Stimulant Meds for ADHD

Stimulant medications (eg. Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Focalin, Dexedrine, Metadate, Methylin, Vyvanse) are the mainstay of medical treatment for ADHD. They have proven quite effective in controlling the symptoms of ADHD with relatively minor and manageable side effects.

There is however some disturbing findings coming from research initiated at Harvard Medical School by Dr. William Carlezon. Investigators have discovered that juvenile laboratory animals given stimulant medications display a loss of motivation when they grow up. These animals look normal, but they are lazy. Further investigations at the Univ. of Michigan, Medical School of South Carolina, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Brown Univ., Tufts Univ. and UCLA as well as schools in Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands have concluded that exposing young animals to these medications – even at low doses for short periods of time – can cause permanent damage to the nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain that is responsible for translating motivation into actions. (Dr. Leonard Sax – Boys Adrift – Basic Books 2007)

These studies are still in the early stages. The risks are not proven. Researchers do not know for sure whether the damage caused in the brains of animal also occur in children who take the same meds.

Stay tuned.