have addictive effects (amphetamine-like, heart arrhythmia, insomnia…). Even more harmful effects than these occur precisely in growth stages.

 Natural extracts, with no side effects

To try to reduce the oxidative stress, which causes the different symptoms of ADHD, scientists at the University of Taipei became interested in the antioxidant properties of polyphenols. For its clinical study, conducted on a sample of eight-year-old children, diagnosed as suffering from ADHD, Professor Yang’s team chose to use Oligopin®, natural maritime pine bark extract produced by Purextract®.

Thanks to its exceptional purity, Oligopin® has a polyphenol rate of higher than 96%, with more than 67% of OPC (GPC).

Given to children in a daily dosage of 25mg for a month (in the form of a food supplement), it gave outstanding results: inattentiveness and impulsivity reduced by 18%, and signs of oxidative stress reduced by 15%. More remarkable still, there was a complete absence of side effects, certified by unchanged growth curves and weight gain in the children who were given the supplement. These encouraging data have convinced Professor Yang to delve deeper into his research on the subject.

The list of benefits attributable to the Landes pine OPC has grown yet again. This time, the main beneficiaries are children (not to mention parents and teachers!).

For more information, contact: info@purextract.fr