College students get hooked on ‘smart drugs’ (Adderall)

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By Linda Carroll

TODAY.com contributor TODAY.com contributor

updated 5/17/2011 7:33:09 AM

At colleges across America, students are becoming addicted to a popular prescription drug — not because they’re trying to get high, but because they hope to get smarter. The drug, Adderall, is normally prescribed for kids with attention deficit disorder. But some college kids are taking the medication because it helps them focus and pull all-nighters.   

One ‘A’ student at one of the nation’s top tier colleges explained the appeal of the pills kids call “study buddies.”

“When I’m on Adderall and I’m looking at the textbook I can forget about everything else around me,” she told NBC News’ Amy Robach, in a report aired on TODAY. “I figured if everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t I get the advantage?”

Another student, “Mike,” who asked that his real name be withheld, elaborated. “It’s given me the boost to work non-stop for 10 hours a day,” he explained. “Baseball players take steroids to be the best and students take Adderall to be the best. It’s steroids for school.”

Related: Statement from Shire regarding Adderall abuse   
how surprising, Shine has a CYA statement


READ THE REST

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43050779/ns/today-today_health/

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Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

This information is from the CDC, much of the data is from 2007....the number of people being diagnosed and medicated has been growing at roughly 5.5% a year since 2003..  There is no reason to believe this has slowed any since 2007.  Therefore if you see a number like two million the current number is likely to be closer to two and a half million..   If something says 10% the current percenage might be closer to 12 1/2 %

The numbers only include ADHD patients diagnosed with ADD get the same meds. 
That means these numbers only tell part of the story

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Data & Statistics
In the United States

• The American Psychiatric Association states in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) that 3%-7% of school-aged children have ADHD. 1 However, studies have estimated higher rates in community samples.
• Recent data from surveys of parents indicate that:
  [Read article]
  
  • Approximately 9.5% or 5.4 million children 4-17 years of age have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, as of 2007.
  • The percentage of children with a parent-reported ADHD diagnosis increased by 22% between 2003 and 2007.
  • Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 [Read article ] and an average of 5.5% per year from 2003 to 2007.
  • Boys (13.2%) were more likely than girls (5.6%) to have ever been diagnosed with ADHD.
  • Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased at a greater rate among older teens as compared to younger children.
  • The highest rates of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis were noted among children covered by Medicaid and multiracial children.
  • Prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis varied substantially by state, from a low of 5.6% in Nevada to a high of 15.6% in North Carolina.

 State-based Prevalence Data of ADHD Diagnosis (2007-2008)

Medication Treatment

[Read article]

• As of 2007, 2.7 million youth ages 4-17 years (66.3% of those with a current diagnosis) were receiving medication treatment for the disorder. [Read article]
• Rates of medication treatment for ADHD varied by age and sex; children aged 11-17 years of age were more likely than those 4-10 years of age to take medication, and boys are 2.8 times more likely to take medication than girls [Read article]
• In 2003, geographic variability in prevalence of medication treatment ranged from a low of 2.1% in California to a high of 6.5% in Arkansas. [Read article]

Diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disability: United States, 2004-2006

[Read article ]

About 5% of children had ADHD without Learning Disability (LD), 5% had LD without ADHD, and 4% had both conditions.

Children 12-17 years of age were more likely than children 6-11 years of age to have each of the diagnoses.

Hispanic children were less likely than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children to have ADHD (with and without LD).

Children with Medicaid were more likely than uninsured children or privately insured children to have each of the diagnoses.

Children with each of the diagnoses were more likely than children with neither ADHD nor LD to have other chronic health conditions.

Children with ADHD (with and without LD) were more likely than children without ADHD to have contact with a mental health professional, use prescription medication, and have frequent health care visits.

Peer Relationships

[Read article]

• Parents of children with a history of ADHD report almost 3 times as many peer problems as those without a history of ADHD (21.1% vs. 7.3%).
• Parents report that children with a history of ADHD are almost 10 times as likely to have difficulties that interfere with friendships (20.6% vs. 2.0%).

Injury

• A higher percentage of parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder reported non-fatal injuries (4.5% vs. 2.5% for healthy children). [Read article]
• Children with ADHD, compared to children without ADHD, were more likely to have major injuries (59% vs. 49%), hospital inpatient (26% vs. 18%), hospital outpatient (41% vs. 33%), or emergency department admission (81% vs. 74%). [Read article]
• Data from international samples suggest that young people with high levels of attentional difficulties are at greater risk of involvement in a motor vehicle crash, drinking and driving, and traffic violations. [Read article]

