Ritalin Caused “Long-Lasting Changes” in Brain Function “Similar to Those that Occur with Cocaine”
"There is no such thing as a Ritalin deficiency." Harms from ADHD drugs are many, and effects from higher doses are severe. Get verifiable research and alternatives that resolve the underlying issues.
Contents
ADHD Drugs
ADHD Diagnosis is Severely Flawed
Essential Points
Evidence of Harm
Alternatives & Considerations
Context: See how this subject fits in the bigger picture, and get links to related topics
ADHD Drugs
Drugs prescribed for ADHD include the following.
Stimulant ADHD drugs include Adderall, Amphetamines, Aptensio, Concerta, Cylert*, Daytrana, Desoxyn, Detroamphetamine Sulfate, Dexedrine, Dextrostat, Dyanavel, Evekeo, Focalin, Metadate, Methamphetamine, Methylin, Methylphenidate, Pemoline*, ProCentra, QuilliChew, Quillvant, Provigil, Ritalin, and Vyvanse. [source and source and source and source]
Ritalin is a brand name for methylphenidate. This drug is also sold under the names: Adhansia, Aptensio, Concerta, Cotempla, Daytrana, Jornay, Metadate, Methylin, Quillivant, and Quillichew. [source]
Nonstimulant ADHD drugs include Atomoxetine, Clonidine, Guanfacine, Intuniv, Kapvay, and Strattera (an SNRI). [source and source and source]
*Note
A drug that has been used for ADHD for 30 years is being discontinued. [A consumer group] petitioned the FDA, asking the agency to ban pemoline, also sold under the trade name Cylert, because of reported cases of liver damage in users. – NBC News, 2005
Medical Researchers Admit Not Knowing How the Drugs Function in Children’s Bodies
Psychostimulants have become the primary treatment for those diagnosed with ADHD… The NIH noted that the growing prescription of these drugs for… ADHD has led to intensified concerns about their potential overuse and abuse… The use of stimulant-type drugs to treat ADHD has grown despite a lack of understanding of their therapeutic action. Methylphenidate and amphetamines are stimulants of the central nervous system (10 milligrams of Ritalin are equivalent to 5 milligrams of amphetamine), yet in patients with ADHD the drugs have a paradoxical effect and reduce the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Researchers acknowledge that stimulants’ method of action in treating ADHD is not well understood… [One researcher and psychiatrist] said of methylphenidate: ‘As a psychiatrist, sometimes I feel embarrassed [about the lack of knowledge] because this is, by far, the drug we prescribe most frequently to children.' – Richard Gale & Dr. Gary Null link
ADHD Diagnosis is Severely Flawed
Subjective and Unreliable (Unreplicable) Diagnosis Used to Drug Children
You can take this same difficult child to ten psychiatrists and come back with ten different diagnoses. But no matter what the diagnosis is, they all put him on Ritalin. – Psychiatrist Abram Hoffer MD, PhD, Stop ADD Naturally (quoted on pg 9), 2010 link and link
ADHD Diagnosis: Unscientific, Many Flaws
The diagnosis of ADHD remains far less objective than that of [conditions] where specific tools such as blood tests, x-rays and sonograms are used to determine the presence of the disorder… Furthermore, the answers provided by parents and teachers on behavior rating scales—to questions such as how much a child fidgets or whether he/she is easily distracted—are subjective. What one person views as distractibility another may view as natural inquisitiveness…. [Another] question asks whether the child “actively defies or refuses to comply with adults’ requests.” In some life situations, though, disobedience is a virtue… Another problem with the ADHD diagnosis is that it may apply a medical label to behaviors that fall at one end of a spectrum of normal patterns… To add to the complexity, approximately 65% of patients with ADHD may have one or more co-morbid disorders, such as anxiety, communication, mood, conduct, oppositional defiant and learning disorders and Tourette’s syndrome. – Richard Gale & Dr. Gary Null link
Evidence of Harm
Ritalin Caused “Long-Lasting Changes” in Brain Function “Similar to Those that Occur with Cocaine” — “Scientists at the University at Buffalo have shown that the drug methylphenidate, the generic form of Ritalin, which physicians have considered to have only short-term effects, appears to initiate changes in brain function that remain after the therapeutic effects have dissipated. The changes appear to be similar to those that occur with other stimulant drugs such as amphetamine and cocaine, said Joan Baizer, Ph.D.”
