|
LEARN MORE
IMAGE SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons / Methylphenidate chemical diagram / author: Ryanaxp
|
A new study published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests there may be an association between the use of stimulant medications prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, and sudden cardiac death in healthy children.
But, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot conclude that the study data affects the overall risk-benefit profile of stimulant medications used to treat children with ADHD.
More than 2 million children in the United States currently take ADHD stimulant medications including methylphenidate (Ritalin).
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity).
Several reports of sudden, unexplained death in children taking these types of medications began to raise concerns in the early 1990s. But the rarity made them difficult to study.
In 2006, the FDA required the makers of ADHD drugs to update the drugs’ labels to warn of rare but increased risk for heart attacks, strokes and psychiatric problems.
For the study, researchers led by Madelyn Gould, a professor of clinical epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center compared 564 healthy children that died of unexpected, unknown causes to an equal number of children who died as passengers in car crashes.
They found that two patients in the car accident group were taking stimulants, while 10 in the group of those who died suddenly were taking the medicines. In all 10 cases, the children were taking methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin.
When they compared those 10 youths to age-matched controls who had died in car accidents, they found that the odds of sudden death were 7.4 times higher for children taking stimulant medications.
“Stimulants have been shown to increase blood pressure and there have been reports of them changing heart rates,” said Gould.
If your child has been taking a stimulant medication for some time, there is most likely no need for concern, Gould said. These are very rare events, and parents should not be overly concerned, she says. “The findings should not stop anyone from using medications that can help children. But clinicians who prescribe these medications must be vigilant about screening and monitoring their patients.”
The FDA is conducting two additional studies to determine the relation of ADHD medications to death and stroke. One study involves children and is expected to be completed this fall, while the other study, in adults, will not be released until 2010. #