Kids On ADHD Drugs - Dangerous Path To Addiction
Related Topics
"john" sc...@btinternet.com
Kids On ADHD Drugs - Dangerous Path To Addiction By Evelyn Pringle http://www.sierratimes.com/06/04/08/75_8_36_9_51180.htm Experts say the stimulant drugs prescribed for the treatment of ADHD are not only dangerous, they are highly addictive. And although no drug has been approved for the treatment of autism, drugs are routinely prescribed off-label to treat autistic children.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, over the period of 5 years between 1997 and 2002, the number of children between the age of 3 to 17, diagnosed with ADHD went from 3.3 million to 4.4 million.
In direct correlation, the number of children prescribed ADHD drugs also rose steadily. In fact, spending on these types of medications for children is now higher than spending on antibiotics and asthma drugs. In February 2006, the FDA revealed that between 1999 and 2003, seventy-eight million prescriptions for ADHD drugs were written for children between the ages of 1 to 18. Terry Davis, a member of an FDA advisory committee, has said prescriptions for ADHD drugs filled annually have a value of $3.1 billion.
According to Dr Peter Breggin, author of "Talking Back To Ritalin, "parents and teachers and even doctors have been badly misled by drug company marketing practices," he warns. "Drug companies have targeted children as a big market likely to boost profits and children are suffering as a result." What critics say is most alarming, is the fact that very young children are being placed on drugs. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical ***ociation in 2000 provides some insight into this trend.
The study found that fifty-seven percent of 223 Michigan Medicaid patients younger than 4, diagnosed with ADHD, received at least one psychotropic drug during a 15-month period in 1995 to 1996.
Additionally, the study found that in the Medicaid population in Midwestern states, there was a 3-fold increase in the prescribing of stimulant drugs between 1991 and 1995 for children between the age of 2 and four.
More recent statistics show a 369% increase in spending on ADHD drugs for children under five. From 2000 to 2003, the rise in the use of attention deficit drugs by children under 5 contributed to an overall 23% increase for all children, according to an analysis by the nation's largest prescription benefit manager, Medco Health Solutions.
The debate over the drugging of children in this country has been raging on for years. Schools have been accused of promoting the use of drugs to control normal but active children. At a September 26, 2002, Reform Committee hearing on the "Overmedication of Hyperactive Children," Chairman, Rep Dan Burton (R-IN), asked pediatrician, Dr Mary Ann Block, "what have you found that the schools do specifically to encourage the use of medications for attention and behavior?" Dr Block said, "parents that come to me report consistently that the teachers and the principals and even the school nurses pressure them to go to a physician and get their child labeled and drugged." "Some schools," she said, "are giving lectures to parents, inviting parents to come hear talks about diagnosing and drugging their children for ADHD." Congressman Burton pointed out what he considered to be inadequate and unscientific methods of diagnosing ADHD: "When you take your child to a doctor, instead of blood tests and a thorough medical evaluation, you have a conversation with a doctor about the school's checklist. And you leave a few minutes later with a prescription for your young child for a psychotropic drug." "Did the doctor test your child for a thyroid disorder? Did your doctor test your child for a heavy metal toxicity? Did you doctor talk to you about your child's allergies?
"Did your doctor even mention nutrition or possible food sensitivity?
Did your doctor ask if your child's IQ had been tested and if he was gifted?
Probably not," he said.
Sandra Lucas testifies at FDA advisory committee hearings on behalf of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a psychiatric watchdog group. She produced a copy of a January 20, 2005, pamphlet used at a training seminar for teachers composed by Susan Barton, who billed herself as the "Founder of Bright Solutions for Dyslexia," located in San Jose California.
Under Medication for ADD, Ms Barton states: "Medication is the most often an essential component to effective treatment for the ADD child." "As I've said many times now," she told the teaches, "ADD is a neurobiological disorder and needs to be treated as such." Ms Barton also says that without medication, other interventions are ineffective, and claims: "This medication does not cause illegal drug use or addiction." Dr Fred Baughman, author of "The ADHD Fraud - How Psychiatry Makes Patients of Normal Children," and one of the nation's leading experts on the issue, vehemently disagrees. He calls the medical practice of ADHD a fraud -
"one in which the FDA was fully complicit," he says.
