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ADHD Drug Abuse Rising Among Teens

November 13th, 2009

From WebMD.com:

The abuse of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs by teenagers is growing, according to a new study.

Researchers found calls to poison control centers for adolescent ADHD prescription drug abuse increased out of proportion to other poison center calls in recent years, which suggests a growing problem with abuse of these stimulant drugs.

The study, published in Pediatrics, tracked calls to U.S. poison control centers from 1998 to 2005 among 13- to 19-year-olds.

“Calls related to teenaged victims of prescription ADHD medication abuse rose 76%, which is faster than calls for victims of substance abuse generally and teen substance abuse,” write researcher Jennifer Setlik, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and colleagues.

ADHD affects between 8% and 12% of children and 4% of adults worldwide, and there has been a significant increase in the sale of stimulant drugs designed to treat the condition in recent years.

Overall, researchers say the sharp rise in ADHD drug abuse mirrored a similar increase in the prescription numbers among teens, but the abuse of certain types of ADHD drugs is outpacing sales.

There are two main types of stimulant ADHD drugs: methylphenidates and amphetamines.

During the eight-year study period, calls by teens to poison control centers for all types of stimulant ADHD drug abuse rose by 76%. During the same period, prescriptions for these medications for 10- to 19-year-olds rose by 86%.

But the percentage of poison center calls related to amphetamine ADHD drugs, such as Adderall, rose from 22% to 70%, which outpaced sales of these ADHD drugs.

Researchers say most adolescents use their ADHD drugs appropriately, but the growing popularity of these drugs is fueling a similar growth in the abuse of these drugs because more have access to the medicine

Fish oils help ADHD patients

September 14th, 2009

Dr. Perlmutter’s comment: Keep in mind that DHA is widely available as a vegetarian product, derived from algae. We use DHA aggresively and successfully in treating ADHD.

From OilofPisces.com:

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifests itself by the inability to concentrate in a sustained manner, control impulsive actions, and pay attention to tasks. Hyperactivity and oppositional/defiant behavior are other symptoms of ADHD, which affects as many as 7% of children in the United States, mostly boys. About 70% if children with ADHD continue to experience ADHD-related problems as adults. Several clinical studies have noted that ADHD patients have a deficiency of omega-3 long chain fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the main components of fish oil. It is also clear that ADHD patients have a very high ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to EPA.

Depression often accompanies ADHD and an increased AA:EPA ratio correlates positively with severity of depression. The prevalence of depression is very low in Japan and so is the average AA:EPA ratio which ranges from about 1.3 to 3. In comparison, US boys with ADHD usually have AA:EPA ratios of 30 or higher. Researchers at the Inflammation Research Foundation and the Hallowell Center reasoned that it might be possible to reduce ADHD symptoms by fish oil supplementation using dosages sufficient to bring the AA:EPA ratio down to the Japanese level and carried out a pilot study to investigate this possibility.

The study involved 6 boys and 3 girls who had been diagnosed with ADHD and were under the care of a psychiatrist. The median AA:EPA ratio in isolated plasma phospholipids was 20 at the start of the study. All study participants were instructed to take 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of a liquid concentrate of EPA and DHA supplying a total of 10.8 grams EPA and 5.4 grams of DHA a day. After 4 weeks, the AA:EPA ratio was measured again and the EPA+DHA dosage adjusted to ensure an AA:EPA ratio of no less than about 1.5. At the end of the 8-week trial the median AA:EPA ratio was 1.7 as compared to 20 at baseline. Also over the 8-week period, EPA concentration in phospholipids increased by a factor of 10, while DHA concentration tripled. AA concentration did not change significantly. Commensurate with the decrease in AA:EPA ratio, a highly significant reduction in ADHD symptoms was observed by both the psychiatrist and parents. Inattention score fell from 18 to 10, hyperactivity score from 11 to 5, oppositional/defiant score from 10 to 5, and conduct disorder score from 5 to 1. The researchers conclude that high-dose EPA+DHA supplementation is effective in reducing the AA:EPA ratio, and markedly reduces the most common symptoms of ADHD.
Sorgi, PJ, et al. Effects of an open-label pilot study with high-dose EPA/DHA concentrates on plasma phospholipids and behavior in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nutrition Journal, Vol. 6, 2007, pp. 16-23

Magnesium Deficiency Linked to ADD and ADHD in Children

August 13th, 2009

From NaturalNews.com:

Our children are born into a world where conditions like Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are diagnosed at an escalating rate. These conditions are often hastily medicated while parents are given a few vague lifestyle suggestions, with the main advice being to accept the condition and the bottles of pharmaceutical drugs it requires. Many parents and care givers are unsatisfied with this type of solution, and understandably seek out natural treatments for their children. One crucial step in naturally treating ADD and ADHD is to make sure your child is getting enough magnesium.

Compared to past generations, we live in plentiful times where food and shelter are readily available. Yet today’s children are more prone to magnesium deficiency than ever before. This happens for two primary reasons:

Stress. The number of stressors in our children’s lives is unprecedented and seems to increase with each generation. Think about it: soccer practice, body image, loud music, math exams, peer pressure, disturbing images and events that occur every day – our children are being hit with stress from every possible angle. And children who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD deal with a level of stressors even more difficult to face.

