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Attention Deficit Disorder is an easily overcome problem with the right kind of help and understanding. Check out here to find out why. Attention deficit disorder and Ritalin have become almost synonymous. Up to 90% of children who are first diagnosed with ADD receive a prescription for Ritalin. At least a dozen other drugs are prescribed for these symptoms as well. There has been a 500% increase in the use of Ritalin alone since 1991. Short- term use of these medications is associated with a 70 to 80% improvement in symptoms. So naturally, it appears that the drugs have solved the problem. However, these studies don't show the entire picture.
Very few long-term studies have been done evaluating the success of amphetamine-type medication such as Ritalin, for ADD symptoms, and the few studies that do exist do not present a very encouraging picture. For years, it was thought that children outgrew symptoms of ADD so they were treated with drugs, until they "outgrew" the condition.

However, this has been found NOT to be the case. Children do NOT outgrow ADD symptoms. In 1990, an eight-year prospective study of hyperactive children was instituted. More than 80% of the children studied had been treated with medications. Sixty- three percent of the group had received the benefit of psychological services and 35% had special educational accommodations.

At the end of the eight years, 80% continued to have the ADD symptoms, while 60% had advanced to Opposition Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) diagnoses. (Barkley R., Fischer M, et al: The adolescent outcome of hyperactive children diagnosed by research criteria: J Am Acad Child Adoles Psychiatry 29 (4):546-556 July 1990.)
These two diagnoses are considered to be much worse than the ADD diagnosis. A literature review dating back to 1971 showed little to be encouraged about. Children with ADD were more likely to fail subjects in school and dropped out of school more frequently. Fewer attended college.
And there were NO statistical differences between the long-term results of children treated with medications and those who did not use medications. These studies indicate that there is little evidence of long-term success with the use of medications for hyperactivity.

The adverse reactions (side effects) for Ritalin include nervousness, insomnia, joint pains, fever, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, headache, dyskinesia, drowsiness, increased blood pressure and pulse, rapid heart rate, angina, cardiac arrhythmias, abdominal pain, actual psychosis. And there is a major warning in the Physician's Desk Reference regarding drug dependency.

The Physicians Desk Reference of Drug Side Effects notes that, regarding the pharmacology of Ritalin: "The mode of action in man is not completely understood." And this is what you're giving your child! The pharmaceutical manufacturers admit that they don't even know how it works. They're just experimenting -- on your child!

Ritalin has effects similar to other stimulants including amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine. There are 6 million prescriptions for Ritalin filled annually. The U.S. pharmacists distribute five times more Ritalin than the rest of the world combined.
No other nation prescribes stimulants for its children in such volume. In fact, the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board has on two recent occasions written to U.S. officials expressing concern about the six fold increase in Ritalin usage since 1990.

Does Ritalin Cause Cancer? Scientific studies on carcinogenicity were finally released in June 1993 revealing that feeding mice Ritalin, induced liver tumours including very rare and highly malignant cancers. These results were found at dosage levels close to those routinely prescribed for children. Animal tests are very good predictors of human health effects.
In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggests that if a chemical is proven to cause cancer in animals, it should be treated as if it were cancer-causing in humans as well.

But the response by the FDA and the pharmaceutical company that makes Ritalin was predictable. The drug company wrote to 100,000 physicians informing them of the study showing that the drug caused cancer but said "It's not enough of a signal that we think kids should be taken off the drug." They reassured the doctors that Ritalin is believed to be "safe and effective" by the FDA.

Does the public school system have the right to force parents to accept the drugging of their child? They do in America. But the drug's side effects, according to vocal opponents of Ritalin, include: zombie-like behaviour, growth suppression, behaviour or thought disorders (exactly what it is supposed to treat) seizures; headaches, blurred vision, scalp hair loss, barking like a dog and babbling profanities. It can also result in mood swings, depression, drug dependence and inclination for criminal activity.

Why would anyone give such a drug to any child?

The American Psychiatric Association describes a hyperactive child - the target child for this drug--as follows:

"One who exhibits behaviour such as fidgeting, squirming, answering questions before being called on, difficulty playing quietly, engaging in physically dangerous activities such as running into the street without looking, or one who has difficulty following instructions." That sounds like a normal kid to me!

I hope it's clear that drugs do NOT cure anxiety, depression nor supposed hyperactivity. In fact the English word pharmacy comes from the Greek word pharmakeia. Pharmakeia means sorceries and witchcraft. That's what drugs are - sorceries and witchcraft because they only treat symptoms while the underlying disease or condition continues to get worse.

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