RITALIN

Ritalin is a central nervous system stimulant that is claimed to have a “calming” effect on children. Ritalin has also been found to have a lower incidence of side-effects compared to dextroamphetamine, a less commonly prescribed medication.

Interestingly, the way Ritalin helps people with ADHD is not well understood.  Really, there are only theories.  Some researchers think that ADHD is caused by a dopamine imbalance in the brain.

In the US, Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance – a designation used for substances that have a recognized medical value but which have a high potential for abuse because of their addictiveness.

According to MedicineNet, commonly reported side effects include irritability, difficulty sleeping (which can lead in turn to other problems), loss of appetite, nervousness, depression, stomach aches, headaches, dry mouth, blurry vision, nausea, pupil dilation, dizziness, drowsiness, and motor tics or tremors.

Side Effects

Other side effects reported include hypersensitivity, anorexia, palpitations, blood pressure and pulse changes, cardiac arrhythmia, anemia, scalp hair loss, bruxism (teeth grinding), jaw clenching and toxic psychosis.

There have also been reports of abnormal liver function, cerebral arteritis, leukopenia, and death.

In February 2005, a team of researchers from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center led by R.A. El-Zein announced that a study of 12 children indicated that methylphenidate may be carcinogenic. In the study, 12 children were given standard therapeutic doses of methylphenidate. At the conclusion of the 3 month study, all 12 children displayed significant, treatment induced chromosomal aberrations.

Risk of death

There have been at least 19 cases of sudden death in children taking methylphenidate, leading to calls by the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee to the FDA to require the most serious type of health warning on the label, but this advice was rejected.

On February 9, 2006, the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted by a margin of eight to seven to recommend a "black-box" warning describing the cardiovascular risks of stimulant drugs used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On March 22, 2006 the FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee decided that the medications do not need "black box" warnings about their risks. The FDA declined to include these black box warnings upon review.

Some people abuse Ritalin – making the effect more similar to that of cocaine or amphetamine and such abuse is probably more likely to lead to addiction.

A new concern, raised by a small-scale 2005 study, is that methylphenidate might cause chromosome abnormalities, and suggested that further research is warranted considering the established link between chromosome aberrations and cancer and considering that all the children in this study showed suspicious DNA changes within a very short time.