Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs- Study

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs, study says

By Shankar Vedantam
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - More than 7 million Americans are estimated to have misused
stimulant drugs meant to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
substantial numbers of teen-agers and young adults appear to show signs of
addiction, according to a comprehensive national analysis tracking such
abuse.

The statistics are striking because many young people recreationally using
these drugs are seeking to boost academic and professional performance,
doctors say.

Although the drugs may allow people to stay awake longer and finish work
faster, scientists who published a new study concluded that about 1.6
million teen-agers and young adults had misused these stimulants during a
12-month period and that 75,000 showed signs of addiction.

The study published online this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol
Dependence culled data from a 2002 national survey of about 67,000
households.

The data paint a concrete and sobering picture of what many experts have
worried about for years, and present ethical and medical challenges for a
country where mental performance is highly valued and where the number of
prescriptions for these drugs has doubled every five years, said Nora
Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"We live in a highly competitive society, and you want to get the top grades
and you know your colleagues are taking stimulants and you feel pressured,"
she said. "Yes, you are going to study better in the middle of the night if
you take one of these medications. The problem is a certain percentage of
people become addicted to them, and some have toxic effects."

Volkow said it was impossible to disentangle the skyrocketing prescriptions
of drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from the risks of
diversion and abuse.

"As a child, you have multiple friends who are being treated with stimulant
medications," she said. "You get the sense that these are good."

Studies have shown that the drugs are highly effective, especially among
children, and also that they reduce the risk of substance abuse among those
correctly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder, which is characterized by
inattention and unruly behavior. Untreated ADHD has also been associated
with conduct and academic problems.

At the same time, there have been growing concerns that the drugs are
over-prescribed. A Food and Drug Administration panel earlier this month
warned that the medications carried risks of rare, but serious,
cardiovascular problems, and it recommended that the agency place serious
"black box" warnings on the drugs, as a way to restrain spiraling
prescriptions.

Lawrence Diller, a pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., who prescribes the
drugs but is worried about their overuse, said that the new study showed the
real health concerns are with diversion and abuse, not with rare side
effects. "Seventy-five thousand addicts to prescription stimulants is much
more troublesome than the 100 to 200 adults who have strokes," he said.
"Houston, we have got a problem because we are just in the middle of this
epidemic."

The study found that men and women were equally likely to be misusing the
drugs, but that women seemed to be at greater risk of dependence -
characterized by a lack of control, physical need and growing tolerance for
the drug - while men seemed to be at greater risk of abuse, in which the
medication was used in dangerous situations, said lead author Larry Kroutil,
who studies health behavior and education at RTI International, a nonprofit
research group.

To obtain their findings, Kroutil and a team of researchers culled data from
a 2002 national survey conducted by the federal government's Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). H. Westley Clark,
director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said the 2002
data were obtained through face-to-face interviews. RTI has not yet culled
data from subsequent years regarding the misuse of ADHD drugs.

Since then, prescription rates and the popularity of various drugs have
changed, and Kroutil said continuing research is needed to track the
phenomenon. Clark noted that data from 2003 suggested that the problem of
stimulant misuse was greater among young adults 18 to 25 years old than
among teen-agers.

The RTI study was paid for by Eli Lilly and Co., which makes the
non-stimulant ADHD drug Strattera. Although non-stimulant treatments such as
Strattera were an option for ADHD patients, they were often not as potent as
stimulant drugs, Volkow said.

Both Volkow and Scott Kollins, who heads Duke University's ADHD program,
said the full range of ADHD drugs is a valuable tool. But Kollins said the
study brought home what he has seen anecdotally: A colleague who visited his
college-age son's fraternity was mobbed by requests for Adderall
prescriptions by youngsters seeking to boost academic performance.

"If I took Ritalin, I would probably stay up longer and write my grants
faster," Kollins said. But besides the fact that he did not think this is
right, Kollins said the rare side effects highlighted by the FDA panel meant
people using the drugs for nonmedical purposes were placing themselves at
risk for those adverse events.

Volkow was more blunt: "You are playing roulette," she said. "If you get
addicted, you will not only not get into Harvard, you will not finish high
school."

wrote:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs, study says

snip

Jan, you stupid git, you are obviously missing the most important word
in the title of this article: "misused".

