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ACUPUNCTURE, BIOFEEDBACK, SELF-HELP: NEW SOLUTIONS TO LEARNING PROBLEMS?

October 22, 1999

WASHINGTON - They have not been tested yet, but alternative therapies may hold substantial promise for helping children cope with some learning disabilities, according to three D.C. area medical professionals. Acupuncture, biofeedback and self-help therapy are often viewed with skepticism and disdained by physicians trained in western medicine. But for parents who are fed up with the side-effects and inadequacies of common medications for learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder, these doctors ask, what is the harm in trying something new?

Dr. Jing Wu, an acupuncturist and scholar of Chinese medicine, Dr. James Gordon, chief of Washington's Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and Dr. Angelo Bolea, a neuropsychologist, presented their experiences Friday at a conference sponsored by The Lab School, a private school for children with learning disabilities. The doctors said they have seen substantial empirical evidence in their practices that children and adults with learning disabilities could benefit from alternative approaches.

While these doctors suggest their techniques are worth trying, others argue they carry risks that must be weighed carefully. First, there is an extreme lack of scientific research on the benefits and risks of any of these treatments. Second, due to the lack of research, securing grant funding to pay for these treatments may be more difficult. In the case of biofeedback, such costs can be prohibitive for some clinicians. The computer software and hardware for the treatment runs from $2,000 to $5,000, Bolea said, with additional costs tacked on for proper training.

Acknowledging the dearth of research to back up their discoveries, all three doctors urged researchers attending the conference to consider studying these alternative treatments. In fact, Wu said he is actively looking for an opportunity to continue his acupuncture research on a large scale, noting he hopes to combine his work with Dr. Koji Nakamichi, a Columbia University professor exploring the use of herbs to enhance brain function.

Wu explored the effects of acupuncture and herbal treatments on 10 adults enrolled in the Lab School's night program for adults with learning disabilities. Wu said he got the idea for the three-month study after he noticed a high number of his regular patients have ADD or ADHD and he discovered "Western medicine offers so few effective treatments for these disorders."

Intuitively, Wu says, Chinese medicine seems well suited for brain imbalances such as ADD because it deals with bringing "systems" within the body into harmony so that they function more effectively. ADD is a form of temporal dissonance, Wu said, in which sensory perception and appropriate response are mismanaged by the body.

Though his test was on a very small scale, Wu argued it produced encouraging results. Six of nine subjects that completed the 3-month study reported "dramatic positive effects on memory, on ability to focus, and on ability to concentrate," the doctor said. Though the treatment caused no significant change in memory test scores for any of the subjects, the six that reported better memory and concentration also reported improvements in overall quality of life, such as their ability to manage relationships and time.

Of the three subjects that did not report such improvements, two had suffered traumatic head injuries as children. "In addition to the positive effects on memory function, every patient reported improved general health as a result of the treatments," he added.

The balance Wu hopes to restore through acupuncture and herbs, Gordon seeks through meditation and other mind-body exercises. Teaching people with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD to help themselves find this balance is the primary goal, Gordon said. Fortunately, he added, people appear to be more open to such self-help techniques as traditional Western medicine fails to produce results. Gordon argues people are not only unhappy with the results they get but also with the level of attention they receive from conventional caregivers. In addition, he suggested, more health care professionals are looking for new methods and more satisfying approaches to help their patients.

Self-help hinges on relaxation, which promotes self-awareness and provides, especially for children, an "antidote for the 'fight or flight' response," Gordon said. "If you can help kids get into a relaxed state, you can begin to use all these other techniques" to cope with their learning disabilities. For example, meditation, modulating breathing, positive imagery, exercise and nutrition programs can all be effective, and even self-administered, if the child starts from a state of calm.

Gordon also advocates the use of group therapy to reinforce such techniques. "There is immense power in groups that is different from the work we do as individuals," he said. Classrooms are a prime example, giving students a chance to share information and see others learn.

Finally, mind-body therapies, as the name suggests, require a holistic approach that takes into consideration more than just the child's physiological disabilities. Understanding the child's family situation, environmental conditions, spiritual life and other factors can help a child find support to cope with the disabilities. Spirituality, Gordon said, has been shown to have a significant positive impact on students with disabilities.

Children can also take an active role in fine-tuning their brain function to improve concentration and attention, biofeedback proponent Bolea says. Biofeedback consists of using a computer to track electrical activity in the brain, showing a graphic representation of the activity of various brain waves. Just like tuning a radio and turning the volume up or down, Bolea says, an individual can have an impact on his or her brain waves. As with other alternative therapies, understanding how it works is critical, he said, since the more a child learns about brain activity, the easier it becomes to make changes.

In people with learning disabilities or ADD/ADHD, brain wave activity is measurably out of balance, and a biofeedback program can graphically display that imbalance. As a person starts to develop control over one type of brain wave or another, the computer gives positive video and audio feedback to reinforce that activity.

Involving the patient in any alternative therapy makes long-term treatment more effective, the doctors agreed. If a child with learning disabilities understands what to do, why to do it and what the positive results are, the child is more likely to continue to administer the treatment to maintain those positive outcomes. While the same can be said for sticking to a prescribed course of medication, alternative therapies rarely include the side-effects that often prompt children to reject their pills.8