[Flashlight]

This is from today's Detroit News (a conservative paper), front page, above the fold. I don't know anything about this particular study, but I know ADD isn't a myth, and I know Ritalin works and is often the best treatment for it.

[lawdude]

"...and I know Ritalin works and is
often the best treatment for it."

And is common of those committing school killings.

[Chuckster]

Well, it's certainly good to know that the drug peddlers at the AMA have determined that this drug is safe for our kids.

[widowithfoursons]

My youngest son was a prime candidate for Ritalin at 5 yrs old. If he had not been in private school at the time, I'm sure the pressure would have been tremendous to medicate him. He is now a sophmore in college (Physics major), talking about deferential equations like there's no tomorrow.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

I had a hyper classmate one time, who's feet went thump-thump-thump like thumper. The teacher would tell him to run around the school every now and then. He would, come back, calmed down. His learning greatly improved. And he was in top shape physically. Today, he'd be doped up. Sorry, but I don't buy this BS. Teachers want children to conform to a cookie press. It's sickening.

[Aric2000]

Well, If your kid has EVER been on Ritalin, the military does NOT want them.

So, if you NEVER want your kid in the military, then feel free to put him on Ritalin, if you want him to have choice, REFUSE!!

I trust Military expertise in this a lot more then I do a medical organization funded by Drug companies. I have no proof of that last, but it seems to fit together quite well.

[tang-soo]

... and finds that it actually helps brains grow

It works as a floor cleaner AND as a dessert topping. (With apologies to Dan Ackroyd and and Lorainne Neumann.)

[dasboot]

N.I.M.H and "scientific" in the same sentance....(scoff)

My empirical observations over the years lead me to conclude that Ritalin is useless, dangerous, abused, addictive or deadly IN EVERY CASE with which I've had contact. STAY AWAY.....DON"T BE FOOLED. Read the credits on those educational videotapes the school sends home with your kid.

[copycat]

Then by all means, put your kids on it. Just don't tell me I need to put MY kids on it...because I won't.

[Vinomori]

Because Ritalin acts like speed, it "works" to keep the
young victim "focused" and buzzed and wired...it is dangerous, and it does more harm than good....I have had many experiences of it.....ironically the army used to prescribe it quite liberally. Now they know the harm.

[Charlotte Corday]

Not to mention that taking school-endorsed mind altering drugs for years is a great prep for helping your son resist illegal drug pushers a few years later.

[Buffalo Bob]

I was the first to label Ritalin for what it really is: Instant Daddy®!

[NautiNurse]

This study is such a load of crap. Looks at their "numbers" while weeding through their BS babble.

1. Nationwide, about 6 million children -- one in eight -- take Ritalin.

Sample size: scientists scanned the brains of some 150 children diagnosed with ADHD

psychostimulant drugs-- "normalized" some 56 percent of the children.

56% is a crapshoot in my book, especially for such a small sample size. I would bet the odds are WAY better that the Ritalin™ makers paid a pretty penny to the NIMH for this study.

[Oztrich Boy]

Remember to take your daily soma.
“A gram is better than a damn.”

[MissBaby]

Any parents considering allowing their children to be put on Ritalin should definately have a look at This Link

or this one In memory of all our children

[Al B.]

Here's an article excerpt about another recent study about the long-term impact of Ritalin on the brain:

A study by scientists at the University at Buffalo has shown that Ritalin (methylphenidate) may cause long-term changes in the brain. Joan Baizer, professor of physiology and biophysics, and senior author of the study, reports, "When the active dose has worked its way through the system, they consider it all gone. Our research with gene expression in an animal model suggests that it has the potential for causing long-lasting changes in brain cell structure and function."

The changes, according to Baizer, are similar to those seen with cocaine and other psychoactive drugs. "Children have been given Ritalin and it is extremely effective and beneficial," explained Baizer, "but it's not quite as simple as a short-acting drug. We need to look at it more closely. Ritalin does appear to be safe when used properly, but it is still important to ask what it is doing to the brain."

