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Another Drug 'Take-Back Day' Scheduled for Saturday

Posted 26 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 26 – The fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. The event gives Americans an opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. At the third Take-Back Day last October, participants turned in more than 377,000 pounds (188.5 tons) of unwanted or expired medications at more than 5,300 sites located in all 50 states. In total, the three Take-Back Days have taken in nearly 1 million pounds of prescription drugs during the past 13 months. "The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take-Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs," DEA administrator Michele Leonhart said in an agency news release. "The DEA remains hard at ... Read more

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Pediatricians Split on Heart Tests Before Kids' ADHD Meds

Posted 16 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 16 – Some pediatricians continue to do electrocardiograms (EKGs) on children before starting them on medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, new research suggests, even though many experts say the latest evidence shows it isn't really necessary. Several years ago, reports of sudden death, heart attack and stroke among children and adults taking stimulants to treat ADHD caused alarm among parents and health care providers about the safety of the medications. The reports prompted Canadian health authorities to briefly pull Adderall from the market in 2005, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now requires that ADHD drugs carry a "black box" label warning about potential heart risks. Further research suggested that the risk may only be to children who had underlying heart defects, such as some congenital abnormalities and arrhythmias. On Adderall, for ... Read more

ADHD Drug Shortage Pushes Parents to Seek Substitutes

Posted 6 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Jan. 6 – If the current shortage of some drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has left you searching for something else for your child to take, experts suggest you choose a substitute carefully because the effects of these medications can vary widely. For example, "generics can sometimes be less bioavailable [how much of the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream], and that can make it harder to get an exact dose match between medications," explained Dr. Eric Hollander, director of the Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "If the dose is too high, sometimes kids can get more withdrawn or weepy. If it's too low, they can't get adequate control of their symptoms during the day, and they can get a rebound later in the day. The new medicine may wear off faster. It's also not easy to switch from ... Read more

ADHD Drugs Don't Raise Risk of Heart Problems: Study

Posted 12 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Dec. 12 – Young and middle-aged adults taking drugs for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not seem to face an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, a new study finds. There have been fears that these drugs can cause increases in heart rate and blood pressure, but this large, observational study found no evidence that these effects posed a risk, the researchers said. "The results of our study do not support an increased risk of myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death or stroke associated with use of ADHD medications in young and middle-aged adults," said lead researcher Laurel Habel, from the division of research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, in Oakland. "However, as with any study such as ours, there are limitations to the data and we cannot completely rule out a modestly elevated risk." That's because the study relied on data gleaned from ... Read more

Vanderbilt Study Finds No Heart Risk in ADHD Medications

Posted 2 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov 1, 2011 - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medications do not increase the risk for heart disease or heart attack in children and young adults, according to a Vanderbilt study of 1.2 million patients taking drugs including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta and Strattera between 1998 and 2005. The study, published online today by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and authored by William Cooper, M.D., MPH, a Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine, is the largest ever to examine potential risks posed by drugs to treat ADHD. “It should be reassuring that we found no evidence that these drugs increase the risk of serious cardiovascular events on a population basis,” Cooper said. “However, each child is unique, so families and providers need to work together to make informed decisions about the best options for their children. This is ... Read more

Little Evidence of Heart Risks From ADHD Meds

Posted 1 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 1 – Medications commonly used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder don't appear to raise the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in children and young adults, new research shows. And if any increased risk from stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta does exist, the danger in absolute numbers would be extremely low, said Dr. William O. Cooper, lead author of a study published online Nov. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine. "This is the largest study to date, and I feel this provides reassuring information about risk," said Cooper, a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Almost 3 million children in the United States take prescription medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) each year. Children with the neurobehavioral disorder have excessive levels ... Read more

Some Kids Respond Better to ADHD Drug Than Others

Posted 21 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 21 – Children with specific gene variants respond better to the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), which is widely used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study says. The finding could help improve treatment of ADHD, according to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center researchers. "Physicians don't have a good way of predicting who will experience great improvement in ADHD symptoms with a particular medication, so currently we use a trial-and-error approach. Unfortunately, as a result, finding an effective treatment can take a long time," lead investigator Dr. Tanya Froehlich, a physician in the division of developmental and behavioral pediatrics, said in a medical center news release. "With more information about genes that may be involved in ADHD medication response, we may be able to predict treatment course, tailor our ... Read more

