Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) issued a press release regarding a study performed by Joseph Biederman, MD and colleagues. Biederman is a professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  The study finds that the use of stimulant drugs to treat children with ADHD has no effect on their future risk of substance abuse.

This study directly contradicts previous studies which indicate stimulant treatment could increase substance abuse risk.  The authors of the current study (Biederman, et al) maintain that previous studies produced conflicting results because they had several limitations; some only looked at adolescents, although young adults are at the highest risk of substance abuse. The authors argue that other studies did not control for conditions such as conduct disorder that are known to be associated with substance abuse. This is commonly referred to as co-morbidity and is truly the norm for ADHD as ADHD virtually never presents by itself. It is commonly associated with conduct disorder, learning disabilities, dyslexia, etc. The authors also maintain that other studies may have examined the impact on use of only a particular substance.

Biederman, like Russell Barkley, seems to get substantial funding from the pharmaceutical industry. That being disclosed, Biederman’s previous research tended to promote the use of stimulant medication [from www.Sciencedaily.com]:

“Earlier studies under the MGH Psychopharmacology group had suggested that stimulant treatment might actually reduce the risk of substance abuse in ADHD patients, who are at elevated risk to begin with…”

Imagine that! Taking stimulant medication in the same class as cocaine or speed in my early years would prevent me from desiring to use addictive drugs in my later years! Now that’s impressive, Joe. Obviously that was an untenable position, but Joe got the next best result with his try-again research methodology; it may not prevent substance abuse later on, but at least, Dr. Joe maintains, it doesn’t cause it.

“Because stimulants are controlled drugs, there has been a concern that using them to treat children would promote future drug-seeking behavior,” says Dr. Joe, the study’s lead author.

The MTA (Multimodal Treatment of ADHD) found that after three years of drug taking, they couldn’t find any difference in children medicated and children who had done nothing at all. The study’s authors said they witnessed no overall global academic improvement, behavioral improvement, or social improvement. They also found that children in their study had lower overall weight. Height was also less than peers.

What interests me greatly is the fact that when the authors of these studies have close ties to the pharmaceutical industry, their data tends to be skewed in favor of medicine. When there isn’t a close tie, we tend to get contradictory data, which is what one would expect.

I’m not an advocate of medicine, but I’m not an opponent either. It has its place and can help some children in the short-term. It must be supported with cognitive and behavioral interventions to maximize the opportunity for change. 

As far a research goes, all I want is the truth. Nothing skewed. No hidden agendas.