Economic Cost

• Using a prevalence rate of 5%, the annual societal ‘‘cost of illness’’ for ADHD is estimated to be between $36 and $52 billion, in 2005 dollars. It is estimated to be between $12,005 and $17,458 annually per individual. [Read article]
• There were an estimated 7 million ambulatory care visits for ADHD in 2006. [Read article ]
• The total excess cost of ADHD in the US in 2000 was $31.6 billion. Of this total, $1.6 billion was for the treatment of patients, $12.1 billion was for all other health care costs of persons with ADHD, $14.2 billion was for all other health care costs of family members with ADHD, and $3.7 billion was for the work loss cost of adults with ADHD and adult family members of persons with ADHD. [Read article]
• ADHD creates a significant financial burden regarding the cost of medical care and work loss for patients and family members. The annual average direct cost for each per ADHD patient was $1,574, compared to $541 among matched controls. The annual average payment (direct plus indirect cost) per family member was $2,728 for non-ADHD family members of ADHD patients versus $1,440 for family members of matched controls. [Read article]
• Across 10 countries, it was projected that ADHD was associated with 143.8 million lost days of productivity each year. Most of this loss can be attributed to ADHD and not co-occurring conditions. [Read article]
• Workers with ADHD were more likely to have at least one sick day in the past month compared to workers without ADHD. [Read article]

 Related Pages

• Child Development
• Positive Parenting Tips
• Healthcare Providers
• Injury, Violence, and Safety
• Safe and Healthy Kids and Teens
• CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

 Footnotes:

1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR. Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348, 24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov

Ritalin: The jury remains out

Sandra in Brevard
Grumpy Educators

In a study funded by Irish pharmaceutical Shire, a manufacturer of ADHD drugs, University of Pennsylvania researchers determined that kids who take medication for ADHD are “at no greater risk for heart problems than kids not taking ADHD medications.” The lead researcher says the findings of the study should "reassure parents that drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall aren’t associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events." However, the researchers noted that "it was not possible to definitely rule out an association between ADHD drugs and increased rates of heart problems."

On the other hand, Dr. Steven Lipshultz, professor and chair of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is concerned these published results may be misinterpreted. HealthDay Reporter Steven Reinberg interviewed Lipshultz and presented his evaluation of the study this way:

"

This study wasn't able to look carefully at where the major concerns are," he added.

The study did not specifically separate those children with heart disease from others, Lipshultz said, adding that the FDA's greatest concern was with the use of these medications in patients with underlying heart disease. In fact, the drugs may be contraindicated for such children, he said.

These drugs are a great benefit to children with ADHD, Lipshultz said. "On the other hand, there are still considerable safety concerns about the use of stimulant therapy in children, especially children with underlying health conditions," he said.

In 2007, the FDA ordered manufacturers of ADHD drugs to produce a "medication guide to alert doctors and parents" of heart-related risks associated with these medications. The results of FDA directed research on these risks are forth-coming. Manufacturer Shire supports the "careful medical evaluation of cardiovascular risk by physicians for patients diagnosed with ADHD as they seek appropriate treatment."

Fifteen years ago, Dr. Lawrence H. Diller, wrote a book “Running on Ritalin” describing what he viewed as an over-diagnosis of ADHD and over prescription of Ritalin and similar drugs to many children “who would respond well to family therapy and tailed programs and routines at home and at school.”
“Diller warned that as harried parents, teachers and physicians attached the ADHD label to more and more children who were dreamy, unmotivated, forgetful, restless, impulsive or distractible, the nation's tolerance for children's natural temperamental variance would narrow. Instead of helping children work around weaknesses and choose strategies and paths that played to their strengths, society's growing inclination to medicate them, Diller cautioned, could turn many into lifelong patients.”

Diller has just released a new book, “Remembering Ritalin”, in which he describes the lives of ten of his former patients now adults.

Watch one of those former patients from www.rememberingritalin.com website

ADHD Medication Study

Yesterday morning Fishygal sent me a link to a CNN Story titled Study: ADHD meds don't boost severe heart risks  The  headline seemed to contradict a lot of information I'd read on the subject since I first took a serious interest in it last December when a member of this website lost his eight year old grandson, Tyler..  The article started off like this:

Children and teens who take medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are no more likely to die from severe heart problems than those who do not take the medications, new research has found

.That was the conclusion of a study conducted by The University of Pennsylvania and was co authored by Healthcare.  An  Associate Professor, Sean Hennessy co authored the study, according to him; 

"For kids who will benefit from ADHD treatment, the potential risk of a cardiovascular event should not dissuade parents or caregivers from giving a child or adolescent these drugs."

Today, nearly 5% of American children between ages 6 and 17 — about 4.5 million children — have been diagnosed with ADHD, and two-thirds of those take medicine to control their symptoms.  Those are the "Official Numbers"  I've seen unofficial numbers twice as high, considering the vast majority are boys, depending on who's numbers you trust, as many as one in five boys might have ADHD..... Does anyone rember the old line "Boys will be Boys"?

