ADHD Drugs May Kill You

Home | Community | Message Board

You are not signed in.
New Account

Forum Index Search Posts Trusted Vendors Highlights Galleries FAQ User List Chat Store Random Growery

This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.

Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds, Bulk Cannabis Seeds, Feminized Cannabis Seeds, High THC Strains

Jump to first unread post

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next > [ show all ]

daimyo
Monticello

Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 7,751
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months

ADHD Drugs May Kill You

#5285181 - 02/10/06 09:46 AM (20 years, 7 months ago)

Article
By Judith Graham and Judy Peres

In a surprise move, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted Thursday to put a black box warning?the most severe possible?on drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The action was prompted by new data about deaths and serious cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes, among patients taking the popular medications.

Although the cases of such adverse events appear to be small? fewer than one in 1 million?the panel voted 8-7 to recommend a warning because millions of people could be affected. One member of the panel abstained.

"We thought more information needed to be made available to the public," said Dr. Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who sits on the FDA panel.

People with ADHD are impulsive and have problems concentrating. By some estimates, 6 percent of children and 2 percent of adults have the condition, though debate has raged for more than a decade over whether ADHD is overdiagnosed and drugs for it overprescribed. More than 2.5 million children and 1 million adults take ADHD medications.

Psychiatrists expressed surprise at the FDA panel's decision. "In my opinion, this panel's reaction was too strong," said Dr. Louis Kraus, chief of child psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center.

"Why are they jumping to this before there's clear evidence?" asked Dr. Sharon Hirsch, a child psychiatrist at the University of Chicago Hospitals. She advised patients and parents to remain calm and said "there's no reason to stop your medication."

Dr. Joyce Kocher, a child psychiatrist in the northern suburbs, thinks the benefits of these medications far outweigh the risks. "If your kid can't color, can't read, can't sit still, is in timeout all day, is failing and getting held back?what's the benefit in that?" she said.

Adderall, a stimulant used to treat ADHD, already carries a black box warning about possible cardiovascular side effects; the advisory panel recommended a similar warning be added to Ritalin, Concerta, Methylin and Metadate. While not binding, the advisory panels' recommendations usually are followed.

For years, physicians have known that ADHD drugs raise some patients' pulse and blood pressure. But the medications were prescribed mostly to otherwise healthy children and the effects seemed minimal.

An FDA review prepared for the advisory panel indicated the medications might have played a role in 25 deaths and 54 cases of serious medical problems between 1999 and 2003. The problems included heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, palpitations and the overly rapid heartbeats known as arrhythmia.

Nineteen of the deaths involved children, and an accompanying FDA analysis suggested the risk of sudden cardiac death in children taking ADHD drugs was 1.5 to 2.5 times greater than in the general population, Nissen said.

The FDA evidence suggested a possible link between ADHD medications and cardiovascular conditions, but not a clear cause-and-effect connection, an agency official, Dr. Kate Gelperin, told the panel.

"My perspective is, there are disturbing signals in the data, and we have reason to believe that drugs that increase people's heart rate and blood pressure are not healthy for the heart," Nissen said.

Novartis AG's medical safety director, Todd Gruber, said the drug manufacturer's data for Ritalin did not show a higher risk of cardiovascular complications among users.

--------------------
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Extras:

Similar Threads	Poster	Views	Replies	Last post
Its about the MUSIC not the DRUGS	Rebirtha	2,630	15	07/30/04 06:46 PM by Archemetis
New job and drug test	phi1618	1,186	8	06/04/04 09:45 PM by vade
Post the drugs you have tried ( 1 2 all )	CerebralFlower	5,783	37	03/02/04 04:24 AM by JonnyOnTheSpot
🚔 The Official "Cops Who Kill Or Commit Crimes" Thread ( 1 2 3 4 ... 80 81 )	Study The CNS	18,970	1,600	11/12/25 06:17 PM by Myco-A-E
I have to pass a drug test. Niacin or B6?? ( 1 2 all )	SJR	14,485	31	10/02/03 10:36 AM by tripndicular
Good story on the "Meth Makers" ( 1 2 all )	felix	3,394	21	09/06/23 09:05 PM by koods
Drug Test Your Teen Dot Com	carbonhoots	5,693	12	01/02/04 02:16 AM by Anno
So Geokills, what kind of drugs do you do? ( 1 2 all )	Grandpa	4,633	23	09/16/03 01:47 PM by NapkinOfDoom