Sydney Spiesel MD: The problem with psych drugs

Report from the front:
Just back from Hartford and New Haven CT, and met several interesting physicians, one of whom you will be interested in following through the links in this post: 

Dr Sydney Spiesel, a busy practicing pediatrician [and PhD who first trained in molecular and cellular physiology with a specific interest in immunology] who regularly comments on NPR,

– is a professor at Yale Medical School,         
 

– regularly writes a Health and Science syndicated column at Slate,

– and on top of all those activities, provides video commentary at Dr Syd's House Call.

This Spiesel link to his comments on ADD and food additives.

We enjoyed an excellent discussion of things medical, pediatric and psychiatric, and quickly arrived at our shared observation about child psych meds in general: [Paraphrased for brevity]

Psych meds are often written for children with little appreciation of the overall metabolic issues present in the child. -If we don't understand the child's ability to metabolize medications, don't look adequately for comorbid conditions which can effect metabolic rates, and don't think about drug metabolism and interactions… there will be problems.

It was great fun to meet Syd – you will enjoy his energy, his intelligence, and his balanced views on the current state of medical care.