Full article - Ritalin Could Cause 'Long-Lasting Changes'

[Porterville]

BS, steal a childs youth??? sick, sick, sick. I am glad they didn't put me on that junk. You do not steal individuality from a human being, and you don't clip a young calves testis unless you want it to be a steer. You want a weak America, turn your boys to girls, then we could all be happy lesbians.

[mlo]

The language of this article gives it away as a puff-piece for Ritalin. I wouldn't trust anything it said without seeing the study. I bet there are some qualifications this missed.

I don't know anything about this particular study, but I know ADD isn't a myth, and I know Ritalin works and is often the best treatment for it.

ADD isn't a myth, but it isn't a medical condition either. It is bad behavior. Sure, you can drug people to change their behavior, and that's all Ritalin does. For the vast majority of kids that are given it though, a better solution is to teach them to behave better.

[Porterville]

According to government sources, Ritalin is "a central nervous system stimulant and shares many of the pharmacological effects of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and cocain." Hardly a drug to trifle with. Still, Ritalin has become the drug of choice for "curing" a number of real and imaginary learning disabilities­ disabilities often misdiagnosed as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Ritalin has become a sort of cure-all for poor teaching and learning­ used and abused by all concerned.

According to one study, three to four times more boys than girls take the drug under doctors' orders

If I am doing coke, I want to know I am doing coke; don't sugar coat it by telling me it is powdered sugar.

Info from:http://www.dadi.org/ritlnrip.htm

[RileyD, nwJ]

Some observations from an individual who would have been placed on this drug if I had been born 30-40 later.

As an engineer/analyst I found the following points to be of interest:

Questions to ask before we go too far here:

What is normalized behavior? Which has a greater negative impact on a human's long term mental health: psycho stimulants (and maybe psycho therapy) as punishment for inappropriate behavior or a spanking/whipping?
How many adults today grew up with spankings & whippings into fine responsible adults?

Recall the primary purpose of psychotherapy is to increase the business of psychotherapy. Don't take my word for it, go to Manufacturing Victims - What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People.

Onto the article
1 - 6 million children in this country of ours are on this drug.
Comment - This study is 'only now' proving it is okay to have children on this drug. Talk about putting the cart in front of the horse!
2 - A brain scan of 300 children - 150 diagnoised with ADD and 150 without such a diagnosis.
Comment - What criteria were used to choose these children? How well were they matched up for the study?
3 - Those with the disorder started out ith 'significantly' smaller brains - 3-4 percent smaller than those without the disorder.
Comment - What is the normal range of size variation of brains? What criteria is used to determine a brain is significantly smaller?
4 - Those children treated with psycho stimulants (at least the label is correct) for many years experienced more brain growth than did the untreated children.
Comment - What is the long term impact of this 'brain growth' cause by psycho stimulants? Is this in fact healthy?
5 - Untreated children's remained strikingly smaller in certain areas?
Comment - How does one define 'strikingly smaller' in real terms?
6 - "Just giving psychostimulant drugs alone -- under a doctor's careful and consistent monitoring to achieve the right dose and control side effects -- "normalized" almost twice as many ADHD children, some 56 percent, than did intense behavioral therapy without the drugs, the study found."
Comment1 - How many ritalin drugged children receive a doctor's careful and consistent monitoring to achieve the right dose and control side effects? Not many I'll wager.
Comment2 - So with psychotherapy, you get 28% of the kids (read boys in the overwhelming number of cases) 'normalized'. How many got 'normalized' without psychotherapy? With psycho stimulants carefully monitored you get 56% of the kids normalized. Again, how many got 'normalized' without psycho stimulants?
7 - Combining psycho stimulants with psycho therapy the 'best results' were achieved - 68% normalized.
Comment - sorry this sounds like a brain washing technique combined with drugs to me.
8 - What is missing here? Real numbers to quantify statements. Also missing is the information on what happened to ADD children before we started drugging them. Further missing is how did we treat ADD before we knew it was ADD and how effective was the treatment?

Sorry, but this does not pass muster as 'science'.

RileyD, nwJ

[anncoulteriscool]

I've heard almost all of the high school shooters that went on killing spree's in the late 90's were on ritalin....so titalin does work...especially for parents who's rather do something else other than parent....after all they got 401k's and cell phone conversations to concern themselves with.