"ADHD doesn't exist--it is not a physical abnormality," he explains, "and as such bears no risk of causing physical injury or death as does every drug used in its treatment," he says.
In testimony on behalf of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, at the March 22 and 23, 2006, FDA advisory committee hearings on the dangers of ADHD drugs, Dr Baughman asked the panel of experts to "give us the reference, cite to the article, giving proof that ADHD is a disease." He also asked the committee to give the reference, or cite the literature, that describes the test that provides objective evidence that children diagnosed with ADHD have a disease.
The silence in the hearing room was deafening. According to Dr Baughman, no one answered the questions because there is no study, test, or scientific literature to back up the ***ertion that ADHD is a disease.
"ADHD is not a disease," Dr Baughman says. "This being the case," he maintains, "giving such drugs for ADHD is not "help" or "treatment"." He makes the point "that all practice of medicine begins with diagnosis." "Informed consent," Dr Baughman explained, "demands not just a description of the drugs or surgery to be used but of the condition they are to be used on--its prognosis and how that natural course/prognosis is likely to be altered by the treatments to be applied." At the March 2006, FDA advisory committee hearings, it was noted that no other countries are drugging children with stimulants. In fact, psychiatrist, Dr Grace Jackson, who also testified at the hearing, explains in her book, "Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs," how in 1996 and 1997, the World Health Organization issued press releases about the rise in the use of the stimulant, Ritalin, in this country, "noting that the United States was responsible for 90% of the drug's production and consumption." At the time, the International Narcotics Control Board identified a number of concerns about America's use of the drug, including the dangers of: "inappropriate diagnosis of ADHD; widely divergent prescribing patterns; off-label prescribing to children under six; and excessive duration of treatment," Dr Jackson reports.
A report by the FDA released in February 2006, said that between 1999 and 2003, there were 25 deaths in persons using ADHD drugs, including the deaths of 19 children. The FDA also reported receiving more than 50 cases of cardiovascular problems, including stoke, heart attack, hypertension, palpitations and arrhythmia.
Because only between 1 and 10% of adverse events are ever reported to the FDA, the numbers above represent an extreme understatement of actual cases of harm, critics point out.
According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, there were only 271 Ritalin-related emergency room visits in 1990, but there were 1,478 Ritalin-related emergency visits recorded in 2001.
In 1999, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, found some 165 Ritalin-related poison calls in Detroit and 419 cases in Texas. Of the nearly 600 calls, only 114 cases involved intentional misuse or abuse.
Dr Breggin maintains that ADHD drugs actually bring on the symptoms they are supposed to treat such as hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention, which can lead to a vicious cycle of incorrect and dangerous dosage increases, he warns.
In addition, Dr Breggin says, stimulants can cause "agitation and irritability, anger, hostility, disinhibition, hypomania and mania." A recent review of data by the FDA seems to verify Dr Breggins ***ertions. The FDA found that children on ADHD drugs had an increased the risk of psychosis, a mental disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish between real and imaginary events. The most important finding, the FDA said, was that signs of psychosis or mania, particularly hallucinations, occurred in patients with no risk factors, at the usual doses of any of the drugs used to treat ADHD.
The FDA found a "substantial portion of the psychosis-related cases were reported to occur in children 10 years or less," an age group which does not typically suffer from psychosis, the FDA said.
From January 2000, through June 30, 2005, FDA identified nearly 1,000 reports of psychosis or mania possibly linked to the drugs, including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, and Strattera.
Most of people who have investigated the matter seem to agree that heavy metal poisoning is by far the most likely cause of the epidemic in autism spectrum disorders that erupted in the 1990s. Studies show that the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, that was used in all childhood vaccines until recently, is the likely culprit.