"Misuse" implies that one has used a medication in a way contrary to
its intended use. The fact that someone misuses a drug does not mean
that the drug is inherently useless or dangerous when used as
prescribed.

People "misuse" opiates. Should these drugs be banned? Let's let
legions of cancer sufferers die painfully because there are those who
abuse OxyContin, hmmm?

I know you believe that "bad kids" can simply be beaten into exhibiting
good behavior...or you can just kick them out of your daycare if
they're little "Jewboys", but you are off base if you insist on
demonifying an entire class of meds (ADHD meds), just because there are
people who *mis*use them.

Mark, MD

wrote

snip


wrote:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs, study says

WASHINGTON - More than 7 million Americans are estimated to have misused
stimulant drugs meant to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
substantial numbers of teen-agers and young adults appear to show signs of
addiction, according to a comprehensive national analysis tracking such
abuse.

The statistics are striking because many young people recreationally using
these drugs are seeking to boost academic and professional performance,
doctors say.

Although the drugs may allow people to stay awake longer and finish work
faster, scientists who published a new study concluded that about 1.6
million teen-agers and young adults had misused these stimulants during a
12-month period and that 75,000 showed signs of addiction.

The study published online this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol
Dependence culled data from a 2002 national survey of about 67,000
households.

The data paint a concrete and sobering picture of what many experts have
worried about for years, and present ethical and medical challenges for a
country where mental performance is highly valued and where the number of
prescriptions for these drugs has doubled every five years, said Nora
Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"We live in a highly competitive society, and you want to get the top grades
and you know your colleagues are taking stimulants and you feel pressured,"
she said. "Yes, you are going to study better in the middle of the night if
you take one of these medications. The problem is a certain percentage of
people become addicted to them, and some have toxic effects."

Volkow said it was impossible to disentangle the skyrocketing prescriptions
of drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from the risks of
diversion and abuse.

"As a child, you have multiple friends who are being treated with stimulant
medications," she said. "You get the sense that these are good."

Studies have shown that the drugs are highly effective, especially among
children, and also that they reduce the risk of substance abuse among those
correctly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder, which is characterized by
inattention and unruly behavior. Untreated ADHD has also been associated
with conduct and academic problems.

At the same time, there have been growing concerns that the drugs are
over-prescribed. A Food and Drug Administration panel earlier this month
warned that the medications carried risks of rare, but serious,
cardiovascular problems, and it recommended that the agency place serious
"black box" warnings on the drugs, as a way to restrain spiraling
prescriptions.

Lawrence Diller, a pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., who prescribes the
drugs but is worried about their overuse, said that the new study showed the
real health concerns are with diversion and abuse, not with rare side
effects. "Seventy-five thousand addicts to prescription stimulants is much
more troublesome than the 100 to 200 adults who have strokes," he said.
"Houston, we have got a problem because we are just in the middle of this
epidemic."

The study found that men and women were equally likely to be misusing the
drugs, but that women seemed to be at greater risk of dependence -
characterized by a lack of control, physical need and growing tolerance for
the drug - while men seemed to be at greater risk of abuse, in which the
medication was used in dangerous situations, said lead author Larry Kroutil,
who studies health behavior and education at RTI International, a nonprofit
research group.

To obtain their findings, Kroutil and a team of researchers culled data from
a 2002 national survey conducted by the federal government's Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). H. Westley Clark,
director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said the 2002
data were obtained through face-to-face interviews. RTI has not yet culled
data from subsequent years regarding the misuse of ADHD drugs.

Since then, prescription rates and the popularity of various drugs have
changed, and Kroutil said continuing research is needed to track the
phenomenon. Clark noted that data from 2003 suggested that the problem of
stimulant misuse was greater among young adults 18 to 25 years old than
among teen-agers.

The RTI study was paid for by Eli Lilly and Co., which makes the
non-stimulant ADHD drug Strattera. Although non-stimulant treatments such as
Strattera were an option for ADHD patients, they were often not as potent as
stimulant drugs, Volkow said.

