Jim Swayze wrote:

>Molly > "It's genetic brain organization, optimized for a hunter-gatherer
>lifestyle, and only an issue in modern society. Not an illness, not a
>disease, a difference, with benefits and disadvantages"
>
>
On the risk of someone biting my head off, here goes:
With the amount of ADD people increasing all the time and there are
really loads around me, I wondered if the disease could be triggered by
more then just genetics. Just think of all the youngsters being exposed
to flashing lights, loud blaring music, moving images, a whole life
 that is put in the fast lane from day one.
Add SAD and you have a recipe for ADD and a few other unpleasantries.
Please don't tell me that ADD could have been an advantage in
Paleo-times. I see people SUFFER from their disability to concentrate,
sit still and you name it. I do not believe for one moment this could
have been a desired treat for HG who have to be very patient and perhaps
watch animals for hours.  If genetics was the only reason for it I
truely believe that those who took more risks would have been eliminated
by nature pretty fast. Watch the emergencyroom in a hospital, those that
are careless are the ones having most little accidents.  There was a
great program on BBC last night about accidents around the house. Proved
clearly why so many of us that would have taken too much risk in a
natural environment and died there, are still amongst us now.
Being edgy can make the difference between a hero and a dead person that
tried to do something brave but not constantly. The sad truth is that
only a few are both edgy and can keep a straight head, the rest just
seem to be on fastforward.
A friend of my son who ate Paleo for 3 months stopped when everybody
around him called him slow. He was not slow at all, he turned into a
more common pace but it was just not what he was used to and so where
his friends. He slept better, could concentrate more but was less fun
since he stopped being the dare-devil they all looked up to.  I know a
23-year-old that is on disability-allowance because of his ADD. He would
not survive one day in the jungle.  Not just because he was not born and
bred there but due to his inability to focus at all.
Now the big difference is that living a natural live would have given
all these people a different start in life. No tv, no lights during the
night, no denatured foods would have taken care of perhaps half the
symptoms. The rest might be genetic and could mean a great guardsman or
the idiot that risked the whole tribe.

Christy