It’s interesting to me to see what comes up on the Google Alerts for ADHD every day. Because school is starting in some areas of the country, lots of articles are starting to crop up about medications and alternatives.

One of the more intriguing came via WFTV.com:

At the clinic of Margaret MacDonald, M.D., the brain waves must be at a certain level for the patient to have control over a video game. The fun interaction with the video game gives the child with ADHD incentive to concentrate. If the child does not concentrate the lose control of the game. Repeated practice with the biofeedback system teaches the child’s brain how to increase the brainwaves associated with a more attentive state. Drawbacks include the price and the length of time it takes to see results. Months of one-hour sessions may happen before any significant progress is seen. Costs range from $3000 to $4000, much more than medications alone. Also, some doctors point out the biofeedback training requires the very kind of prolonged concentration patients with ADHD lack.

And other alternative here:

Dore Centers (in the UK only) claim to improve ADHD symptoms without medication through daily exercises performed for 20 minutes per day. Cost for the program is $4,500.

Dore Centers has some claims to research statistics and successes on their website, but I haven’t found any independent research that corroborates their claim.

I’m all for alternative treatments if they work. The problem that I see with both of these particular approaches is that they deal with the inattentive piece of ADHD, but not the hyperactivity. While the videogame approach may work for a hyperactive child, at least for awhile, most biofeedback or concentration exercise approaches to ADHD do not work on the hyperactive children, but may work with inattentive children.

I say buyer beware, because the price of these programs is steep and if they don’t work, you’re back to square one with a lighter bank balance than you had before.

Technorati Tags: AD/HD, Dore Center, biofeedback, alternative medicine