Few Brain Side Effects In Ritalin Study

(WebMD)  Ritalin, a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may not leave long-term side effects on the brain, a new study shows.

The Ritalin side effects study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, was conducted on rats, not people.

The researchers included Teresa Milner, PhD, of the neurobiology division at New York's Weill Cornell Medical College.

ADHD is typically diagnosed in children, and Ritalin is one of the most commonly prescribed ADHD drugs, Milner's team notes.

The researchers injected young male rats with Ritalin for about a month,
starting when they were 1 week old, to mimic Ritalin use in people, who take
Ritalin by mouth.

The scientists split the rats into two groups. They examined the brains of
one group of rats immediately after Ritalin treatment ended.

For comparison, the researchers checked the brains of the second group of rats three months after Ritalin treatment ended. By then, those rats were
adults.

The rats also took two behavioral tests. In one test, the rats were placed
in an open field and the researchers watched to see how quickly they scampered to find cover. In the other test, the rats had to navigate through a maze.

Ritalin Study's Results

The scientists noticed some subtle, short-term structural changes in the
rats' brains immediately after Ritalin treatment ended. But those differences weren't major, and they faded within three months.

The Ritalin-related brain changes appear to "largely resolve with time," at least in rats, write the researchers.

As for the behavioral tests, the results were mixed.

In the maze test, the adult rats that had stopped Ritalin treatment three months earlier appeared to be less anxious than rats typically are. But that wasn't true in the other behavioral test, so the researchers didn't draw any firm conclusions about Ritalin's long-term side effects on normal anxiety.

The study focuses on the brain and behavioral side effects of Ritalin, not
all possible side effects of the ADHD drug. It's not clear if the findings
apply to people.


By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[michellem99-2009]

I am glad they have the ADA act. When I went to school that was not the case. I was pissed when I posted and I still feel we the public pay so they can be taught hopely right. But not are. I am 52. Had your child lived then the poor lil kid be put in special ed and in my day there were no computer.If thekid could not teach/reach the kid thru learning then you sat there. It was the law and still is. Can you understand the pain of wanking to know and total failure on the part the school system to have failed as teachers in my day. No you can't. My friend tryed to show me at my age. It was hopeless. Then he got me on computer and that when it dawned on me. They rtotolly failed me. Yes I grad high school but have the shcooling of maybe a gammar kid. I never got the basics and I am not dumb. I could not relate to what was taught. I could not sit still as I am blind in eyesight. Coaster26 I aint blowing no hot air. I am telling it like it.

[michellem99-2009]

Hot air. Just who do think pays your child's med bills if not that their schooling. Us every time rent is paid,house payments,sale taxes to keep him/her safe,educated etc.So is it fair childless people have to support a shcool system when we have no children. Is it fair..No but we are forced to. Are the teachers worth their pay when they fail to teach the children..most not. So that bloody dollars we are forced to pay is not right. I am sorry but we talk about this Coaster26 and you best be grateful the public has a free educational system but if it was fair the parents of children should pay for it..not the childless people. Lass, I know the pain of a poor education,having something so simple I could not get it. So dear it is not easy to try to want something so bad it was denied me due stuff out of my control. Years ago children like yours was shoved in a special ed. Not taught as the teachers were to dumb to meet our special needs. So we sat there cos it is the law. Pretty .no. the truth. Some are to blind to see it.

[hypnotoad72]

Well, if they make "gummy vitamins" and make a big profit from it, they'll surely make OTC "gummy Ritalin".

Seems apropos, what with brats getting hyper (and fat!) from the processed sugars and the Ritalin retarding the brain cells, in theory it should even out in the end.

Drugs to treat ADHD, when used correctly, are lifesavers for many children. When you a parent spends every day reteaching the same math problems they learned at school, only to have the child completely forget it by the next day - without medical intervention, then to go to the child themselves actually saying "I don't know why I didn't get this before, it's really easy!" after 3 days of treatment - unless you are in the situation where you have tried the other routes and had them fail, and then tried the drugs, I think you ought to ****. Experienced opinions can only be given by those who have EXPERIENCED it. Everyone else is blowing hot air.

[michellem99-2009]

Gebtle postee thanks. We use the local food bank and it does help some.
Yes some children must be on drugs for health and safety reasons. That I don't have a problem with. Just the lazy ones who use the drugs on kids that don't need them. That child surely would mind. Yep. Drugs can help but can be abused.
When I was naughty, I sat on the step as they was not allowed to hit me but they didn't know they did all the wrong stuff as I grew up blind. So I learnt nothing. I was a brat.

[erasmus6]

I know that Ritalin is not a good drug but sometimes parents are left with no choice. When my children were young, there was a neighbor girl who was totally out of control. They didn't give her sugar etc. and it didn't help at all. She couldn't sit still. She would go into a rage just out of the blue. She would run up and shove the kids off their bikes or fly at them and rake her nails down their faces. At school she was out of control, attacking the kids in the playground or stabbing them with her pencil.
Her mother said she had absolutely no remorse for the things that she did. When she got in trouble she would never cry. Once she was taking the Ritalin it was like night and day. She could function, she had friends. For her this was a life saver.
The mother told me that people would verbally attack her for giving her kid this drug. She said if people could actually see the difference it made in her life, they would understand.
The problem is that there are a lot of parents that put their kids on this drug just because they are lousy parents and have lost control of their kids. This was not the case for this child.

[erasmus6]

MichelleM99

If you go to "Small Weight Loss Can Help Type 2 Diabetes", where you have posted comments before, you will find that retmilspouse has left you some information on organizations that can possibly help you with delivering food and stuff.

[michellem99-2009]

I know that if parents were to limit their children's sugar intake there would be no need for the drugs. Every one knows sugar makes them hyperactive. So the parents combat it with meds. Change the deit or cut sugary snacks. That simple. I was raised by Foster Mums with diabetes. We were not allowed candy,pop,cake etc for health reasons. Yet parents will stuff their child full this junk and when sugar messes with their systems your answer is med. Nope. Lil child don't know that it is bad but you do. A treat once in a while. Good parenting is the anwser.