Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)

Mark Raskin	More NurseWeek Features   Smoke-Free Zone   Nurses and patients tackle nicotine addiction   Bloodless Survival     Surgical techniques to use when transfusion drops out of the equation
As herbal remedy use swells among adults, more patients are seeking out these alternatives for their children. Parents may turn to nurses for answers about natural alternatives.

Ellen Kamhi, Ph.D., RN, a certified holistic nurse, is accustomed to having hope for patients who have run out of options.

The New York nurse specializes in herbal medicine, and she knew just what to do when the mother of an 8-year-old autistic, hyperactive boy came to her desperate for help. The boy couldn’t speak or sit in one place for more than a few seconds and constantly grabbed objects and made faces. Doctors had prescribed pharmaceutical drugs, but the medications weren’t helping, and physicians had told the mother she should consider institutionalizing her son.

Kamhi tested the boy for food allergies and found that he was severely allergic to wheat and dairy products. She taught the mother how to switch her son to an all-organic diet, and started the boy on herbal and vitamin supplements. Then Kamhi and the mother waited.

During the first three months, the mother noticed small changes—her son could sit still longer. By six months, for the first time, he could hold a pen and mimic writing. A year later, he was capable of having a conversation and even started attending a special school.

Cases like this are one reason why Kamhi decided to pursue herbal medicine more than 30 years ago—long before these remedies became popular among consumers.

Today, herbal alternatives are catching the attention of the American public, and a survey conducted by Prevention magazine in 2000 estimated that 22.8 million American consumers used herbal remedies instead of prescription medications. The survey also found that about 30 million Americans chose herbals instead of over-the-counter drugs.

As herbal remedy use swells among adults, more patients are starting to seek out these alternatives for their children. Parents may turn to nurses for answers to questions about natural alternatives. Nurses such as Kamhi have seen how natural remedies can radically benefit children, but they also advise parents and fellow nurses to use caution when giving herbs to this younger patient population.

Lifestyle changes

John Mark, MD, a pediatric lung doctor at the University of Arizona who has researched herbal remedies for children, said that he usually shies away from brands that include a slew of different herbs or vitamins in the product. “If something needs to have 40 different ingredients, then it probably won’t work,” Mark said. “When manufacturers throw in so many different things, it usually doesn’t have enough of any one thing to really be effective.” Mark usually encourages parents to start with diet and nutrition changes before jumping to herbal alternatives for their children.

Kamhi couldn’t agree more. When parents come to her with children who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, for example, she starts by discussing diet and lifestyle patterns in the family.

“When people have a child with ADHD, I don’t start with ‘pop this pill,’ ” she said. “We talk about lifestyle, which includes diet, family dynamics, mental wellness and exercise.”

She teaches parents to start reading food labels and eliminate products that have dyes, preservatives, colorings and other toxins. She tells parents that these chemicals can be neurotoxins that attack nerve fibers and interfere with healthy neural transmission. Instead, she recommends parents feed their children organic food.

In addition to nutrition, Kamhi helps families explore lifestyle dynamics, such as television and video game habits. She teaches that these pastimes can overstimulate a child, and an ADHD patient may improve if the parent reads to the child or encourages him or her to play with other children.

Kamhi suggests to families that their kids should get at least two hours a day of heavy exercise. After she’s worked on these areas with a family, then she might add herbal remedies such as gingko and ginger that help with concentration.

Next Page