DMAE and ADHD

Will Help Inattentive ADHD? I was reviewing the most recent ADHD articles on Pubmed when I came across a review article that listed some of the non-prescription treatments and the article reported that DMAE could offer some help for the symptoms of ADHD. Apparently in the 1970s DMAE was used as a stimulant and some people with ADHD had improved symptoms while taking this supplement.

DMAE is Dimethylaminoethanol and it is one of the building blocks for acetylcholine. Acetylcholine helps with cell communication and it is a neurotransmitter. Many researchers believe that neurotransmitter issues are what causes the symptoms seen in people with ADHD.

DMAE is found in salmon and fish oil and is marketed today as a supplement that helps memory and aging. In the seventies it was prescribed by physicians for ADHD under the name Deanol and several studies reported benefits in behavior and learning at a dose of 500mg a day.  I have included a summary of a study comparing Ritalin and DMAE below.

The FDA removed DMAE which was called by the prescription name 'Deanol' from it's list of approved medications for ADHD in the early 1980s because of a lack of research on it's effectiveness and it became an orphan drug which means it was a drug that no one was interested in testing any further so it fell by the wayside.

When I trolled the ADHD forums for information on DMAE, I got a mixed bag of reports from parents and patients who reported some success and some non-success with the use of this supplement. Apparently some company named Nature's Plus makes a product called PediActive that has 254mg of DMAE as well as Phosphatidylserine and Phosphatidycholine in a chewable tablet form that is marketed for the "Active Child". The Amazon reviews for this product are few but all positive.

When I went to Amazon to find out how adults where faring on the DMAE tablets, most all the reviews reported positive results.  People reported that they were more focused, had more energy, were more productive, etc but I have found that people tend to write more positive Amazon reviews than negative ones and it is entirely possible that the folks that got no results from the DMAE tablets did not bother to write a review.

So will DMAE help ADHD Inattentive. I don't know. All indications point to this supplement being safe and well tolerated.  The only ill effect that I read about were people who reported that there dreams were more vivid.

If anyone has had experience with this supplement I would love to hear about it.  please comment and let us know. If I decide to give DMAE tablets a try, I will let you know how it

Rhodiola for ADHD

Rhodiola for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD, ADHD-I, ADHD-PI)

Rhodiola is occasionally recommended for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.  This herb is also known as Golden Root and Siberian Ginseng though it is not in the Ginseng family at all.   This post discusses the use of  Rhodiola for Sluggish Cognitive Tempo but it does not address the issue of whether Rhodiola can be used for ADHD.

Rhodiola, like Ginseng is an adaptogen. You will remember that adaptogens help our bodies cope and recover from stress. In China and Russia this herb is used to counter the effects of fatigue and to help athletes recover from extreme physical activities. It is also frequently used to help people who work long shifts without sleep such as soldiers and physicians deal with sleep deprivation and to help the ill recover from illness.

It is Rhodiola's anti-fatigue effects that make it especially useful for people with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo but recent studies have found Rhodiola to be very helpful for not only fatigue but also for depression, anxiety and memory.

Rhodiola, in research studies, has been found to act on an area of the brain knows as the hypo-pituitary axis or the HPA to regulate stress hormone levels and to improve the symptoms of anxiety and depression and it has also been found in studies to regulate neurotransmitter levels which is why it might prove helpful in improving the symptoms of ADHD-PI.

A review article published in the Journal Phytomedicine last year reported that Rhodiola had been found in studies to help anxiety, depression, fatigue, stress and cognition and that it did so through various brain enhancing mechanisms. I have included the abstract below.

The specific benefits that can be had from the use of Rhodiola in people with ADHD have not been studied. Like the Indian herbs Bacaopa Monieri, Ashwagandha and Shankhapushpi (Evolvulus alsinoides), Rhodiola has been used to treat ADHD symptoms in other countries but studies that establish the dose and benefits of these herbs have not been performed by doctors or scientist in the U.S.

As with all herbs and supplements, these products should not be taken if you are pregant or nursing and should only be used under the supervision of a licensed physician. Andrew Weil, MD, the well known Harvard trained physician and herbal specialist reports on his website that, "Studies of its medicinal applications have appeared in the scientific literature of Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the Soviet Union and Iceland. Today in Russia, rhodiola is used as a tonic and remedy for fatigue, poor attention span, and decreased memory; it is also believed to make workers more productive. In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries it is used to increase the capacity for mental work and as a general strengthener."

The bottom line is that Rhodiola may prove useful for the treatment of  ADHD but no studies have confirmed this.  The usual dose of Rhodiola is between 100mg and 200mg per day. The active ingredients are Salidroside and Rosavin and herb specialist report that unless the herb has 1% salidroside it is not worth taking.


Phytomedicine. 2010 Jun;17(7):481-93. Epub 2010 Apr 7.
Rosenroot (Rhodiola rosea): traditional use, chemical composition, pharmacology and clinical efficacy.
Panossian A, Wikman G, Sarris J.