Where's the lline

Teachers should grade parents, a state Senator says (files another version of parent-grading bill)  Is the title of an article in the Orlando Sentinel by lesliepostal, Leslie concludes her article with an  observation, one that I consider important.

Tyler

Like Stargel’s bill, Storms is sure to raise questions about a Big Brother attitude and government intrusion. Because , based on comments on Stargel’s proposal, even parents on top of the school-involvement game didn’t seem to like lawmakers inserting themselves in such private matters ( though there were readers who applauded the representatives efforts to hold parents, and not just schools, accountable)


Most of you remember the story the My Grandson Tyler, about the death of an eight year old boy named Tyler who passed away early the morning after Christmas. Tyler had been taking a drug called Metadate (a trade name for Ritalin), at the request of his school. An important part of the story dealt with how Tyler's parent's felt pressured by the school to medicate their son. It would be easy to dismiss that as a one teacher. one school, one mistake. Shortly after the blog was published it became clear that wasn't the case.. These are quotes are from some of the comments readers posted on the story:

This is incredibly sad. I had experienced the same pressures from the faculty when my oldest son was around 10, they even had the audacity to present a 'permission slip' to have him evaluated, to medicate him in my absence, and that I had everything explained to me and I understood everything including advserse affects and that I assume all responsibility.................... Lefty

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..........The next week I got another call at work, same thing, I again refused. And again I told them to take him out of gifted, again they refused. The following week came the third call, again at work, except this time I was essentially accused of neglect for not being willing to have my son tested and being a bad mother for wanting him out of gifted. I was brow-beaten to the point that I agreed to do a 'home assessment', a multipaged questionaire though I still refused to take him to the doctor.......

.........The most disturbing part of it all was the persistence of the school in their quest to have him diagnosed as ADHD. And not even because of behavior problems but because he wasn't getting the grades they thought he should have been............... Fast Z

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I too had two boys that the school had wanted me to put on medication for ADHD. I complide, for their benefit. My boys were Zombies, I chose to take them off of the medication....... justlisa1121

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The school system "suggested" I have my Daughter and later my son medicated. My answer can not be posted here...Keep in mind this was the same school system that said my Daughter was either gifted or retarded........................... Captain Black Eagle

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.................The other thing is the over use of medication to control children's behavior. We have had experience with it and know that best solution to hyper activity is activity. Focused activity. One child the school wanted to medicate but sports worked better. Same with a grand child. It is amazing how focused they can be on the ball field or up in a tree stand. It is amazing how much energy is used when you make em run a few laps around the neighborhood.............. Aquagrump

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Those quotes are from comments readers posted publicly, I received many more in emails and private messages from members of various opinion forums where discuss news, politics and comment.  Reality for Eve a member of one of those forums pointed me in the direction of a website,  Fight for Kids, dedicated to the issue.  If you are one of the many parents feeling pressured to medicate your child, I suggest you pay the site a visit.   
 
Do I believe that schools or teachers are evil, as one commentor on My Grandson Tyler suggested?  Not at all.  What I believe is well intended state legislatures have already given the schools a great deal of power over the lives of American Parents.  The perception of most parents, and some teachers and educators is they have more authority than the actually do.  The purpose of public education is assist parents in teaching our children what they must know to understand the world around them.  It's purpose is not to replace, judge or supersede parents.

Most parents are supportive of our schools and teachers, especially teachers they know, this is how it should be.  For many years our legislatures and local districts have given the schools most of what they've asked for, including larger more attractive building, smaller class sizes, better pay and benefits, Believe it or not Air Conditioning was a major and expensive improvement, those old classrooms used to be miserable in early fall and summer.  We've also our schools an increasing amount of authority over our lives and the lives of our children.  As Tyler's story shows, even well intended over reach of authority can have tragic results.

Kids talk to each other about their report cards, if teachers start grading parents that's going to be hot topic of discussion..  It doesn't take much imagination

"Hey Mary, heard your mommy flunked being a mommy, wait till my mommy hears that". 

Within minutes of the kids getting home from school, Mary's mom's entire neighborhood, family, friends, church, boss and her auto mechanic know Mary's mom is a failure.  Sooner or later it will find it's way into her credit report.  What if Mary's Mom's only offense was to "Say No to Drugs" that a well intentioned teacher strongly believed to be in the childs best interests.

It's easy to say it won't happen because, "it would be against the rules" or "it would be unethical'.  Believe me, it will happen.  Human nature is what it is, if you give people power and authorty they will use it, it's inevitable some will overuse it, believing under some circumstances it's justified.  A few will absolutely abuse it.   If this law passes, how many parents will have the courage, and the resources, to risk questioning The System ?  I don't believe most teachers will want any part of this, but some will, and those are the ones who we should already be worrying about.

Is it worth the risk, where do we draw the line?