This never ending stress, with its accompanying flood of adrenaline, drains the body of magnesium because this mineral is essential to the release of hormones like adrenaline. Since magnesium is used to calm the nervous system, the more stress children experience, the more magnesium their bodies use.

Poor nutrition. Children’s diets today are filled with processed foods, refined sugars and food additives. This type of diet depletes children of magnesium in two ways. First, this diet is extremely low in magnesium to begin with. Secondly, refined sugars and food additives can actually stress the nervous system, causing the body to use up magnesium supplies as it tries to counteract this effect.

Junk sugars and food additives are known to contribute to ADD and hyperactivity because they stimulate the nervous system and cause blood sugar fluctuations. Improving the diet is one of the most effective ways of dealing with ADD and ADHD in children. By replacing junk foods with nutrient-dense alternatives, you can naturally increase your child’s magnesium intake in addition to giving all of the important benefits of eating a balanced diet.

How Magnesium Calms Hyperactivity Symptoms

Magnesium relaxes the mind. The body uses magnesium to facilitate sending messages throughout our nervous system. Magnesium is also used to calm the nervous system, which is doubly important in children with hyperactivity disorders. With the right amount of magnesium present in the body, children can think clearer and concentrate better. Magnesium is also a key factor in the production of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter that provides a feeling of calm and well-being. Low levels of serotonin are associated with irritability, moodiness and depression.

Magnesium relaxes the body. Magnesium is essential for the relaxation of muscle fibers. Without this essential mineral, spasms and twitches are a common problem. Magnesium helps muscles in the body relax and function properly without disturbances. When the body feels calm, it is easier for hyperactive children to behave calmly.

Of course, there are dozens of other health benefits that come with getting plenty of magnesium, and here are just a few examples:

- Magnesium is essential in regulating blood sugar, which can prevent highs and lows.

- It helps absorb and utilize other important minerals and nutrients.

- It activates enzymes that manage energy production, nutrient absorption, hormone production, and much more.

- It’s a powerful antioxidant that protects the body from free radical damage.

All of these factors can improve the overall health of our children and help manage conditions like ADD and hyperactivity.

Find Foods Rich in Natural Magnesium

The best way to increase your child’s magnesium intake is through food. Roughly fifty percent of the magnesium found in food is absorbed and utilized by the body, which is a much higher percentage than magnesium in supplement form. Choose organic foods whenever possible, as organic practices often increase magnesium content in foods. Here is a list of foods naturally rich in magnesium:

- Kelp
- Green vegetables (like broccoli)
- Whole-grain wheat, rice, oats, and rye
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Brazil nuts
- Pumpkin seeds
- Molasses
- Brewer’s yeast
- Buckwheat
- Peanuts
- Pecans
- Tofu

Magnesium Supplements for Children

Although a nutritious diet rich in magnesium is suggested in all cases, most parents of hyperactive children find it helpful to supplement with additional magnesium. The easiest way to give a child magnesium is to use magnesium citrate powder, which can mix easily in pure fruit juice without much influence on the taste.

How much magnesium a child should take varies, but the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of magnesium for children is:

Ages 1-3: 80 mg
Ages 4-8: 130 mg
Ages 9-13: 240 mg

The common method is to give a child no more than their RDA in supplement form (magnesium from food does not have to be limited at all). But some experts like Dr. Leo Galland, author of Superimmunity for Kids, say hyperactive children may need as much as 6 mg per pound of body weight per day.

In either case, start at a low dose and increase over a period of days to avoid digestive upsets. Dividing the full amount into 2-4 doses per day is recommended for optimal absorption. Loose stools may be a sign that a child is taking too much magnesium overall, or simply that the amount needs to be divided into smaller doses. If the child is already taking divided doses and still experiences frequent loose stools, then the dosage level should be lowered.

Another way to slightly boost children’s magnesium intake is to add a cupful of Epsom salts to their evening bath. This has an incredibly calming, detoxifying effect that is especially beneficial for hyperactive children.

Remember that eliminating magnesium deficiency in children is a multi-step process: work to remove stressors that cause magnesium deficiency, avoid processed junk foods and refined sugars, eat nutritious foods rich in natural minerals, and use supplemental magnesium as needed. Implementing all of these elements can dynamically change your child’s physical and mental health, and can be a healing balm for the entire family.

ADHD Drugs May Pose Danger to Children with Heart Conditions

July 28th, 2009

From NaturalNews.com:

Children should get a heart exam before they start any drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), because those drugs may raise the risk of sudden cardiac death in children with preexisting heart conditions, the American Heart Association has said in the journal Circulation.

The recommendations came from a special panel that the association drafted to look into the connection between ADHD drugs and heart problems.

