The Doctor is being disengenuous.The mother NEVER stated that Coffee would cure ADHD.He should also categorically state that Neither does Ritalin or it's equivalents including Dexamphetamine. Caffeine is a mild CNS stimulant in average quantities, approx 100 -150mg per cup.This may be too much for a child his age and size so the mother could be overdosing him with Caffeine. Ritalin also raises blood pressure and heartbeat as it is a Central Nervous System stimulant (CNS), similar to Caffeine.One aspect of Caffeine is that it causes mineral to leach from the bones, so in a child who is growing, this may be a problem. Children today are the product of parents who have been subject to the highest intake of Legal and illegal drugs in history,also food additives and food devoid of actual nutrition.Mix this with Electro magnetic noise from all sorts of RF, and I would say that there is an increased probability of a higher percentile of children in society with genetic damage,replicating

There were reports of young patients being given Ritalin at that age but later went on to develope Mental problems, coffee is an altermative if it works without those unknown side effects,my son is a HFA with Petite Elipepsy who has found coffee himself and even request certain types,he takes Epilim and it seems to be good for him

almost anything works for someone ... almost nothing works for everyone. why else would scammers grow rich which genuine people die?

Having had 2 sons diagnosed with severe ADHD and initially put on medication I am well aware of the lengthy list of dangerous side effects of medication.Not that Doctors are willing to tell parents of all of them. We learned the hard way, our eldest son now lives with the consequences. We where fortunately able to get our younger son of the drugs. There are several alternatives to medication and I would strongly encourage parents to research the alternatives first .

I researched and did this for my son 30 years ago! I did not want to use Ritalin. The best thing about coffee is the marvelous ability to match need to dose. A tablet is a tablet, but the coffee dose is as strong or weak as needed at the time it is needed. Once I convinced the preschool teachers to allow him to have his flask of coffee if he was "feeling bad" in class, they could see the difference. They began to help by varying not the strength of the drink, but how much he needed to have. Instead of being controlled by doctors tablets and pharmaceutical companies, my son and I had the control. Next was to find out why the episodes happened. After reading we settled on the Feingold Diet. We took all the "cranky food" -my sons name, out of our house. It eliminates salicylates -aspirin occurring naturally in foods. Then I understood why he had been getting worse. I had been so hellbent on healthy food I had been giving him apples tomato corn citrus etc -heaven after 4 days off this food

I wish I had known of this 21 years ago. My son was diagnosed with ADD and ADHD at 4 years of age but I refused to medicate him believing I would do him more harm than good because not a lot was known of the long-term side-effects of dexamphetamine, Ritalin etc. I was nearly driven insane by his behaviour at times and our lives turned upside down. My marriage broke up as a result, my daughters suffered and I avoided taking him in public. He had no focus at school as he couldn't sit still, pay attention or complete a task and so his education had a lot of gaps. Now at 21, he has outgrown much of his impulsiveness and bad behaviour etc but seeing his sisters achieve so much in their tertiary educations he asks why I chose not to medicate him. Let's not forget caffeine is a drug too but I for one in hindsight would have used it at times to have some semblance of a "normal" life for all. To this day, I struggle with whether I made the right decision for us all.

Congratulations to all parents and their beautiful children who are strong and determined with true love for their hearts,that is what it takes to know that any exhausted trying to find ways to learn to cope and even find answers is the best . Of course the easier path is to medicate, but better for who? If coffee is working, great and congrats to you

My daughter has ADHD (now 19). She discovered this herself when she was much younger, at first we didn't believe her but on checking the Net and doctors we found it to be true. Now, she has coffee when she feels the need to focus and calm down, I can attest to it's effect on her behavior.

I was diagnosed with ADHD 8 years ago (following brainwave scanning), I was on Ritalin LA for several years, I also spent a few years self managing it with caffeine. In my personal experience both methods have worked, both with different pros and cons. Ritalin was very effective but I felt as though it made me feel too tense and anxious, however it allowed me to sustain focus on work for several times longer than I could without it, nonetheless I stopped taking it due to the anxiety. Then I found caffeine. Although caffeine also works it has a much more short-tern effect than Ritalin LA, it was also addictive, after starting at 2 cups a day I found myself drinking more coffee, about 7-8 a day, long before which I had serious trouble sleeping. A few people on this thread don't appear to be aware that a.) caffeine is a stimulant drug, like Ritalin, Concerta, etc. Also I'm friends with qualified psychiatrists who have assured me, as a friend and not a patient that ritalin is a safe drug.

i have seen coffee work 4 quite a few people who have been diagnosed with adhd it seems to calm them to a normal level. if coffee was such an issue to children then why does my sons primary school sell iced coffees.