Number of U.S. Kids on ADHD Meds Keeps Rising

Posted 28 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 – The use of stimulant medications such as Ritalin or Adderall in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is continuing to climb, although at a slower pace than in decades past, a new study finds. The study's authors tracked U.S. prescription data from 1996 to 2008. They found the use of ADHD drugs was the highest among kids aged 6 to 12, rising slightly from 4.2 percent in 1996 to 5.1 percent 12 years later. The most pronounced rise was in older children aged 13 to 18, however. In that group, use of ADHD drugs more than doubled – from 2.3 percent in 1996 to 4.9 percent in 2008. Researchers said that reflects a greater understanding that kids often don't grow out of ADHD and that symptoms can persist through adolescence and even adulthood. Overall, about 2.8 million children received a prescription for an ADHD medication in 2008, according to ... Read more

ADHD Drug Delays Puberty in Male Monkeys, Study Finds

Posted 19 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Sept. 19 – The widely used attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication methylphenidate – best known as Ritalin – appears to be tied to delayed puberty in male monkeys. But, researchers cautioned that the finding needs to be replicated before parents should concern themselves about similar effects in boys. Male primates given methylphenidate over a 40-month span experienced "impaired testicular descent" and smaller-sized testicles, as well as lower testosterone levels, all of which resolved over the course of the study. "To our knowledge, it's the first observation in primates to suggest an alteration in testicular function," said study author Dr. Donald Mattison, a medical officer at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "We believe they're interesting observations, but substantially more ... Read more

Prescriptions for Stimulants, Painkillers Soaring Among Youth

Posted 30 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 30 – The number of prescriptions for controlled medications such as opioids and stimulants has nearly doubled in adolescents and young adults since 1994. The trend, reported in the December issue of Pediatrics, mirrors a similar increase in misuse of these drugs, with adolescents and young adults' illicit use of prescription drugs now outstripping all other illicit drug use except marijuana. The researchers couldn't attribute the increased misuse directly to more prescriptions, but did urge both physicians and patients to be vigilant when considering the use of drugs such as Oxycontin or Ritalin. "Our study did not look at the relationship between prescribing and misuse, but the increased prescribing increases the potential availability [of these drugs]," said study author Dr. Robert Fortuna, an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of ... Read more

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Abuse of ADHD Drugs on the Rise

Posted 12 Jan 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Aug. 24 – As more and more prescriptions are being written for medications to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), more and more children are abusing these drugs. That's the conclusion of new research in the September issue of Pediatrics that found the rate of ADHD medication abuse was up 76 percent from 1998 to 2005, and at the same time, the rates of prescriptions for these medications rose about 80 percent. "We looked at all the poison control centers across the nation and found a significant increase in the number of calls for ADHD medication abuse that parallels the amount of prescriptions being written," said Dr. Jennifer Setlik, an emergency physician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio and a study author. What's more, Setlik said, is that this study is "not an estimate of the total problem" because it looks only at data from poison ... Read more

ADHD Drugs Linked to Sudden Death in Kids

Posted 15 Jun 2009 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, June 15 – Stimulant medications commonly prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with an increased risk of sudden death, but those deaths are still rare, new research finds. Children and teens taking ADHD stimulant medications were seven times more likely to die suddenly than their peers, the study found. "What we found – to our surprise – is that even if you take out confounding factors, the association between stimulant use and sudden death was still significant," said study author, Madelyn Gould, a professor of clinical epidemiology in psychiatry at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. "I'm confident the association is real and significant, but it's very rare. I don't want our findings to change prescribing patterns or for a parent to change their willingness to use stimulant medications if ... Read more

Hallucinations Are Rare Side Effects of ADHD Medications

Posted 26 Jan 2009 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 26 – Children who take medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may rarely experience some disturbing side effects, such as hallucinations. U.S. government experts reviewed clinical trials and post-marketing reports of side effects from the commonly prescribed ADHD stimulant medications, such as Concerta, Ritalin and Strattera. They found that out of every 100 "person-years" of treatment, one or two children will experience serious side effects, such as hallucinations of bugs or snakes. "Patients and physicians should be aware that psychosis or mania arising during drug treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may represent adverse drug reactions, the study's authors wrote in the February issue Pediatrics. "These reactions are very rare," said Dr. Roy Boorady, director of the psychopharmacology service at the New York University Child ... Read more

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)