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ADD For your Children,anyone ?

HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
edited September 2001 in General Discussion
Children's drug is more potent than cocaine Special report: medical science Jean WestSunday September 9, 2001The Observer The children's drug Ritalin has a more potent effect on the brain than cocaine, a study has found. Using brain imaging, scientists have found that, in pill form, Ritalin - taken by thousands of British children and four million in the United States - occupies more of the neural transporters responsible for the 'high' experienced by addicts than smoked or injected cocaine. The research may alarm parents whose children have been prescribed Ritalin as a solution to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The study was commissioned to understand more about why Ritalin - which has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine - is effective in calming children and helping them concentrate, while cocaine produces an intense 'high' and is powerfully addictive. In oral form, Ritalin did not induce this intense psychological 'hit'. But Dr Nora Volkow, psychiatrist and imaging expert at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, New York, who led the study, said that injected into the veins as a liquid rather than taken as a pill, it produced a rush that 'addicts like very much'. Interviewed in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association newsletter, she said: 'They say it's like cocaine.' Even in pill form, Ritalin blocked far more of the brain transporters that affect mood change and had a greater potency in the brain than cocaine. Researchers were shocked by this finding. A normal dose administered to children blocked 70 per cent of the dopamine transporters. 'The data clearly show the notion that Ritalin is a weak stimulant is completely incorrect,' said Volkow. Cocaine is known to block around 50 per cent of these transporters, leaving a surfeit of dopamine in the system, which is responsible for the hit addicts crave. But now it is known that Ritalin blocks 20 per cent more of these auto-receptors. 'I've been almost obsessed about trying to understand [Ritalin] with imaging,' said Volkow. 'As a psychiatrist I sometimes feel embarrassed [about the lack of knowledge] because this is by far the drug we prescribe most frequently to children.' However, it was still not clear why a drug that has been administered for more than 40 years was not producing an army of addicted schoolchildren. Volkow and her team concluded that this was due to the much slower process of oral ingestion. It takes around an hour for Ritalin in pill form to raise dopamine levels in the brain. Smoked or injected, cocaine does this in seconds. Dr Joanna Fowler, who worked with Volkow on the project, said: 'All drugs that are abused by humans release large quantities of dopamine. But dopamine is also necessary for people to be able to pay attention and filter out other distractions.' But opponents of Ritalin, labelled a 'wonder drug' and a 'chemical cosh', believe it may be addictive and has dangerous side-effects. Moreover, many believe ADHD is a fraudulent title for a non-existent condition once put down to the exuberance of youth. Professor Steve Baldwin, a child psychologist from Teesside University, who died this year in the Selby rail crash, campaigned against Ritalin. He pointed out similarities between the drug and amphetamines as well as cocaine. Mandy Smith of Banff in Scotland has a son of eight who was prescribed Ritalin for nine months. 'I am astonished the British Government have allowed this drug to be prescribed,' she said. 'It can destroy people's lives. My son was a changed person when he took Ritalin. He was suicidal and depressed.' Janice Hill, of the Overload Support Network, a charity for parents of children with behavioural problems, said: 'Now we have thousands of children in Scotland taking a drug that is more potent than cocaine. What does it take before the situation is thoroughly investigated?' A spokeswoman for Novartis, which makes Ritalin, said: 'Ritalin is available as tablets only. It should only be initially prescribed by a doctor who is a specialist in child behavioural disorders and should always be used and monitored under strict medical supervision.' Children's drug is more potent than cocaine Special report: medical science Jean WestSunday September 9, 2001The Observer The children's drug Ritalin has a more potent effect on the brain than cocaine, a study has found. Using brain imaging, scientists have found that, in pill form, Ritalin - taken by thousands of British children and four million in the United States - occupies more of the neural transporters responsible for the 'high' experienced by addicts than smoked or injected cocaine. The research may alarm parents whose children have been prescribed Ritalin as a solution to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The study was commissioned to understand more about why Ritalin - which has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine - is effective in calming children and helping them concentrate, while cocaine produces an intense 'high' and is powerfully addictive. In oral form, Ritalin did not induce this intense psychological 'hit'. But Dr Nora Volkow, psychiatrist and imaging expert at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, New York, who led the study, said that injected into the veins as a liquid rather than taken as a pill, it produced a rush that 'addicts like very much'. Interviewed in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association newsletter, she said: 'They say it's like cocaine.' Even in pill form, Ritalin blocked far more of the brain transporters that affect mood change and had a greater potency in the brain than cocaine. Researchers were shocked by this finding. A normal dose administered to children blocked 70 per cent of the dopamine transporters. 'The data clearly show the notion that Ritalin is a weak stimulant is completely incorrect,' said Volkow. Cocaine is known to block around 50 per cent of these transporters, leaving a surfeit of dopamine in the system, which is responsible for the hit addicts crave. But now it is known that Ritalin blocks 20 per cent more of these auto-receptors. 