- Can custom-made video games help children with attention deficit disorder?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about three percent of American school children take stimulants like Ritalin regularly. However current research suggests a surprising new strategy for treating this disorder: video games linked to brain-wave biofeedback that can help kids with ADHD train their minds to tune in and settle down.
- Insurers Question Studies of ADHD Drugs
Some journals are trying themselves to help readers discover marketing messages slipped in amid the scientific data. Last year BMJ, a British journal, published a piece called "Users' guide to detecting misleading claims in clinical research reports," which came with a picture of a reader dumping salt on a medical journal. One piece of advice: Beware when the authors break out one subgroup of patients and claim benefits from the treatment that weren't evident in the whole group.
- Medication, ADHD and Heart Complications
In research published in Pediatrics, [December 2007; vol 120: pp 1494-1501], lead author, Almut G. Winterstein, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacy health care administration, University of Florida College of Pharmacy, Jacksonville, found that common stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don’t often cause serious heart complications in children. However, she warns that their safety is undetermined for prolonged use.
- Ritalin and Cancer
The FDA has taken an interest in the University of Texas' preliminary research regarding Ritalin and cancer. While the research is alarming, it is far too premature to be conclusive
- Study finds divorce increases Ritalin use in children
Children whose parents divorce are nearly twice as likely to be prescribed Ritalin in the aftermath of the split, a Canadian study reports.
What we need is a deeper understanding of this issue, at the level of the primary care practitioners," said Dr. Abel Ickowicz.
"Because . . . if we are going too quick to prescribe medication, like Ritalin, like methylphenidate, we may not only be masking the normal process of adaptation to divorce, but we may be contributing to the degree of distress the children of divorce are experiencing."
- The Last Normal Child and ADHD
Dr. Lawrence H. Diller’s book, The Last Normal Child: Essays on the Intersection of Kids, Culture, and Psychiatric Drugs, is a fascinating and provocative work. As an experienced developmental/behavioral pediatrician, Diller examines the current trend to quickly diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the perfunctory prescription of stimulant drugs even when there is scarce evidence regarding academic improvement, social improvement, or long-term efficacy.
Diller’s perspective is quite evenly balanced; he prescribes stimulant medication for ADHD when indicated, but only as part of thorough assessment and comprehensive management program.
It is clear that Diller believes that ADHD is being over diagnosed. He states that over the last 15 years brand name stimulant production has increased by an astounding 1700% and generic stimulants by more than 3000%!
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