Personally I don't think there's a need to ban Adderall, as in Canada. I think we just need to be more careful in prescribing it. Maybe require heart scans and/or EKG's before prescribing it to check overall cardiovascular health.

It's pretty much a no-brainer. Adderall is a stimulant. Stimulants increased blood pressure. Think about it! In those children with an increased risk for heart disease, there is going to be an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in children taking these drugs.

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"FDA warns about hyperactivity drug risks

Link to child deaths prompts Canada to ban Adderall

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that people with heart problems should not take the hyperactivity drug Adderall, and studies may be done to see if it raises risk in others, a top official at the agency said on Thursday.





The FDA is aware that children have died after taking the drug, but cannot tell whether the rate is higher than it is in the general population, said Dr. Robert Temple, director of the FDA’s Office of Medical Policy.

“There is a background rate of sudden death in children,” he said.

Canadian regulators on Thursday suspended sales of Adderall XR, a drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) made by Britain’s Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc, after the company said 20 people taking the drug, including 12 children, had suddenly died between 1999 and 2003.

The U.S. FDA last September ordered Shire to add a warning to the drug’s label indicating that it should not be given to people with structural heart defects, but has not taken further action.

“We were aware of these reports of sudden deaths ... what we concluded was that five of the cases involved people with evidence of heart disease,” Temple said.

Another case involved a child with Type 1 diabetes, a couple of the children had toxic levels of the drug in their blood and one child was exercised in the heat “until he was half dead from that,” the FDA official said.

Benefits vs. risks
Over the same time period, the FDA’s reporting system logged seven sudden deaths of children taking other ADHD stimulants -- Concerta, sold by Johnson & Johnson and Ritalin, made by Novartis AG.

All three drugs are amphetamines.

“The benefits of ADHD medicines are clear and the risks of undertreating patients are also clear,” said Dr. Lenard Adler, director of the ADHD program at New York University School of Medicine. Untreated patients are more prone to be involved in automobile accidents, become divorced, to be unemployed, to smoke and to have substance abuse problems, he said.

Many patients who have previously had electrocardiograms will know whether they have cardiac problems. “For other patients, you have to discuss with them whether they should get an electrocardiogram,” he said.

The rates of death -- Adderall has been prescribed for 700,000 Americans according to Shire -- are too low for a randomized clinical trial to detect, but the FDA is considering conducting epidemiological studies to determine risk, Temple said.

In addition, the agency may compare results from its reporting system for patients on Adderall, Concerta and Ritalin to results for patients taking Strattera, the first non-stimulant approved to treat hyperactivity."

Maybe could have been the dose was to high. I have a guy at work that one of his kids is a med like that I think aderall not sure. Said if he doesn't take it his son is wild but if he takes it helps him pay attention and has been doing better in school. He is in wrestleing and a couple days before a match he make him stop taking it so he can win being on it make him sluggish but off of it and he is wild and ready for action. Pretty weird stuff if you ask me.

Stimulants tend to have paradoxical effect in ADHD children. In most people, stimulants cause them to feel "wired up," alert, and anxious. However, in ADHD children stimulants tend to make them feel calm, relaxed, and even sluggish. To get a similar effect, a normal person would have to take a depressant like alcohol or Valium.

ADHD drugs are highly overprescribed. Everyone's an expert at diagnosing ADHD these days. Teachers, counselors, parents, etc. all think that just because a kid has excess energy, they must be diseased and in need of meds. What a horrible attitude.

While ADHD, I'm convinced is a very real condition (I have it, am an extreme case, was diagnosed by a qualified professional after we had explored every other avenue). I took Ritalin, Methylphenidate and Cylert over the years. I discontinued the use of those pills on my own and against my Doctor's wishes. I decided that I just had to learn to cope.

I really think that these drugs need to be used as last resorts, or accessories to help in a behavior modification therapy instead of as primary reliefs. That's just my uneducated, semi-informed opinion.

I agree with ya midtower. Alot of doctors answers to problems or diseases are medications. I have heard that some doctors adn its just a possaiablty that they get kick backs from the number of scripts wrote for a certain med. I went ot see a doc about constant headaches, all he did was put me on a anti depress and blood pressure pills did no other test to see what wrong. I think there should be a law governing the use and limit how must and what for a doc can perscibe a med for and must have a good reason and due test before he gives it out.

There is at least one natural supplement that I know of first hand that is having amazing results for children and adults alike. It is called StressX and you can read about it on my website (which I cannot show) so drop me a line.

Jan1942, do you have any medical trials that show your drug/"herbal remedy" is safe? If it works? I don't trust "supplements" at all.

My favorite ever was Esther C claiming that it had produced acid free vitamin C. Hilarious. Please direct us to where clinical research was done proving that your "supplement" cures ADD or stress in anyone at all.

(Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, therefore, if it was acid free, then it could not have been vitamin C)