As is Typical when an Unbiased Meta-Analysis is Conducted, it Becomes Apparent that Publication Bias Was Employed to Get Regulatory Approval; Unbiased Research Demonstrates Lack of Efficacy, Harm Greater than Benefit — “We included 62 randomized trials that involved a total of 2,897 participants with a primary diagnosis of ADD (e.g., with or without hyperactivity). The median age of trial participants was 8.7 years… The extension of this placebo-controlled effect beyond 4 weeks of treatment [of methylphenidate] has not been demonstrated… apparent beneficial effects are tempered by a strong indication of publication bias and the lack of robustness of the findings… Methylphenidate also has an adverse event profile that requires consideration.” See also: Alliance for Human Research Protection Oct 25, 2005 Alert: “The largest meta-analysis (September, 2005) by the Oregon Drug Effectiveness Review Project (ODER) findings confirm earlier independent reviews. The 27 drugs studied included Adderall, Concerta, Strattera, Ritalin, Focalin, Cylert, Provigil, and others… The group analyzed 2,287 studies – virtually every investigation ever done on ADHD drugs anywhere in the world – to reach its conclusions: ODER found no evidence to support the claims about these drugs’ safety or the legitimacy of the ADHD diagnosis.” See also: Children’s Mental Health Crisis: ADHD and Treatments That Are Worse Than the Condition; “One often cited study… the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD, lasted 14 months. In this clinical trial, 64% of children, aged 7 to 9.9 years, were reported to have side effects from ADHD medications… The authors say that six of the 11 severe side effects — such as depression, worrying and irritability— ‘could have been due to nonmedication factors.’ But as psychiatrist Peter Breggin, M.D., points out, placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trials have shown that the three side effects mentioned above are common adverse reactions to stimulants.”
Harms from ADHD Drugs are Many, and Effects from Higher Doses are Severe — “Adverse events [included]… decreased appetite… insomnia… stomachache… drowsiness… dizziness… Nervousness, headache, insomnia, anorexia and rapid hearbeat [tachycardia] increase linearly with dose, while overdoses can cause agitation, hallucinations, psychosis, lethargy, seizures, tachycardia, dysrhythmias, hypertension and hyperthermia.” See also: Side Effects of ADHD Drugs: “There have been 61 warnings from nine countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States) warning that ADHD drugs cause harmful side effects.” See also: A Dose-Response Study of OROS Methylphenidate in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; “Younger and smaller children were more likely to display sleep difficulties and decreased appetite at the higher dose levels.”
Young Children Aged 4-6 Put on ADHD Drugs Suffered “Severe Social Withdrawal, Increased Crying, and Irritability” — “A study of even younger children, aged 4 to 6… raises serious questions about the growing use of stimulants in preschoolers. In this study of 11 young children with developmental disabilities and ADHD, five who took methyplenidate experienced significant adverse effects, such as severe social withdrawal, increased crying, and irritability, especially at the higher dose… The researchers state that ‘this population appears to be especially susceptible to adverse drug side effects.'” [source]
ADHD Drugs Can Be Abused, Including Crushing Pills to Be Snorted; Overdosing Causes Hallucinations, Psychosis, Lethargy, Seizures, Fast Heart Rate, Irregular Heartbeat, Hypertension and More — “Side effects during therapy, which include nervousness, headache, insomnia, anorexia, and tachycardia, increase linearly with dose. Clinical manifestations of overdoses include agitation, hallucinations, psychosis, lethargy, seizures, tachycardia [fast heart rate], dysrhythmias [irregular heartbeat], hypertension [high blood pressure], and hyperthermia. Methylphenidate tablets can be abused orally, or they can be crushed and the powder injected or snorted.”
Animal Studies Showed Long-Term Exposure to ADHD Drugs Decreased Positive Experiences & Increased Anxiousness — “Chronic exposure to [ADHD drug] during development leads to decreased sensitivity to rewarding stimuli and results in enhanced responsivity to aversive situations.”
