Study: Pine Bark Extract Helps ADHD in Children by Lowering Stress

More children are being diagnosed with ADHD each year, and researchers are increasingly looking for ways to treat its symptoms without the use of stimulants. One study shows a promising source from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Researchers say results show that the extract may provide a way to treat the symptoms' of ADHD children naturally. The plant extract, Pycnogenol, works by balancing stress hormones, resulting in lower levels of adrenaline and dopamine, a neurostimulant.

The research was conducted by after a 2006 study published in European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry journal showed similar results. Results showed improved concentration, attention, and motor-visual concentration in the children studied. In the newer study, urine and blood samples of the children were reviewed to give the measurable results.

Children with an average age of 9 1/2 years were given either a placebo or Pycnogenol each morning for one month. Parents and teachers were asked to give an assessment of ADHD symptoms at the end of the month and one month later. Out of 57 children, the 41 children taking Pycnogenol showed a "significant" decrease in ADHD symptoms compared to the placebo group of 16, and their own level of symptoms at the beginning of the month. One month after the study ended, the children taking the pine tree plant extract had ADHD symptoms return to the level prior to beginning the study.

The pine tree extract lowered adrenaline, a stress hormone, by 26.2 percent and dopamine by 10.8 percent. Both groups of children were tested for hormone levels before and after the study, as well as one month later. At that time the level of stress hormones had increased, which strongly suggests that the effect of pine tree extract on stress is what caused the improvement in attention and concentration.