Beginning in the late 1980s, the CDC began ...
"Jeff" kidsdoc2...@hotmail.com
Actually, ADHD drugs reduce the risk that kids with ADHD will abuse drugs.
Jeff
"Jan" jdrew63...@aol.com
It's good to see the FDA doing it's job.
== When in FACT.. they were covering up the TRUTH.
== A recent review of data by the FDA seems to verify Dr Breggins ***ertions. The FDA found that children on ADHD drugs had an increased the risk of psychosis, a mental disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish between real and imaginary events. The most important finding, the FDA said, was that signs of psychosis or mania, particularly hallucinations, occurred in patients with no risk factors, at the usual doses of any of the drugs used to treat ADHD.
The FDA found a "substantial portion of the psychosis-related cases were reported to occur in children 10 years or less," an age group which does not typically suffer from psychosis, the FDA said.
From January 2000, through June 30, 2005, FDA identified nearly 1,000 reports of psychosis or mania possibly linked to the drugs, including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, and Strattera.
In addition to all the other side effects ***ociated with ADHD drugs, Dr David Stein, author of "Unraveling the ADD/ADHD Fiasco," says stimulant drugs are "near the top of the heap of potentially addictive drugs." The Partnership for a Drug Free America, released the results of a survey in 2005, that polled more than 7,300 teenagers, and found one in 10 teenagers, or 2.3 million young people, had tried ADHD drugs without a doctor's prescription, and that 29% of those surveyed said they had close friends who had abused the drugs.
Experts agree that the wide-spread prescribing of stimulants will lead many children down the path to addiction and they warn of the perils that will follow.
If medical professionals begin telling children at a very young age that they can change the way they think, feel, and behave by simply taking a pill, they will logically continue to take drugs in attempt to mood-alter whenever they have problems in life.
These are the F A C T S!
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
Weird article, gives only opinions, no facts, to prove the headline.
The front group for the Kriminal Kult of $cientology.
She Ms. Barton is right.
Dr. Baughman is affiliated with the $cientologists.
...
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
FACT: Mark Probert IS lying Again.
"Mark Probert" LYING again...
FACT: FACT: also rose steadily. In fact, spending on these types of medications for FACT: (WHILE MARK PROBERT CALLED *ME* A LIAR, when I posted this was happening....) FACT: psychiatric watchdog group *In your opinion* In testimony on behalf of the International Center for the Study of Mark can NOT answer it either....
...
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
In your dreams.
"Jeff" kidsdoc2...@hotmail.com
Dr. Breggin is an ***hole.
<garbage deleted>
Peter Bowditch myfirstn...@ratbags.com
It is indeed a fact, Jan. I agree with you. For example, quacks and charlatans use EDTA chelation to "treat" autistic children. It does nothing for autism, of course.
<snip bilge>
--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243 The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles Australian Council Against Health Fraud http://www.acahf.org.au Australian Skeptics http://www.skeptics.com.au To email me use my first name only at ratbags.com
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
Temper...Temper...Jeff.
Restoring the truth: A recent review of data by the FDA seems to verify Dr Breggins ***ertions. The FDA found that children on ADHD drugs had an increased the risk of psychosis, a mental disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish between real and imaginary events. The most important finding, the FDA said, was that signs of psychosis or mania, particularly hallucinations, occurred in patients with no risk factors, at the usual doses of any of the drugs used to treat ADHD.
The FDA found a "substantial portion of the psychosis-related cases were reported to occur in children 10 years or less," an age group which does not typically suffer from psychosis, the FDA said.
From January 2000, through June 30, 2005, FDA identified nearly 1,000 reports of psychosis or mania possibly linked to the drugs, including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, and Strattera.
In addition to all the other side effects ***ociated with ADHD drugs, Dr David Stein, author of "Unraveling the ADD/ADHD Fiasco," says stimulant drugs are "near the top of the heap of potentially addictive drugs." The Partnership for a Drug Free America, released the results of a survey in 2005, that polled more than 7,300 teenagers, and found one in 10 teenagers, or 2.3 million young people, had tried ADHD drugs without a doctor's prescription, and that 29% of those surveyed said they had close friends who had abused the drugs.
