Due to life circumstances, non-medical personnel many times accumulate a considerable amount of specific health related knowledge. This is the case with Chilean Agronomist Pablo Opazo who has experienced extremely challenging tribulations related to the health of his children for more than a decade.

Of particular concern to Pablo Opazo is the use of methylphenidate (well known by its brand name Ritalin) to treat children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. As a father, he believes that there is an inconsiderate use of this drug and that more emphasis should be given to nutritional issues as well as to behavioral factors like physical exercise. This has led him to thoroughly research the relationship between different types of fatty acids and brain-health.

Pablo Opazo has developed a program to help children phase-off this potent central nervous system stimulant derived from amphetamine. The modular program, which is accompanied by instructional manuals and videos, makes use of fatty acid nutritional supplements in combination with a series of behavioral therapeutic exercises.

Pablo Opazo is now working in two high-risk public primary schools (grades 1-6) in extremely poor areas in Chile. One is in a isolated rural mountain area of the IV region where the preventive model is being applied to 56 children. The other is in Puente Alto, a marginal neighborhood of Santiago with many social problems (family violence, drugs, unemployment, etc.) where the model is being applied to more than 300 children. The teachers in the schools have given very positive feedback saying that the children have greater concentration, are more attentive and obedient, have increased the level of complexity in their studies and most importantly, seem happier.

The Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine (FAIM) is commitment to help the public find simple, inexpensive and non-toxic solutions to health problems. With a primary concern for the health of children, FAIM pursues these offbeat roads to gather data to objectively study such claims of a non-drug answer to this problem.