“There’s been concern that these drugs might be associated in a very small number of individuals’ sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death,” said panel leader Dr. Victoria Vetter of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

ADHD drugs such as methylphenidate, known more commonly by the brand name Ritalin, are central nervous system stimulants. In children with ADHD, they can have a calming and focusing effect. But such stimulants are also known to raise blood pressure and heart rate, which can be dangerous for people with preexisting heart conditions.

“There’s no registry in the country to determine how many young people are dying from sudden cardiac arrest and what they might have causing that – and similarly how many of those who die might be on these medications,” Vetter said.

Due to the lack of good data on the risk, the American Heart Association decided to take a cautious position and recommend electrocardiograms for all children before they start ADHD treatment with stimulants.

An electrocardiogram can detect the abnormalities in heart rhythm that can predispose people to sudden cardiac death.

“It won’t pick up every one. There will be some false positives,” Vetter said. “But it’s a relatively inexpensive and simple test that doesn’t hurt the children in any way and it will let us identify some of these children and know that they have heart conditions.”

The association recommended that children currently receiving ADHD drugs also undergo electrocardiogram screening.

ADHD Genes Found, Known To Play Roles In Neurodevelopment

July 6th, 2009

From ScienceDaily.com:

Pediatric researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that occur more frequently in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in children without ADHD. Many of those genes were already known to be important for learning, behavior, brain function and neurodevelopment, but had not been previously associated with ADHD. “Because the gene alterations we found are involved in the development of the nervous system, they may eventually guide researchers to better targets in designing early intervention for children with ADHD,” said lead author Josephine Elia, M.D., a psychiatrist and ADHD expert at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Unlike changes to single DNA bases, called SNPs or “snips,” the alterations examined in the current study are broader changes in structure. Called copy number variations (CNVs), they are missing or repeated stretches of DNA. CNVs have recently been found to play significant roles in many diseases, including autism and schizophrenia Everyone has CNVs in their DNA, but not all of the variations occur in locations that affect the function of a gene. The current study is the first to investigate the role of CNVs in ADHD.

Individually, each CNV may be rare, but taken together, a combination of changes in crucial regions may interact to raise an individual’s risk for a specific disease. “When we began this study in 2003, we expected to find a handful of genes that predispose a child to ADHD,” said study co-leader Peter S. White, Ph.D., a molecular geneticist and director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Children’s Hospital. “Instead, there may be hundreds of genes involved, only some of which are changed in each person. But if those genes act on similar pathways, you may end up with a similar result—ADHD. This may also help to explain why children with ADHD often present clinically with slightly different symptoms.”

ADHD is the most common neuropsychiatric disorder in children, affecting an estimated 1 in 20 children worldwide. It may include hyperactive behavior, impulsivity and inattentive symptoms, with impaired skills in planning, organizing, and maintaining focus. Its cause is unknown, but it is known from family studies to be strongly influenced by genetics.

Drawing on DNA samples from the Children’s Hospital pediatric network, the researchers analyzed genomes from 335 ADHD patients and their families, compared to more than 2,000 unrelated healthy children. The team used highly automated gene-analyzing technology at the Center for Applied Genomics at Children’s Hospital, directed by Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., a co-leader of this study.

The study team found a similar quantity of CNVs in both groups. However, distinct patterns emerged. Among 222 inherited CNVs found in ADHD families but not in healthy subjects, a significant number were in genes previously identified in other neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome. The CNVs found in ADHD families also altered genes important in psychological and neurological functions such as learning, behavior, synaptic transmission and nervous system development.

“We took a systems biology approach, grouping genes into groups with common functions,” said White. “We found that the sets of genes more likely to be changed in ADHD patients and families affected functions that made sense biologically.” For instance, said White, the team found four deletions of DNA in a gene recently linked to restless legs syndrome, a type of sleep disorder common in adults with ADHD.

Another deletion occurred in a gene for a glutamate receptor. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter, a protein that carries signals in the brain. While ADHD medications act on dopamine and serotonin, which are also neurotransmitters, this new finding may suggest an important role for glutamate as well, at least for some ADHD patients.

“As we delve into the genetics of very complex diseases such as ADHD, we find many contributing genes, often differing from one family to another,” added White. “Studying the functions of different genes allows us to identify biological pathways that may be involved in this neuropsychiatric disorder.”

Some of the biological pathways involved in ADHD may also be common to other neurological conditions, say the researchers. Likewise, there is some overlap among the CNVs found in ADHD that also occur in autism, schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. This overlap was not surprising, said Elia, because ADHD patients frequently also have one of more of these disorders. However, as researchers learn more about specific genes in neurological conditions, the hope is that researchers might in the future personalize treatments to a patient’s own genetic profile, to achieve more targeted, specific therapies.

Elia and White stressed that much further work must be done before genetic findings lead to ADHD treatments.

The National Institutes of Health provided grant support for the study, as did the University of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Cotswold Foundation and the ADHD: Climbing to a Cure Foundation. Elia, White and Hakonarson all are faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Penn). Xiaowu Gai, Ph.D., of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Children’s Hospital, was a co-first author with Elia. Other collaborators were from Children’s Hospital and Penn.