ADHD Medications Lebanon OR

A True Measure of ADHD Drugs?

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By Kris Kucera

If Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer attended a middle school today, chances are they’d wear the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) label. And according to new research from Children’s Hospital Boston, the two of them would be slightly shorter and thinner than “normal” kids if they took Ritalin or other amphetamine-like ADHD drugs. In an analysis of 22 studies examining the growth rates of ADHD kids taking prescribed stimulants, the researchers found that reduced appetite, a side effect of the drugs, negatively impacted the children’s expected gains in height and weight.

Detractors disputing the new findings argue that restricted growth in stimulant-taking ADHD kids is either nonexistent or nominal. They point out that ADHD kids tend to overcome any limitations in height or weight after they go off the drugs in early adulthood. And besides, they insist, many ADHD kids clearly benefit from taking Ritalin and its cohorts.

Nevertheless, Ritalin, like cocaine and methamphetamine, falls into the DEA’s Schedule II designation. With that in mind, some restraint may be in order, since various cases of ADHD actually result from undiagnosed food allergies, poor eating habits (especially sugary breakfasts), or other behavioral issues stemming from chaotic homes or hectic classrooms.

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