As anyone caring for children with autism would tell you, there are many forms and triggers for this distressingly common condition. Today’s focus article used computer modeling creatively in order to tease out four main subtypes of autism which might allow researchers to better identify both predisposing factors (like genetics) and external contributors to the condition. Without a relevant organization of the problem, pinpointing the genetics that predispose these children t

For many years now, both medical professionals and parents of children diagnosed with ADHD have assumed that the primary mechanism of action for most ADHD medications are its effects in the brain areas responsible for attention.  Now a study suggests that the medications work in other parts of the brain, those involved with reward and wakefulness.  This new information not only proves that science is rarely settled, but that we need to reexamine how we treat ADHD. Researchers

The Importance of Thyroid Health During Pregnancy In functional medicine, we often describe our bodies as interconnected systems, much like a web. This interconnectedness becomes even more significant during pregnancy. The health of a mother directly influences her developing baby. Whether through natural hormones or harmful toxins, a mother’s health can leave lasting effects on her child, extending into adulthood. Recent research highlights a concerning link between uncontro

Some would say the world is a rat-race, but today we focus on a food race between old-fashioned whole foods delivered by nature and new-fangled ultra-processed foods delivered by Big Food and its technology.  In a sense, striving for excellence, especially in producing food for growing populations, is not inherently a bad thing.  Understanding food, both how to produce it and how to judge its health, is a worthy goal, but like any race, the criteria makes a huge difference. 

Who would have thought that saffron, a culinary spice prominent in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, could be an effective therapy for ADHD? A 2023 research study   [MOU1]  showed the benefits of a therapeutic dose of saffron in children and adolescents with ADHD compared to a pharmaceutical stimulant. In fact, the dose of saffron performed just as well as the prescription medication methylphenidate. The study also showed that saffron improved hyperactivity, sleep, and execu

No doubt that we live an age of technology with glittering touchscreens seemingly everywhere. Many parents and countless educators think that children need to be comfortable with the reality of computers and technology, but there is a dark side to the shiny screen. Other research demonstrates that computer-based learning is different than learning from books or human interaction. This research from JAMA Pediatrics reveals a worrisome effect of screen time on parent-child inte

More and more research keeps coming back on the effects of what we call Adverse Childhood Events....

The study of interest today seems pretty “Duh!” Just about every parent will attest to the effects of teenage hormones on their sweet little pre-teen.  But there is something here much more critical to the future health of our children!  This study looked at the effects of synthetic hormones known popularly as “birth control” or “the pill” on the impulsivity of teenage rats.  Their findings strongly suggest that dosing hormones in teenage rats similarly to how we dose them in

The internet serves as a sort of battlefield of opinions for so many topics, from medicine to politics to religion. The debate over the safety of fluoride has been one of those channels you could tune into whenever you wanted to watch the two sides grapple, wielding not just opinions but studies to try and disprove the other’s position. Today, we share one of the recent studies indicating that at some point, a child can get too much fluoride and suffer some cognitive effects.

Why do we need scientific studies to convince us that common sense was right in the first place? On one hand, sometimes common sense is not exactly right and studies disprove myths and legends. On the other hand, we are limited as humans in our knowledge and insight such that biases and blind spots can distort common sense. Regardless, at the end of the day, a good study which confirms our prior suspicions does give us some credibility when urging others to make a lifestyle c

While a mom’s belly should be the safest place for a developing baby to start his life, his mom’s exposure to toxins will affect the children’s life even after birth.  The evidence is clear: prenatal toxins and stressors can matter to his future.  Besides adding to this evidence, this study also confirms biological individuality.  Not every child suffers the same ill effects as others because individual genetics determine how impactful a given toxin is on a person. Researche

The health of our nation is declining—not only in adult cardiometabolic health, but in how early poor cardiometabolic health now begins. While rates of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease continue to rise in adults, we must recognize a sobering reality: the tsunami of cardiometabolic disease has not yet peaked . More children are now entering adolescence with obesity, elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol levels—conditions that were once consider