Can a Pill Improve Your Grades?
Some people think taking prescription stimulants can mean more As on their report cards.
Prescription stimulants like Adderall or Ritalin are prescribed to help treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many people believe that taking stimulants if they don’t have ADHD will help them focus more, stay alert longer, and improve memory—all helpful to learning. But do these medications really make you a better student?
Definitely not.
Researchers have found that ADHD drugs like Adderall and Ritalin do not improve academic performance in teens who don’t have ADHD. In fact, there is no evidence that ADHD drugs...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - February 6, 2014 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
High School Seniors Don’t Believe Pot Use has Much Risk; Substance Abuse Remains Mostly Steady
Conclusions
These are upsetting trends, indicating that our efforts to educate young people about drug and alcohol abuse, particularly the damage such substances can cause to brains that have not yet completely developed, is not hitting the mark.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-sixty-percent-12th-graders-view.html
The post High School Seniors Don’t Believe Pot Use has Much Risk; Substance Abuse Remains Mostly Steady appeared first on Cliffside Malibu. (Source: Cliffside Malibu)
Source: Cliffside Malibu - January 13, 2014 Category: Addiction Authors: Richard Taite Tags: Richard Taite Source Type: blogs
New York Times Attack on ADHD Treatment: The Treatment as the Disease
In a much discussed New York Times story on the explosion of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses, reporter Alan Schwarz writes that 15 percent of high school kids now have a diagnosis, and the number of children on medication to treat it has grown to 3.5 million, up from only 600,000 in 1990. "The disorder is now the second most frequent long-term diagnosis made in children, narrowly trailing asthma, according to a New York Times analysis of C.D.C. data," Schwarz writes. However, a critical analysis of Schwarz's reporting notes several problems with his major claims.
The central tension of diagnosin...
Source: Policy and Medicine - December 20, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Painful Erections: Another Reason To Worry About ADHD Pills
For parents who worry those ADHD pills may not be appropriate, here is another reason for concern – the FDA has just issued a notice saying methylphenidate products, which include Ritalin and Concerta, may cause prolonged and sometimes painful erections known as priapism. If there is any good news it would be this sort of thing is rare. Still, who wants to learn the hard way? Pardon the pun.
The FDA took this step after reviewing the drugs and has now updated labeling and patient Medication Guides. For those unaware, priapism can occur in males of any age and happens when blood in the penis becomes trapped, leading to ...
Source: Pharmalot - December 17, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
5 Myths About ADHD Drugs
Prescription stimulants—like Adderall and Ritalin—have been in the news a lot recently because some high school and college students say they take these drugs to help them study better or party longer. Prescription stimulants are usually prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and misusing them can lead to serious health problems.
Let’s look at 5 myths about prescription stimulants.
Myth #1: Drugs like Ritalin and Adderall can make you smarter.
Fact: While these drugs may help you focus, they don’t help you learn better, and they won’t improve your grades.
Being “smart” is about i...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - December 12, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
Study finds students tweet about Adderall. A lot
A recent study performed at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, examined the tweets of college students across the USA for mentions of the pharmaceutical drug Adderall.Twitter, to most students, is a 140-character social media platform where they can freely express the stresses of college, frustrations and opinions.Yet Twitter also has become a platform for studying the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs among those students.A recent study performed at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, examined the tweets of college students across the USA for mentions of the pharmaceutical drug Adderall.The drug has become inc...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Free Webinar: What is Group CBT for ADHD?
Group psychotherapy specializing in helping people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a relatively new treatment method that has been gathering a lot of very exciting data and attention lately, especially when budgets can be tight and one on one therapy isn’t always an option.
That’s why I’m pleased to announce a free webinar on Monday, Nov. 25 @ 7:00 pm ET, entitled CBT for ADHD: Manage Adult ADHD with Leading-Edge Group Therapy.
In this free webinar, therapist Alina Kislenko explores how a group approach can speed up the therapy process even if you’re already seeing an ADHD Coach. Pl...