Experts agree that the wide-spread prescribing of stimulants will lead many children down the path to addiction and they warn of the perils that will follow.
If medical professionals begin telling children at a very young age that they can change the way they think, feel, and behave by simply taking a pill, they will logically continue to take drugs in attempt to mood-alter whenever they have problems in life.
These are the F A C T S!
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
"Peter Bowditch" did his usual: <snip> FACT: also rose steadily. In fact, spending on these types of medications for FACT: (WHILE MARK PROBERT CALLED *ME* A LIAR, when I posted this was happening....) FACT: psychiatric watchdog group *In your opinion* In testimony on behalf of the International Center for the Study of Mark can NOT answer it either....
...
Peter Bowditch myfirstn...@ratbags.com
And here is all that was left after Jan restored the truth:
--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243 The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles Australian Council Against Health Fraud http://www.acahf.org.au Australian Skeptics http://www.skeptics.com.au To email me use my first name only at ratbags.com
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
They call snipping like that "lying" in some circles, Peter.
A recent review of data by the FDA seems to verify Dr Breggins ***ertions. The FDA found that children on ADHD drugs had an increased the risk of psychosis, a mental disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish between real and imaginary events. The most important finding, the FDA said, was that signs of psychosis or mania, particularly hallucinations, occurred in patients with no risk factors, at the usual doses of any of the drugs used to treat ADHD.
The FDA found a "substantial portion of the psychosis-related cases were reported to occur in children 10 years or less," an age group which does not typically suffer from psychosis, the FDA said.
From January 2000, through June 30, 2005, FDA identified nearly 1,000 reports of psychosis or mania possibly linked to the drugs, including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, and Strattera.
In addition to all the other side effects ***ociated with ADHD drugs, Dr David Stein, author of "Unraveling the ADD/ADHD Fiasco," says stimulant drugs are "near the top of the heap of potentially addictive drugs." The Partnership for a Drug Free America, released the results of a survey in 2005, that polled more than 7,300 teenagers, and found one in 10 teenagers, or 2.3 million young people, had tried ADHD drugs without a doctor's prescription, and that 29% of those surveyed said they had close friends who had abused the drugs.
Experts agree that the wide-spread prescribing of stimulants will lead many children down the path to addiction and they warn of the perils that will follow.
If medical professionals begin telling children at a very young age that they can change the way they think, feel, and behave by simply taking a pill, they will logically continue to take drugs in attempt to mood-alter whenever they have problems in life.
These are the F A C T S!
"Coleah" col...@pacifier.com
====================== ***"Treatment of ADHD with stimulants such as Ritalin and psychotherapy help to improve the abnormal behaviors of ADHD, as well as the self-esteem, cognition, and social and family function of the patient." Key point: 'and PSYCHOTHERAPY'.
I believe what you are missing here is that the medication ***ists children who have abnormally LOW levels of dopamine. It is administered in low doses and adjusted slowly. To calm. Gently.
Anyone who abuses drugs (prescribed to them or not) by taking Fast & Hard 'jolts' of anything to feel 'high', suffers from character defects...Not from low levels of dopamine. For them, a spiritual transformation is necessary to heal.
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
From all of Jan's posts, I conclude that she believes that the medication is inherently evil, and that there is no safe usage whatsoever.
IMNSHO, Jan is an all-or-nothing concrete thinker.
"Jeff" kidsdoc2...@hotmail.com
What temper?
I speak the truth.
Jeff
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
Yes, the ADHD propaganda IS to make these kids believe they are *mentally ill.* What a shame!
There are ABSOLUTE NO diagnosing tests for ADHD that tests levels of dopamine.
Evidently, YOU are missing dopamine levels can be raised through DIET.
Furthmore, you are missing many things.....
