Gov't anti-science has Canadian ADHD/Ritalin researcher seeking cr

[rgray]

Medications for ADHD: How safe? | Indiegogo

The project looks at long term use of Ritalin and other meds used for ADHD/ADD therapy.

A shame that in the current climate for Canadian federal research funding that such a project has to look elsewhere for support........

QUOTE

The question “How safe is Ritalin® and other pharmaceutical treatments for ADHD?” has not yet been satisfactorily answered, despite decades of research involving this drug. Some reasons for this are: 1) long-term studies on human subjects rarely last for more than a few weeks because they are difficult and costly to perform, 2) most studies have not explored the enduring effects of the drug once use has stopped, and 3) some studies of both human and animal participants have been seriously flawed. A series of studies conducted in my laboratory has found adverse effects on the ability of rats to remember certain things, as well as an increase in their defensive behaviors in response to a threatening stimulus (an indicator of emotionality). These findings have encouraged us to look for similar effects in human recipients of methylphenidate and other drugs prescribed for ADHD, many of which are also classified as stimulants, but this work is in its early stages. The goal of the project that I propose here is to expand our study of humans for whom stimulant drugs have been prescribed and of those who take these drugs for non-therapeutic purposes.

QUOTE

Ritalin® in particular has long been considered to be very safe, and so many parents and physicians have had few qualms about giving it to children, even very young ones. This belief is held despite the fact that very few long-term studies have been done with methylphenidate (because, in part, they are difficult to do). In 1995, a very influential study was published by Nora Volkow, who is currently the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and her colleagues demonstrating that methylphenidate is very similar to cocaine in terms of the areas of the brain that the drug effects and the neurophysiological actions that it has there. The primary difference between the two drugs seems to be in their speed of action and the length of time that they linger in the brain. Cocaine is faster and is removed more quickly, which gives this drug a relatively higher abuse potential.

  Research on cocaine conducted in the years since Volkow’s original report has established that cocaine has long lasting (and maybe even permanent) effects on the brain that have a negative impact on the user’s cognition: his/her ability to reason, to learn, to remember, and to solve problems. Additionally, it affects the way that the user responds to emotionally arousing situations. Given its similarity to cocaine, I and my colleagues have asked this question: Does methylphenidate also affect the chronic user’s cognition and emotionality adversely? The effects may be more subtle, and, in the case of the individual diagnosed with ADHD, masked by the symptoms that define this syndrome. For example, the drug may make a child’s learning and memory problems worse, but this may be interpreted as just an indication that the ADHD has intensified.

[krissel]

I wish him luck. He has a daunting task if he intends to assess negative effects (as he says) and get any action from drug companies or your FDA equivalents.

I know there are several non-stimulants now available for ADHD but Ritalin is the one that gets the most press. It is often vehemently condemned but I've seen it work wonders in my classes. I'll never forget the boy that was universally disliked by all the students and most teachers for his uncontrollable behavior. Finally his parents agreed to try Ritalin and the change was amazing. The first week or so while they adjusted the dose, he was kind of zombie-like. But soon the correct amount, given at the right time revealed a wonderfully intelligent and sweet child. He became a favorite of mine and I was sad to see him move on to another school as he aged. I don't know the long term effect it had on him, but it made a world of difference in his life and potential education at that time.

Then there was another young man who was kept off medication of any kind by the parents. He eventually reached a critical point one day when he swung at a teacher with a pole, then climbed out a window onto the roof and threatened to jump. Fortunately he was talked out of it and later sent to a private school. Who knows what became of him.