Source: World of Psychology - November 18, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: ADHD and ADD Disorders General Psychotherapy Treatment Webinar Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Alina Kislenko Asperger Asperger’s Syndrome Group Therapy Guelph Methylphenidate Source Type: blogs
FDA To Study Prescription Drug Advertising Aimed At Teenagers
Teenagers are, by and large, a vulnerable group that is also exposed regularly to prescription drug advertising. But how do they perceive the messages for medicines, especially those that treat afflictions common to that time of life? And to what extent are they able to sift through the information and assess the risks and benefits?
In hopes of assessing teenage reactions to such situations, the FDA plans to run a randomized, controlled study by showing Internet- based promotional campaigns for fake medicines for acne and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in order to compare their perceptions of the messages with yo...
Source: Pharmalot - November 4, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Kiki kicks ADHD
Kiki posted this interesting comment chronicling her experience with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD (or ADD).
I started researching diet changes because of inattentive-type ADD.
I had always had problems with concentration, even in elementary school. Fortunately, academics have always come easily to me and I never needed to really study. If I had, I doubt I would have made it through high school with my concentration/attention problems!
By the time I got to university, I was immensely frustrated. I knew the ADD was holding me back. I was tired of just sliding by and avoiding challenging work because I co...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - October 28, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: ADHD Source Type: blogs
F.D.A. Urging a Tighter Rein on Painkillers - NYTimes.com
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended tighter controls on how doctors prescribe the most commonly used narcotic painkillers, changes that are expected to take place as early as next year.The move, which represents a major policy shift, follows a decade-long debate over whether the widely abused drugs, which contain the narcotic hydrocodone, should be controlled as tightly as more powerful painkillers like OxyContin.The drugs at issue contain a combination of hydrocodone and an over-the-counter painkiller like acetaminophen or aspirin and are sold either as generics or under brand names like Vicodin or Lo...
Source: Psychology of Pain - October 25, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Who is right? US or EU?
ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma PersistsThe European debut of a pill to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder faces a major hurdle: convincing people the condition exists.Shire Plc (SHP), the world’s biggest seller of ADHD drugs, has been rolling out the pill, Vyvanse, in eight countries while discussing the prevalence of the illness with doctors at psychiatry conferences around Europe. More than 90 percent of the Dublin-based company’s sales of ADHD drugs come from the U.S., where the illness is diagnosed about 25 times more frequently than in the U.K.While attitudes va...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Is the Economic Disincentives Model too conservative? (by Veljko Dubljevic)
In my previous post, I analyzed the dangers of using Adderall and Ritalin for cognitive enhancement (CE). I concluded that anything beyond the prescribed therapeutic use of any form of Amphetamine, including Adderall, needs to be prohibited, while the economic... (Source: Neuroethics and Law Blog)
Source: Neuroethics and Law Blog - September 27, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Veljko Dubljevic Tags: Current Affairs Recent Scholarship Source Type: blogs
How to regulate Ritalin and Adderall (by Veljko Dubljevic)
In my previous post, I presented an analysis of different regulatory environments. The economic disincentives model (EDM) proved to be the most efficient option for public policy on cognitive enhancement (CE). As with smoking regulation, the EDM provides a framework... (Source: Neuroethics and Law Blog)
Source: Neuroethics and Law Blog - September 23, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Veljko Dubljevic Tags: Current Affairs Recent Scholarship Source Type: blogs
Who walks in the classroom, cool and slow
If I'd been blogging it all along, cataloguing it day by discouraging day, I wonder if it would seem inevitable. I'm a little bit afraid, instead, that this comes out of the blue: Charlie's changing schools. After three years at the public elementary, this fall he'll go to what I self-consciously call Hippie Do As You Please School.
We've known since October of his kindergarten year that he needed lots of structure and support, and I'm grateful to say that he's gotten it: the 504 plan; the occupational therapy; the physical therapy; the daily social learning; the kindness and heroic forebearance...
Source: a little pregnant - August 15, 2013 Category: Infertility Authors: Julie Tags: Charles in charge GD MF ADHD Source Type: blogs