'I've been almost obsessed about trying to understand [Ritalin] with imaging,' said Volkow. 'As a psychiatrist I sometimes feel embarrassed [about the lack of knowledge] because this is by far the drug we prescribe most frequently to children.' However, it was still not clear why a drug that has been administered for more than 40 years was not producing an army of addicted schoolchildren. Volkow and her team concluded that this was due to the much slower process of oral ingestion. It takes around an hour for Ritalin in pill form to raise dopamine levels in the brain. Smoked or injected, cocaine does this in seconds. Dr Joanna Fowler, who worked with Volkow on the project, said: 'All drugs that are abused by humans release large quantities of dopamine. But dopamine is also necessary for people to be able to pay attention and filter out other distractions.' But opponents of Ritalin, labelled a 'wonder drug' and a 'chemical cosh', believe it may be addictive and has dangerous side-effects. Moreover, many believe ADHD is a fraudulent title for a non-existent condition once put down to the exuberance of youth. Professor Steve Baldwin, a child psychologist from Teesside University, who died this year in the Selby rail crash, campaigned against Ritalin. He pointed out similarities between the drug and amphetamines as well as cocaine. Mandy Smith of Banff in Scotland has a son of eight who was prescribed Ritalin for nine months. 'I am astonished the British Government have allowed this drug to be prescribed,' she said. 'It can destroy people's lives. My son was a changed person when he took Ritalin. He was suicidal and depressed.' Janice Hill, of the Overload Support Network, a charity for parents of children with behavioural problems, said: 'Now we have thousands of children in Scotland taking a drug that is more potent than cocaine. What does it take before the situation is thoroughly investigated?' A spokeswoman for Novartis, which makes Ritalin, said: 'Ritalin is available as tablets only. It should only be initially prescribed by a doctor who is a specialist in child behavioural disorders and should always be used and monitored under strict medical supervision.'http:www.drudgereport.com/

Comments

  • timberbeasttimberbeast Member Posts: 1,738 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Interesting. My now eighteen year old son HAD a friend who spent quite a few days and some weekends at my house. He was a nice kid, but he drove me NUTS!!! He was like a cokehead, the symptoms of which I can tell by previous experience working in bars. One weekend, he forgot his Ritalin and the second day he was a normal teenage kid, and the next. Back home, back on Ritalin, an ex-friend of my son's who has so far been prosecuted for breaking and entering, theft of firearms and interstate transport thereof, numerous vandalism charges, and who knows what by now. I know, for a fact, that in this young man's case, the Ritalin is to blame, because I've known him on it and off of it.........I'd like to help him, but his parents are usually too stoned on grass to listen.
  • berto64berto64 Member Posts: 57 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    AD/HD is a Crock! My son was diagnosed with it in the 1st grade. And being an addict in recovery, it didn't set well with me. Fell for the ritalin spiel for a while, then flushed it. We started working with him at home on his behavior and focusing on task.It was a lot of work, but it's better than drugs!! He just entered his freshman year with no difficulty. jmho berto
    What! Trade my M-14 for that plastic piece of ___t!Endeavor to Persevere
  • PelicanPelican Member Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I too don't go along with it. I think ADD/ADHD was dreamed up by a phycologist that had a kid that wasn't worth a carp in school and the doc could not accept the fact that the kid wasn't any good.My oldest step-son went thru all that bunk. At one of his sessions I ask the shrink "If he is hyper and inattentive in school why is it he can lay on the couch and pay attention to TV for hours?" The idiot shrink says "Well, it's because he is not as interested in school." Hey, NO CRAP!!!!!Oddly enough, when he finally graduated all his ADD cured itself.
    "Audemus jura nostra defendere"- - - - - - - - - - - - - It is useless to hold a person accountable for anything they say while in love, drunk, or running for office.
  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ritalin-A baby sitter in a pill.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    Salzo..you got it..'Parents' who don't want to spend time training their young...dope 'em,set 'em in the corner,pretend that they are doing 'whats best' for the child.
  • will270winwill270win Member Posts: 4,845
    edited November -1
    A good * whoppin' never hurt to much!
    You can run, but you'll just die tired!Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, RELOAD!
  • SXSMANSXSMAN Member Posts: 2,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most truly hyper-active children change when they reach adulthood.I should know,I was one.I do remember being very disruptive in class,really being a monster,but Ritalin really helped me.It's not a fix all,and is wayyy over prescribed but does have a place.Recent study links ADD/ADHD with kids with sleep disorders.I don't know how I slept as a child but as an adult I don't sleep right.In the study,kids that slept did great without drugs.I do believe there are other treatments other than Ritalin that could be better or just as good,but in cases like mine,Ritalin was a good treatment.My mother was a O.T. so don't give me this crap that she bailed on me or that my folks used this as a baby-sitter in pill form.I remember reaching puberty and school administrators thought I had stopped taking Ritalin so they increased my dosage.As you should know Ritalin is speed,and I became a monster again.They quickly knew they has made a mistake and once the meds stopped,so did my behaviour.With what is known now,I would look at how well a child sleeps first.(Not total time,but sleep that is interrupted).Meds as a last resort.I feel sorry for the kids that were in class with me,they also had a hard time learning with me.
