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Home | Medical | Drugs

The Dangers Of Using Ritalin And Other Stimulant Medications For The Treatment Of ADD/ADHD

By: Jimmy Brownen

American is using Ritalin more than five times the usage of the world combined. This is actually 90% of the world's Ritalin. Peter Breggin, M.D unfolds more.

- More than 10% of the nation's children are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as indicated by recent statistics.

- Ritalin and other stimulants have been used for treatment of ADD/ADHD for as many as five million children.

- There have also been cases that hundreds of children who took these medication have taken more than the recommended dose every year.

- Those with higher risk of overdose are children between the ages of six to nine.

As school officials, medical professionals, and other caretakers pressure parents to put their children on medication for the management of ADD/ADHD, few take the time to inform parents what the use of stimulant medications as a daily maintenance medication entails. Stimulant medications such as Ritalin, when given to children, are far more dangerous than parents are being led to believe. Stimulant medications produce far more than mere side effects, they endanger the lives of children by producing a host of dangerous health problems and risks by damaging the functioning of the cardiovascular system, central nervous system, gastrointestinal system, and more.

These dangers include:

Cardiovascular System

Rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat, and heart attack.

Central Nervous System

Altered mental status, hallucinations, convulsions, seizures, convulsions, depression, excitement, agitation, irritation, anxiety, nervousness, hostility, nervousness, compulsive behavior, tics, jerky movements, tourette's, drowsiness, confusion, lack of sleep, unhappiness, depression, over-sensitivity, decreased social interest, zombie-like mannerisms, impaired mental abilities.

Gastrointestinal

Eating disorders, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, and cramps, dry mouth, constipation, growth problems and endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Other

Blurred vision, headaches, dizziness, excessive sweating, incontinence, fever, joint pain, blood disorders, rash, conjunctivitis, hives, skin inflammation and hair loss.

Withdrawal and Rebound

Worsening of symptoms, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, irritability, over-activity and stimulant 'crash'.

Ritalin may be more potent than cocaine!

Findings of a European study shows that Ritalin can be more hazardous than cocaine. Although in pill form, Ritalin does not produce immediate effect, once metabolized it can occupy more dopamine receptors than cocaine. Addicts who are users of cocaine have also claimed that Ritalin, when injected will produce the same effect as cocaine.

Pediatricians as well as ethicist have also voiced their concerns in usage of these stimulants. In an article published in the New York Times, they have questioned the appropriateness of medicating children without a clear diagnosis in hopes that they do better in school. They also asked whether the drugs should be given to adults failing in their careers or are procrastinators. They question the worthy of this method.

This concern have also been voiced out in the January 2005 issue of Pediatrics in which the large discrepancies between pediatricians practice patterns and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for the assessment and treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was bought forth. The article also stated that because the medical community didn't come to a consensus on how to diagnose ADD/ADHD, they should not be making extensive decisions as to how to treat individuals who have been diagnosed with the disorder.

There are some necessary steps that can be taken to ensure that whenever symptoms are suspected to indicate ADD/ADHD thus providing stimulant medication as the form of treatment. This is obviously to safeguard oneself and loved ones so as to not contributing to the statistics of misdiagnosis of ADD/ADHD.

Some good rules to follow whenever ADD/ADHD might be suspected are:

- One should not settle for a single diagnosis of ADD/ADHD by any practitioner even so after a single observation alone.

- A through evaluation on the patient is needed in order to come to a final conclusion that the patient suffer from ADD/ADHD. Other possibilities should be tested upon the patient such as another disorder, nutritional imbalance, or food allergies and sensitivities. No medication should be given on a try and see basis.

- If ADD/ADHD is the appropriate diagnosis then medications such as stimulants should be the last choice of treatment. They should only be used after exploring other form of medication because the dangers in administering ADD/ADHD medications, especially to a child, are just far too great too risky.

- Never fall for the quick fix. Any fad diagnosis that causes society to turn immediately and without question to the latest popular solution that offers a quick fix--in this case, stimulant medications should be suspect.

An educated individual is one who is best able to make intelligent decisions regarding his or her own medical treatment or regarding the treatment of children.

Article Source: http://bytepowered.org/articles

Jimmy Brownen is a leading expert in the field of ADD/ADHD and has years of experience in the treatment of it. For more information on the disorder or for alternative means of curing ADHD, please visit his site.

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