Ending Guesswork In Prescribing ADHD Drug
05 May 2010

Children with ADHD who carry a specific type of dopamine receptor gene respond better to the drug methylphenidate (MPH) than those without the genotype, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Read more of the article...

by Sonja Mak
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Read more of the article...

A recent study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry got everyone’s attention when it suggested that there may be an “association” between the use of stimulant medications, such as Ritalin, and “sudden cardiac deaths” in children that were considered to be “healthy” prior to their deaths.

But the details of the study, along with the “limitations” of the study, prompted the FDA to comment on the research and its conclusions, recommending that parents should not stop giving stimulant medication to their child just based on the conclusions of the study. Rather they recommend that parents have a discussion with the doctor who is prescribing and monitoring the medication. Read more of the article...

Clonicel. Sciele Pharma, a Shionogi Company based in Atlanta, GA, and Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Durham, SC, are working together to bring a long-acting version of Clonidine to the ADHD treatment regime. They have collaborated on the development of Clonicel, which is in Phase III clinical trials and has shown positive benefits in treating certain symptoms of ADHD, especially when combined with stimulant medications such as Ritalin. Read more of the article...

A recently published study on children, ADHD, and sleep, gives parents good reasons to make sure that their ADHD kids develop good bed-time habits and are in bed as early as possible.

The study was just published on March 1, 2009 in the journal SLEEP. It confirms what many parents already know about their ADHD children or teens, that they simply are not getting enough sleep at night, and that they often wake up tired and sluggish in the morning, which causes other problems all through the day. Read more of the article...

OK, I have to admit that I didn't see this coming.

Whenever I have heard people comparing Ritalin to Cocaine I have just turned them off as either over-reacting, or uninformed. Yes, both are psychostimulants. Yes, both impact the brain's performance. But other than that, why not compare caffeine to cocaine, as both are stimulants and impact the brain.

I had worked in a psychiatric hospital for a few years, and had seen people who had come because of their cocaine addiction, and they didn't look anything like the kids I saw with ADHD who were benefiting from the use of Ritalin or other stimulants (and I had worked with nearly 1,000 kids who had benefited from treatment with stimulants). Read more of the article...

Studies Examine Genetic Determinants of ADHD

Interesting Press Release from Wiley, Boston, Mass. – January 07, 2009

A special issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics (AJMG): Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest progress in genetic research of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The issue covers major trends in the field of complex psychiatric genetics, underscoring how genetic studies of ADHD have evolved, and what approaches are needed to uncover its genetic origins.

ADHD is a complex condition with environmental and genetic causes. It is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that has an onset in childhood. It is one of the most common psychiatric diseases, affecting between 8-12 percent of children worldwide. The drugs used to treat ADHD are highly effective, making ADHD one of the most treatable psychiatric disorders. However, despite the high efficacy of ADHD medications, these treatments are not curative and leave patients with residual disability. Because ADHD is also has one of the most heritable of psychiatric disorders, researchers have been searching for genes that underlie the disorder in the hopes that gene discovery will lead to better treatments for the disorder.

Among the many studies in the issue are two from the first genomewide association study of individual ADHD patients. The study examined more than 600,000 genetic markers in over 900 families from the largest genetic study of ADHD, the International ADHD Multicenter Genetics (IMAGE) project led by Stephen V. Faraone of SUNY Upstate Medical Center. The authors have made these data publicly available to researchers who are interested in pursuing further studies. Read more of the article...

As parents of ADHD kids know all too well, children with ADHD often have difficulty handling stress, or stressful situations. Now, a team of researchers in Australia may have found a biological reason why this is so. Read more of the article...

Does Ritalin Use Alter a Child’s Brain?

This was a common headline in the media regarding another of the really interesting studies published this summer. The actual name of the study was:

“Methylphenidate Administration to Juvenile Rats Alters Brain Areas Involved in Cognition, Motivated Behaviors, Appetite, and Stress.”

The study attempted to answer questions regarding the consequences of using Ritalin (Methylphenidate) long-term in children. The researcher’s had concerns that no one really knows what long-term use of Ritalin does to a child’s brain, so they studied the impact of Ritalin use on 16 areas of the brains of young male rats, hoping to find clues. Read more of the article...