  • Mom MomMom Mom Member Posts: 169 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    #1. Brain scans have shown that the brains of ADD/ADHD children differ from that of non ADD/ADHD children. Ritalin and Dexadrine, among others, will change the chemical composition of the brain to a more normal level, when properly prescribed and used. It is most effective when combined with behavir modification techniques that teach the child how to mange understand and manage their behavior.#2. That said, it is way overprescribed. It can be a baby sitter in pill form for both parents and teachers. It is easier to cram 30 kids in a classroom with one teacher, (who gets stuck with the "lucky" job of trying to get the right number of them to spit up the right number of "correct" answers on a proficiency test)if they are all nice and quiet all the time.The evil is not in the drug, but it how it is used. Improper usuage HAS created an "army" of addicted kids. A large number of children on Ritalin continue on some form of mood altering drugs for their entire life, either prescribed or non prescribed. If not combined with behavior mod techniques, when the children outgrow Ritalin (it loses its effectiveness sometime during the teen years) they become absolute hellions. You never learn how to control your self if you are always chemically controlled. Here is an interesting tidbit- in a psychiatric ward, a drug used to control behavior is a "chemical restraint" and requires all sort of paperwork documenting its useuage, reasons for, duration of , etc; along with periodic evaluations by a physician (periodic meaning within the first hour of administration, every 4 hours for the first 24, and every 24 hours after). Yet Ritalin and similiar drugs are handed out like candy to our kids. Go figure.The evil is not in the item, but in how it is used.This is not inteneded to offend teachers, doctors, anyone with ADD, or anybody else.
  • mlincolnmlincoln Member Posts: 5,039 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've been teaching for eight years and while I would say that Ritalin is somewhat over-prescribed, anybody who thinks there is no such thing as ADD and ADHD just doesn't know something from shinola. And think about this: Johnny is a holy terror in class. Can't sit still, can't concentrate, his grades stink and--and here's the thing you should really be interested in--he's so disruptive nobody else in the class can learn. So after everything else is ruled out, he takes a pill. And he's calm and can learn and--once again, this is the big one--everybody else can as well. What's the big freaking deal. Yeah, when Johnny's older and working as a bartender or whatever he won't need to concentrate like he does in Algebra or Civics. What's the big deal?
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    The teaching "profession",driven by the NEA,is comprised of Socialists on top,supported by almost every teacher in this country. Most anything you have to say should be carefully filtered thru a lens of common sense. Your need to have a zombie sitting in class is not an excuse to drug children. Add the above to people opting out of drugs for their child,and having them taken away by the fedguv...and things look pretty ugly. It always amuses me to hear teachers defend their trade today...as we plummit into the abyss of ignorance,trailing nearly every country in the world....Home schoolers winning Spelling...ect., ect....
  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well said Highball- There are alot of teachers that I communicate with, and it is funny that whenever we speak about Ritalin, they all say the same thing almost verbatim. Someone certainly has been edumucating them on what to say.
  • SXSMANSXSMAN Member Posts: 2,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mlincon,I WAS Jonney,to a T!Looking back,I know I was very disruptive.Other kids grades may have suffered.Ritalin for me was a good choice.And Highball I wasn't a zombie,it only calmed me down to the point I could learn.We've met and you probably would say I'm fairly mellow today.I do still have a problem with my mind working faster than my mouth.Many times I'll be talking and my mind has moved onto something else and I don't finish what I'm saying.Some of my posts reflect this.Drives my wife crazy.Short trip though.I agree the drug is abused and misused.But speaking from my experience it can and does have a place.I was reading about ADD last night and found something interesting.Many people with ADD lack perception of danger.I today remain calm when others are fearful.I'm not a hard *,just something is missing.I also have a hard time getting excited about Vacation,or a new car,or a fire in the house.Something is absent.I do enjoy life,but on a different plane.Hey,Highball.Ever figure out why you were pissed at me?
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    Sxsman; Not peod at all at you..just sticking up for Shooter22,after all.You a mean'un,Mr Grinch....heheheheeh About the stuff you took..so you were among the 3 % that really needed it...whats wrong with that ? There are NO absolutes when dealing with humans..but they wrote 450 MILLION perscriptions for Prozac and genaric mood altering drugs last year...something is wrong.
  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Highball- The thing you are not realizing, is as far as the liberal/communists are concerned, WE ARE ALL SICK!We are all just too sick to realize it. They will continue to try and find a drug that EVERYONE will take. Be it ritalin, valium, prozac,fluoride, soma , There goal is to get us all doped up.You are sick Highball, I am sick, everyone is sick, but only the commies are smart enough to know this. They are going to try to medicate us all, because it is for our own good.Dont fight it highball, the establishment knows what is best for you. They must keep everyone nice and calm, while they steal our rights away from us.[This message has been edited by salzo (edited 09-11-2001).]
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