Both Volkow and Scott Kollins, who heads Duke University's ADHD program,
said the full range of ADHD drugs is a valuable tool. But Kollins said the
study brought home what he has seen anecdotally: A colleague who visited his
college-age son's fraternity was mobbed by requests for Adderall
prescriptions by youngsters seeking to boost academic performance.

"If I took Ritalin, I would probably stay up longer and write my grants
faster," Kollins said. But besides the fact that he did not think this is
right, Kollins said the rare side effects highlighted by the FDA panel meant
people using the drugs for nonmedical purposes were placing themselves at
risk for those adverse events.

Volkow was more blunt: "You are playing roulette," she said. "If you get
addicted, you will not only not get into Harvard, you will not finish high
school."

If conventional medicine really cared about people, they would let
people try to get rid of their ADHD by finding their Hidden Food
Allergies (Sensitivities), and removing them from their diet. This is
the safe way that alternative doctors help many people with ADHD. It
doesn't work on everybody, but it is guaranteed safe, and it has other
health benefits as well. Never taking a drug means never having to say,
"I'm sorry this drug caused the heart problem." Conventional medicine
doesn't have time for any treatment that doesn't involve drugs, because
drugs are where the money is. Talk to a naturopathic doctor
(www.naturopathic.org) or an alternative doctor (www.acam.org).

Brad_Chad

"Brad_Chad" wrote in message
oups.com...
If conventional medicine really cared about people, they would let
people try to get rid of their ADHD by finding their Hidden Food
Allergies (Sensitivities), and removing them from their diet. This is
the safe way that alternative doctors help many people with ADHD.

It's NOT SAFE! Self diagnosis often results in people deciding that they are
"allergic" to foods to which they are not at all sensitive. This results in
much self-deprivation (which may be satisfying in a religious ascetic way)
that condemns the subject to a life of loitering in grocery isles reading
labels and removes scores of nutritious foods from their diets. Friends
hesitate to invite them to meals for fear of offending their food phobias.
And sadly, their families are aften deprived of many foods as well, forced
to eat at the lowest common denominator.

It
doesn't work on everybody, but it is guaranteed safe, and it has other
health benefits as well. Never taking a drug means never having to say,
"I'm sorry this drug caused the heart problem." Conventional medicine
doesn't have time for any treatment that doesn't involve drugs, because
drugs are where the money is. Talk to a naturopathic doctor
(www.naturopathic.org) or an alternative doctor (www.acam.org).


Naturopaths and other alternative quacks love the food allergy diagnosis
because it adds an arrow to their nearly empty quiver of treatment options.
Also it leaves the "blame the victim" option for treatment failures.
--


--Rich

Recommended websites:

http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles
http://www.acahf.org.au
http://www.quackwatch.org/
http://www.skeptic.com/
http://www.csicop.org/

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:13:38 +0000, jdrew1374 wrote:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

You deleted two lines from this article:

at the top:

Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal
use, must be obtained from The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail
with your request.


at the end:

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

wrote:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs, study says

By Shankar Vedantam
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - More than 7 million Americans are estimated to have misused
stimulant drugs meant to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
substantial numbers of teen-agers and young adults appear to show signs of
addiction, according to a comprehensive national analysis tracking such
abuse.

The statistics are striking because many young people recreationally using
these drugs are seeking to boost academic and professional performance,
doctors say.

Although the drugs may allow people to stay awake longer and finish work
faster, scientists who published a new study concluded that about 1.6
million teen-agers and young adults had misused these stimulants during a
12-month period and that 75,000 showed signs of addiction.

The study published online this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol
Dependence culled data from a 2002 national survey of about 67,000
households.

The data paint a concrete and sobering picture of what many experts have
worried about for years, and present ethical and medical challenges for a
country where mental performance is highly valued and where the number of
prescriptions for these drugs has doubled every five years, said Nora
Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"We live in a highly competitive society, and you want to get the top grades
and you know your colleagues are taking stimulants and you feel pressured,"
she said. "Yes, you are going to study better in the middle of the night if
you take one of these medications. The problem is a certain percentage of
people become addicted to them, and some have toxic effects."

Volkow said it was impossible to disentangle the skyrocketing prescriptions
of drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from the risks of
diversion and abuse.

