ADHD medications won't increase adults' heart risks, says study

By: Ryan Jaslow
Topics: News ,; Men ,; Mental Health ,; Research

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(CBS) Adults who take medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not face an increased risk for major heart problems, according to the authors of a new study.

PICTURES: 15 signs you have adult ADHD

Earlier studies have shown that ADHD drugs raise blood pressure and heart rate. That sounded an alarm among researchers who thought those increases might lead to more heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure among pill-takers.

"There had been concern about the cardiovascular safety of these medications," study author Dr. Laurel Habel a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern Calif., told Reuters. "We didn't see any evidence that these medications increased the risk of any of these events."

For the study, researchers compared two decades' worth of data on 150,000 adults with ADHD with data from nearly 300,000 adults who don't have the disorder. The most commonly used ADHD drugs were methylphenidate, sold as Ritalin, and amphetamine, sold as Aderall. The study also looked at non-stimulant ADHD drugs.

What did the study find? No increased risk for serious heart problems among the adults who took ADHD medication. Researchers also didn't see any increased risk when they compared different ADHD drugs, or based on whether adults were new, long-term, or former users who had stopped medication.

The results were published in the Dec. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"With any drug there are potential risks, and these drugs can increase blood pressure," Habel told WebMD. "But if there is an increase in [heart-related] events, our study suggests that it is slight."

The study was reassuring for the 1.5 million U.S. adults who are prescribed medication for ADHD. The results echo recent findings in children who take ADHD drugs, CBS News reported.

The study did raise key issues, according to Dr. Philip Shaw, a psychiatry researcher from the Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda. Md. Shaw wrote in an accompanying editorial that the study didn't look enough at certain groups of people who may be high risk, like adults who already have heart disease.

"Joint care by cardiologists and other physicians remains necessary for these individuals," Shaw said.

Other experts welcomed the news.

"There has been something of a dark cloud over these drugs with regard to their impact on the heart," American Heart Association past-President Robert Bonow, told WebMD. "These findings should put many of these fears to rest."

ADHD is usually first diagnosed in childhood, but often lasts through adulthood. Symptoms include inattentiveness, daydreaming, forgetting things, acting and speaking impulsively, and fidgeting or a need to be in constant motion. There is no known cause for ADHD, but possible risk factors include genetics, birth weight, environmental exposure, and alcohol or tobacco during pregnancy.

WebMD has more on adult ADHD.