Episode 2: What's Really Behind the Rise in Autism and ADHD?

Autism and ADHD are on the rise, and so are the number of parents looking for answers. At the London Clinic of Nutrition, up to 60-70% of enquiries at times now come from parents of children with autism or ADHD. So what’s going on? In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by Paul Foley, a functional medicine practitioner from the London Clinic of Nutrition with a growing clinical focus on neurodiversity, to explore why diagnoses are climbing and what families can do to support their children. In this episode: 1. 3 ways of understanding neurodiversity: trauma and epigenetics (Gabor Maté), genetics (Russell Barkley) and an evolutionary view (Daniel Lieberman), including the “beehive” analogy of scouts and detail-keepers 2. Why diagnostic criteria keep widening, and what that says about the society we’re asking children to fit into 3. Screens, attention and the difference between true ADHD and attentional problems that develop from overuse 4. Why a school system built around sitting still for eight hours may be a mismatch for how children evolved to learn and move 5. The role of environmental toxins and why preconception health matters 6. Why a diagnosis alone often leaves parents without tools, and how a functional medicine approach can sit alongside therapies like speech therapy and ABA 7. The testing Paul often starts with, from gut permeability to mould and mineral analysis 8. How attitudes to neurodiversity echo the way depression was once dismissed 9. The views shared are those of the speakers, based on their clinical experience, and are not a substitute for medical advice. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.