Sudden Deaths Linked to ADHD Medications
May 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under ADD, ADD Medication, ADHD Medication, Adderall, Adult ADHD, All Articles, Alternative ADHD Treatments, Concerta, Featured, Ritalin
Parents are urged by Federal Regulators to keep their children on drugs like Ritalin and Adderall that are used to treat attention deficit disorder, despite new evidence in a government-backed study that the the risk of sudden death can increase with the use of stimulants.
Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry on Monday, the study suggests a link between stimulant drugs and sudden death in children and adolescents. Already carrying warnings about risks of heart attack and stroke in children with underlying heart conditions, but researchers have questioned whether the drugs pose the same risks to children without those problems.
The study also suggested “Healthy children taking the medications were six to seven times more likely to die suddenly for unexplained reasons than their peers”. The study was partially funded by the FDA, but agency experts said the methods which relied on interviews with parents; which may have taken place years after a child’s death, could have caused errors. “Since the deaths occurred a long time ago, all of this depended on the memory of people — relatives and physicians — involved with the victims,” said Dr. Robert Temple, the FDA’s director of drug review.
But we all know that doctors don’t know everything, right? Especially nutrition. Doctors are not schooled in nutrition as a preventative measure or medicine, for ADHD and ADD.
Discussing concerns, but keeping children on medication
The agency urges parents to discuss safety concerns with their doctor, but to keep children on the treatments.
The study compared a sample of 564 children who died of unexplained causes to 564 children who were killed in car accidents. Among the unexplained deaths, 10 children were taking an ADHD drug compared with two of the patients killed in car accidents. The researchers used car accident victims as a comparison group because sudden childhood deaths are rare and difficult to track.
“We’re not sure this study tells us something we didn’t know,” said Dr. Robert Temple of Monday’s publication, the FDA’s director of drug review. “We didn’t think it gave an unequivocal answer as to whether there is such a risk.”
Duh! That’s what the FDA always says. Inconclusive studies that kill more people than help.
About 2.5 million U.S. children currently take drugs for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, according to government researchers. Among the most popular brands are Shire’s Adderall, Novartis’ Ritalin and Dexedrine, marketed by various manufacturers.
In case you didn’t know, Adderall is a brand-name psycho-stimulant medication composed of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine and has a high abuse potential.
Adderall 30mg
Concerta possesses structural similarities to amphetamine, and, though it is less potent, its pharmacological effects are even more closely related to those of cocaine.
Ritalin a mild form of amphetamine used to counter attention deficit disorder.
All three of the previously mentioned drugs have a high abuse potential especially in adolescents in school.
Sales of the drugs topped $4.8 billion last year, according to health care analysis firm IMS Health. The most popular brands include Shire’s Adderall, Johnson & Johnson’s Concerta and Novartis’ Ritalin.
