Bad brain chemistry triggers violence

Behavior - vitamin and nutrient therapy Acts of violence in the workplace or schools often are not as random as they appear to outsiders. Parents of violent children have been telling doctors and educators for years that their kids were born with unique, disruptive, angry, defiant personalities. William J. Walsh, a senior scientist at Health Research Institute and Pfeifer Treatment Center, Naperville, Ill., backs them after 25 years of research. A study of 24 pairs of brothers, one average and one violent, was conducted by Walsh. The results, replicated in three blind, controlled experiments, showed two distinctive patterns in the brain chemistry of violent individuals not found in their siblings. The first included an elevated copper/zinc ratio; depressed sodium, potassium, and manganese; and abnormal calcium, magnesium, and blood histamines. The other revealed very depressed copper; very elevated sodium and potassium; elevated blood histamines, kryptopyrroles, lead cadmium, iron, calcium, and magnesium; and depressed zinc and manganese. How did this translate to behavior? Those having Type 1 levels exhibited Jekyll-Hyde behavior with episodic violence, poor stress control, and genuine remorse, often accompanied by acne, allergies, and academic underachievement. Type 2s were assaultive without remorse; pathological liars who had a fascination with fire; cruel to people and animals; and often had sleep disorders. The researchers later identified two additional distinctive, less-violent behavior types: nonassaultive delinquents who were impulsive, irritable, underweight underachievers in school, and nonassaultive individuals who had sugar craving, drowsiness, and depression. "The brain is a chemical factory that produces neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and other brain chemicals 24 hours a day. The only raw materials for these syntheses are nutrients: amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.," Walsh notes. "Most neurotransmitter imbalances appear genetic in nature and involve abnormal metabolism, absorption, and/or storage of food nutrients by the body. However, an individual's biochemistry may change at any time after birth as a result of food allergies, puberty, aging, stress, or trauma. The Pfeiffer Center's treatment consists of nutrient therapy--utilizing vitamins and minerals along with dietary adjustments--to correct brain chemistry imbalances. "Nutrient therapy can be very potent and, unlike most psychiatric medications, does not involve side effects since no molecules foreign to the body are used," he explains. Some violent offenders are psychiatric patients who have stopped taking medications due to the debilitating side effects. Pfeiffer doctors keep patients on prescription medications while balancing brain chemistry. In some cases, they work with the patient's physician in the effort to eliminate or gradually reduce medications and minimize side effects. COPYRIGHT 2002 Society for the Advancement of Education COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group