Although the exact incidence is ill-defined, it is quite clear that the number of children with symptoms of manic-depressive illness (better known as bipolar disorder) has dramatically risen in recent years.

Parenting a child with bipolar can be very taxing. These children commonly end up requiring urgent admission to psychiatric centers, where the care centers around medications like Seroquel, Risperdal, and high-dose lithium - often in combination.

Are there other ways to help? Treatments that won't lead to massive weight gain and even type -II diabetes? Fortunately, research, as well as our experience, have suggested that a number integrative options can help these kids. As far back as 1982, for instance, lecithin was shown to relieve mania in a 13 year-old girl that had failed to respond to first-line psychiatric meds. B-vitamins and minerals (e.g. EM-Power Plus) turned one of our most-impaired patients around. For more information, click here.

Need a pick-me up? How about a brief, heart-warming story of a little boy with JRA that recently appeared in the NY Times. He was treated at the best medical centers with the best drugs, but kept getting worse....until his mom looked to integrative care.

Yes, at one point it appeared that little Shepherd would spend his childhood on methotrexate, a chemotherapy agent, with only marginal results. Yet a few weeks after a change in diet, some common supplements, and a Chinese herbal - he was off the chemo and back on the soccer field!

Some of the take-home lessons from the account:

• Integrative treatment typically does not work overnight
• Often, several supplements, in combination with dietary adjustments or other strategies, yield the best results
• Some say "disease begins in the gut," others have put it "health begins in the colon." We think both expressions are on point.

Named for a bitter saline spring from the town of Epsom in Surrey, England, Epsom salts have enjoyed many decades of traditional use - despite a remarkable absence of published research.

Epsom salts are made of two components. The first, magnesium, is the second most abundant element in human cells. This ion helps regulate over 325 enzymatic reactions.

In humans, iron stands at the center of the hemoglobin molecule. In plants, we find magnesium in the center of the chlorophyll ring. Children that shun leafy greens are likely deficient in magnesium. Serum levels (and even red blood cell magnesium levels), in our experience, are not generally helpful in diagnosing magnesium deficiency.  Much of our reserve supply is stored in our bones.

Magnesium supplements are generally not well absorbed orally and tend to cause diarrhea. Fortunately, it seems to be absorbed through the skin quite well. We find it helpful for children with migraines, Raynauds, nervous tension, asthma, muscle cramps and hypertension. It seems particularly important for children with special needs -- including ADHD, SPD, PANDAS, Bipolar, and ASD.

The other half of the Epsom salt molecule is sulfate. Sulfates are an important building block for glutathione, and critically important in detoxification. Increasing sulfate intake may thus assist children cope with the ever growing burden of pesticides, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals in our environment.

Factory farming (n-p-k fertilizer) has likely led to deficiencies of both magnesium and sulfur our food supply. Fortunately, Epsom salt baths are very affordable. Four pounds containers (about the size of a half gallon milk carton) cost $3 to $4 and are widely available. Children only need about a cup in their water, so each bath only costs about 50 cents. Dr. Mark Hyman has a great recipe for an "ultrabath" that includes Epsom salts, baking soda, and lavender oil.