Stimulants

Writing for Huffpost, medical doctor Lawrence Diller looks at the effects of the ever increasing diagnoses for ADHD and the addiction and abuse issues...

May 8^th in the USA Today:   “WASHINGTON (AP) — Wrigley says it is taking a new caffeinated gum off the market temporarily as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of added caffeine.”  Really?  Major Tranquilizers, Amphetamines, Benzodiazepines, and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors have all been approved by the FDA for the treatment of “mental illness.” These drugs are being prescribed to youth, some as young as 3 and 4 years of age. My Big League Chew is more dangerous than Uncle Jim’s Seroquel or my big brother’s Adderall?

Children diagnosed with ADHD who are prescribed stimulant drugs have more sleep problems than those with ADHD that do not take these drugs.

The New York Times describes a growing trend among doctors: prescribing medication to fix a "made up" diagnosis in children, in order to compensate...

-Two neuroscientists call for "immediate action" to better understand the risks of using drugs like Ritalin and Provigil to "enhance" cognitive functions.

Pediatric Grand Rounds at University of Calgary from Mad in America on Vimeo. Video →

For the New York Times Well blog, Katherine Ellision writes about how the rise in ADHD diagnoses globally is sparking “debates about the validity of the diagnosis and the drugs used to treat it.”

A small study of 30 participants in Germany claims that cannabis can be used to treat “ADHD” because it increases the availability of dopamine. "This then has the same effect but is a different mechanism of action than stimulants like Ritalin and dexedrine amphetamine, which act by binding to the dopamine and interfering with the metabolic breakdown of dopamine." According to the report, 22 of the 30 participants opted to discontinue their prescriptions in favor of medical marijuana.

Salon.com points out that "While data point to at least some over diagnosis (of ADHD), at least in boys, the extent of this problem...

Daniela Drake, MD, writes on Salon about her son's misdiagnosis of ADHD - later found to be an auditory processing disorder and an allergy...

Dr. Aaron Kesselheim of Brigham & Women's Hospital analyzes several ads for A.D.H.D. medications for the New York Times to see how they play...

Bloomberg reports that, "Adults in the U.S. have overtaken children in taking medication for the condition and accounted for 53 percent of the industrywide...

One-third of US children aged 4-5 who've been diagnosed with ADHD are being prescribed stimulant drugs.

In the law if one falsehood is uncovered in sworn testimony, all of the statements made and the actions that follow are suspect. If...

Researchers found that pediatricians vary greatly in how often they diagnose and prescribe drugs for ADHD and other mental health conditions. “The proportion of...

Ruling that health care providers, while important, "are not entitled to an elevated status in tort law that would categorically immunize them from liability...

The recently released report from Express Scripts showing a dramatic rise in the use of stimulant medications, often prescribed for ADHD, also shows that...

-Roy Poses critically analyzes the research and concludes that "uncritical media reports that parroted drug company executives" have led to "overenthusiastic promotion of the latest wonder drug."

"Diagnosis: Human", a New York Times op-ed, deftly and stirringly captures the paradoxes of the ADHD medication explosion: "My son was no angel (though...

The UK Independent reports that Ireland is moving toward a policy of decriminalizing small amount of drugs like heroin, cocaine, and cannabis in what amounts to a “radical cultural shift.” While it would remain a crime to profit from the sale of these substances, users will have specially designated areas for safe use. The chief of Ireland’s National Drugs Strategy told the paper: “I am firmly of the view that there needs to be a cultural shift in how we regard substance misuse if we are to break this cycle and make a serious attempt to tackle drug and alcohol addiction.”

Following a fourfold-increase in antidepressant use in Scotland over the last two decades, one in seven Scots are taking the drugs.  Prescriptions for antipsychotics...

Following an FDA study that found a 46% rise in ADHD prescriptions from 2002-2010, a review in Death and Taxes looks at better marketing...

Dr. Mercola writes that "the high rates of psychotropic drug use among foster children and poor children is likely a direct result of drug...