"As a child, you have multiple friends who are being treated with stimulant
medications," she said. "You get the sense that these are good."

Studies have shown that the drugs are highly effective, especially among
children, and also that they reduce the risk of substance abuse among those
correctly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder, which is characterized by
inattention and unruly behavior. Untreated ADHD has also been associated
with conduct and academic problems.

At the same time, there have been growing concerns that the drugs are
over-prescribed. A Food and Drug Administration panel earlier this month
warned that the medications carried risks of rare, but serious,
cardiovascular problems, and it recommended that the agency place serious
"black box" warnings on the drugs, as a way to restrain spiraling
prescriptions.

Lawrence Diller, a pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., who prescribes the
drugs but is worried about their overuse, said that the new study showed the
real health concerns are with diversion and abuse, not with rare side
effects. "Seventy-five thousand addicts to prescription stimulants is much
more troublesome than the 100 to 200 adults who have strokes," he said.
"Houston, we have got a problem because we are just in the middle of this
epidemic."

The study found that men and women were equally likely to be misusing the
drugs, but that women seemed to be at greater risk of dependence -
characterized by a lack of control, physical need and growing tolerance for
the drug - while men seemed to be at greater risk of abuse, in which the
medication was used in dangerous situations, said lead author Larry Kroutil,
who studies health behavior and education at RTI International, a nonprofit
research group.

To obtain their findings, Kroutil and a team of researchers culled data from
a 2002 national survey conducted by the federal government's Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). H. Westley Clark,
director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said the 2002
data were obtained through face-to-face interviews. RTI has not yet culled
data from subsequent years regarding the misuse of ADHD drugs.

Since then, prescription rates and the popularity of various drugs have
changed, and Kroutil said continuing research is needed to track the
phenomenon. Clark noted that data from 2003 suggested that the problem of
stimulant misuse was greater among young adults 18 to 25 years old than
among teen-agers.

The RTI study was paid for by Eli Lilly and Co., which makes the
non-stimulant ADHD drug Strattera. Although non-stimulant treatments such as
Strattera were an option for ADHD patients, they were often not as potent as
stimulant drugs, Volkow said.


Both Volkow and Scott Kollins, who heads Duke University's ADHD program,
said the full range of ADHD drugs is a valuable tool.

Very important point.

But Kollins said the
study brought home what he has seen anecdotally: A colleague who visited his
college-age son's fraternity was mobbed by requests for Adderall
prescriptions by youngsters seeking to boost academic performance.

"If I took Ritalin, I would probably stay up longer and write my grants
faster," Kollins said. But besides the fact that he did not think this is
right, Kollins said the rare side effects highlighted by the FDA panel meant
people using the drugs for nonmedical purposes were placing themselves at
risk for those adverse events.

IOW, the risks are a function of abuse. Why is that not surprising?

Volkow was more blunt: "You are playing roulette," she said. "If you get
addicted, you will not only not get into Harvard, you will not finish high
school."

Nora Volkow is Bush's best appointment.

wrote:
wrote

snip


wrote:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

Millions have misused ADHD stimulant drugs, study says

WASHINGTON - More than 7 million Americans are estimated to have misused

Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.
Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused. Misused.

Jan, do you get the point, now?

Brad_Chad wrote:
If conventional medicine really cared about people, they would let
people try to get rid of their ADHD by finding their Hidden Food
Allergies (Sensitivities), and removing them from their diet. This is
the safe way that alternative doctors help many people with ADHD. It
doesn't work on everybody, but it is guaranteed safe, and it has other
health benefits as well. Never taking a drug means never having to say,
"I'm sorry this drug caused the heart problem." Conventional medicine
doesn't have time for any treatment that doesn't involve drugs, because
drugs are where the money is. Talk to a naturopathic doctor
(www.naturopathic.org) or an alternative doctor (www.acam.org).

Naturopath is the politically correct term for witch doctor.

farans wrote:
On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:13:38 +0000, jdrew1374 wrote:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20060224

You deleted two lines from this article:

at the top:

Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal
use, must be obtained from The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail
with your request.


at the end:

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

Uh-oh, are you going to report Jan for this violation of the copyright
law? She reports lots of people for things.