No, they suffer from rushed parents' and parents' who have wrongly DRUGGED them far too young, amoung other things, like lying and making things up as they go, as YOU just did above.......
Not Point made.
For them, a spiritual transformation is
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
Most interesting to note.... Mark went right along with Coleah's making up this bit about LOW levels of dopamine.
There is no medical test for it; therefore, the diagnosis is based on observations of children's behavior
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
Actually, Coleah is wrong. AD/HD has been shown to manifest problems with the way the brain (look it up, as you have no first hand experience using one) handles dopamine.
This is the result of the pioneering work of Nora Volkow, et al, from the SUNY Stony Brook and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Volkow is now the head of NIDA.
Same for many other conditions, e.g. chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, all psychiatric diagnoses, etc.
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
No, you complimented him.
"Jan Drew" jdrew1...@sbcglobal.net
Y E S....
There is no medical test for it; therefore, the diagnosis is based on observations of children's behavior
Mark Probert markprob...@lumbercartel.com
Hey, stupid, when I take the time to write an explanation why I say something is wrong, leave it alone. Moron.
Restored: AD/HD has been shown to manifest problems with the way the brain (look it up, as you have no first hand experience using one) handles dopamine.
This is the result of the pioneering work of Nora Volkow, et al, from the SUNY Stony Brook and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Volkow is now the head of NIDA.
What is the matter, cannot handle the truth?
Same for many other conditions, e.g. chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, all psychiatric diagnoses, etc.
Oh, I see, what I posted that showed Coleah is wrong, refutes what you whinnied about. You clearly cannot handle the truth.
POOR JAN.
SAD JAN.
"Coleah" col...@pacifier.com
What do you want? A labratory blood or urine test?
ADHD and other psychiatric disorders have historically been clinically diagnosed by functional evaluations.
New Biological Tests http://add.about.com/library/weekly/aa051401a.htm Genetic factors in families with several members suffering from ADHD may involve abnormalities in dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmission. Low dopamine signaling in patients with ADHD may be related to failure of the dopamine receptors to respond to dopamine, or to enhanced dopamine re-uptake, preventing it from binding to its receptor. Postnatal injury to the prefrontal regions of the brain may also increase risk for ADHD.
PET scanning and other neuroimaging may reveal about a 5% to 10% decrease in size and activity of select brain regions, namely the frontal lobes and basal ganglia, in children with ADHD.
Drug abusers who 'jolt' their brain suddenly with high levels of Dopamine have their focus become narrowed and intense to the point of focusing on everything in the environment as though it were directly related to them (the 'awesome high') and their situation.
"Coleah" col...@pacifier.com
...
============================ http://www.neurotransmitter.net/adhdda.html The use of Brain SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) Imaging for ADHD and other mental disorders is not that new (see our research article Brain Scan Shows ADHD) but it's appearance on the UK's BBC Tomorrow's World program on Wednesday night, October 18th, will hopefully go a long way towards showing the general public that ADHD is a real medical condition and not just a p***ing fad as some believe.
http://www.adders.org/news31.htm ADHD Test Breakthrough?
The use of Brain SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) Imaging for ADHD and other mental disorders is not that new (see our research article Brain Scan Shows ADHD) but it's appearance on the UK's BBC Tomorrow's World program on Wednesday night, October 18th, will hopefully go a long way towards showing the general public that ADHD is a real medical condition and not just a p***ing fad as some believe.
http://www.adders.org/news31.htm
"Coleah" col...@pacifier.com
Let me clarify.
ADHD = LOW levels of dopamine TRANSMISSION.
Drug abusers jolt the brain with big and fast doses of Ritalin and have HIGH levels of dopamine transmitting.
Peter Bowditch myfirstn...@ratbags.com
Have you ever suffered from migraine, Jan? What is the medical test for it?
--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243 The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles Australian Council Against Health Fraud http://www.acahf.org.au Australian Skeptics http://www.skeptics.com.au To email me use my first name only at ratbags.com
| To Top |