Long-Term Use of ADHD Drugs Increases Risk of High Blood Pressure & Heart Disease — “The results of this population-based case-control study with a… follow-up of 14 years suggested that long-term use of ADHD medication was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, especially hypertension and arterial disease, and the risk was higher for stimulant medications.”
“High Doses of ADHD Drugs Linked to Higher Risks of Psychosis and Mania” — “Researchers at McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School, found that people taking high doses of the stimulant amphetamine, the active ingredient in ADHD drugs such as Adderall, face a 5.3-fold higher chance of experiencing a psychotic or manic episode. ‘Stimulant medications don’t have an upper dose limit on their labels,’ Dr. Lauren Moran, a pharmacoepidemiology researcher at McLean Hospital and lead author of the study, said.”
Children Being Overdrugged; In One Area Studied, “By Fifth Grade, 18% to 20% of Caucasian Boys Were Taking ADHD Drugs” — “One study found that the use of psychotropic medications among young people had reached nearly adult utilization rates, with stimulants ranked first in the three groups examined. Another study reported sizable increases in the use of stimulants and other medications among even 2- to 4-year-olds. Perhaps most disconcerting is a four-year analysis of the use of stimulants in an area of North Carolina which found that the majority of 9- to 16-year-old children who took these medications had never had any impairing ADHD symptoms reported by their parents. They did have nonimpairing symptoms and behaviors that were classified as ADHD, but ‘these typically fell far below the threshold for a DSM-III-R diagnosis of ADHD,’ say the researchers. One study finding evidence of overdiagnosis was conducted in southeastern Virginia, where the incidence of grade-school children receiving ADHD medications was two to three times as high as the expected rate of the disorder. By fifth grade, 18% to 20% of Caucasian boys were taking ADHD drugs.” See also: Ritalin and Prozac: More Kids Using Both Drugs; “The 1990s saw a dramatic rise in the number of children and adolescents receiving Ritalin-type stimulant drugs and Prozac-type antidepressants among a population of children studied by researchers… The study also documents the rise of… kids who are prescribed both kinds of drugs at the same time.”
See Also: How to Safely Discontinue ADHD Medications like Adderall without Depression — Dr. Will Cole video
Mind-Altering Drugs, Central Nervous System Stimulants
The ADHD protocols of conventional medicine… use subjective methods of diagnosis and mind-altering pharmaceuticals such as Ritalin and Adderall. Although these drugs are central nervous system stimulants, in the case of ADHD they have the paradoxical effect of calming the patient… They also put the… children and adolescents at risk of the adverse effects associated with these drugs, particularly methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate, Focalin, Methylin). The negative effects range from insomnia and decreased appetite to movement disorders such as tics and the stunting of children’s growth. – Richard Gale & Dr. Gary Null link
Suggestion to “Try” a Drug and “See if It Helps”?
Dr. Leonard Sax, who is both a physician and a psychologist, says in the New York Times, ‘The next time you hear a doctor say, with regard to prescribing stimulant medications, ‘let’s try it and see whether it helps,’ I suggest that you run – do not walk – to the nearest exit’. – Dr. Sircus
Alternatives & Considerations
Symptoms that have been diagnosed as ADHD (or any other condition) did not arise due to a deficiency of Ritalin (or other pharmaceuticals). Drugs cannot resolve the cause, and therefore cannot heal the condition. [source and source]
The primary intention of effective ADHD therapies is to eliminate allergens and toxins, and to resolve nutritional deficiencies. [source and source]
The underlying factors behind ADHD are the following. [source and source]
Food and additive allergies
Low-protein/high-carbohydrate diets
Individual children may have various responses to food additives, toxins and nutritional deficiencies. The most efficient way to identify causal factors for individual children may be to conduct nutritional experiments and elimination diets, and to observe the effects on symptoms. [source]
The Cause of Issues isn’t From a Lack of Pharmaceuticals
There is no such thing as a Ritalin deficiency. – Billie J. Sahley PhD link and link
Primary Intention of Therapies: Eliminate Allergens and Resolve Nutritional Deficiencies
Many nonpharmaceutical approaches to ADHD focus on eliminating food and environmental allergens that trigger symptoms and using nutrient supplements to address deficiencies and provide the body with nutritional support. – Richard Gale & Dr. Gary Null link
