Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) supplementation for children with ADHD and other learning disabilities (LDs) may be key in balancing brain chemistry and getting kids back on track. Authors B. Jacqueline Stordy, Ph.D., and Malcolm J. Nicholl explore this possibility in their new book The LCP Solution. The authors note studies showing 30 percent to 50 percent of dyslexic children and 50 percent of dyspraxic children have also been diagnosed with ADHD.
However, these three diagnoses are usually treated by different health care professionals, and often no correlation is made. Based on extensive research, the authors surmise, "... these specific learning disorders now appear to be associated with an inborn error of metabolism affecting the conversion of shorter chain EFAs into the longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs), and the incorporation of sufficient amounts of them into cell membranes. This leads to a deficiency of the LCPs, which are the keys to brain function, required for the normal, effective, rapid-fire communications between neurons."
— The LCP Solution: The Remarkable Nutritional Treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, Ballantine, 2000