The Underlying Factors Behind ADHD
Numerous studies suggest that biochemical heterogeneous etiologies for ADHD cluster around at least 8 risk factors: food and additive allergies, heavy metal toxicity and other environmental toxins, low-protein/high-carbohydrate diets, mineral imbalances, essential fatty acid and phospholipid deficiencies, amino acid deficiencies, thyroid disorders, and B-vitamin deficiencies. – Karen L. Harding et al link
73% of Children Diagnosed with ADHD Reacted to Many Food, Dyes, and Preservatives
This investigation evaluated 26 children who meet the criteria for ADHD. Treatment with a multiple item elimination diet showed 19 children (73%)… reacted to many foods, dyes, and/or preservatives. A double-blind placebo controlled food challenge was completed in 16 children…. This study demonstrates a beneficial effect of eliminating reactive foods and artificial colors in children with ADHD. Dietary factors may play a significant role in the etiology of the majority of children with ADHD. – M. Boris & F. S. Mandel link
Individual Children Can Have Differening Responses to Food Additives, Toxins, and Nutritional Deficiencies
Nutritional factors such as food additives, refined sugars, food sensitivities/allergies, and fatty acid deficiencies have all been linked to ADHD. There is increasing evidence that many children with behavioral problems are sensitive to one or more food components that can negatively impact their behavior. Individual response is an important factor for determining the proper approach in treating children with ADHD. In general, diet modification plays a major role in the management of ADHD. – Roseanne Schnoll et al link
Context, Organized Curation
This article is a subset of a vast resource curation on the failure and corruption of establishment medicine. See here for the entire collation, or select links below to focus on an individual subject.
The subject matter above is an excerpt from Cause of Harm. ADHD drugs are one of the types of drugs covered there.
Failed Health Outcomes — The U.S. spends nearly twice the per-capita amount on healthcare than the next highest spender, yet Americans are the most chronically ill, and rank 48th in life expectancy, among other countries. In addition, medical misdiagnosis causes permanent harm and death to 795,000 people every year.
Verifiably Corrupt — Establishment medicine as a system* is verifiably corrupt, and structured to serve the interests of industry — not health. (*Obviously, not every individual working in establishment medicine is unethical. Rather, the system that educated / indoctrinated them, and that sets policy, hires, pays, and promotes them is verifiably corrupted.)
Not Evidence/Science-Based — The bulk of establishment medicine’s standard of care is not based on unbiased, reproducible science. (We prove it here.)
Regulatory & Professional Betrayal — Government agencies entrusted to regulate the field of medicine fail to do so. The majority of influential professional organizations such as the American Medical Association are corrupted by industry.
Cause of Harm: Evidence by Drug, Treatment, and Test — Establishment medicine providers routinely utilize diagnostic testing and “treatments” that have harmful (“adverse”, “side”) effects, some of which have a high risk of severe consequences. Get verifiable evidence of the harms, organized by drug, treatment, or test (mammograms, CT scans, antibiotics, statins, benzos, etc).
Drug & Vaccine Harms: Organized by Illness or Symptom — Review an illness or symptom of interest, and quickly identify drugs and vaccines that may have caused it (e.g. depression, infertility, kidney issues, nervous system disorder, seizure, etc).
Failed Strategies; Suppressing Symptoms vs. Resolving Cause — The philosophies and strategies used by establishment medicine are dysfunctional and irrational, including a focus on suppressing symptoms rather than understanding them. Providers do not seek to identify and resolve root causes of illness. Diagnosis is simply an exercise in naming groupings of symptoms, disconnected from their purpose and message.
Stifling Treatments That Don’t Enrich Industry — Healing modalities that don’t benefit industry are underutilized, suppressed, and disparaged. Providers who are perceived as a threat to establishment dictates or lucrative markets are condemned, intimidated and attacked.
Suppressed Cancer Treatments — Cancer treatments that don’t benefit establishment medicine are ignored and disparaged. This curation of more than 150 clinical studies and testimonials provides quick access to documented cancer reversal and recovery successes.
The Significance of Legal Precedent — Legal precedent, breach of duty, and “standard of care” are significant factors in the state of the medical industry.
Alternatives & Considerations — Alternatives, considerations, and what you can do.