From CTV News:
Drugs such as Ritalin should be a last resort for treating children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and should never be prescribed to kids of preschool age, new guidelines suggest.
The new guidelines, issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom, recommend that parents and other caregivers receive training in the care and management of the disease as a first line of treatment.
If parental management proves ineffective for ADHD patients between the ages of 11 and 18, group or individual counselling should be the next option considered for treatment, the guidelines suggest.
"Drug treatment is not indicated as the first-line treatment for all school-age children and young people with ADHD," the guidelines say.
Treatment with Ritalin or other drugs, "should be reserved for those with severe symptoms and impairment," or for those who have refused or not responded to parent training or psychological treatment.
For children with severe ADHD, medication is still recommended as a first-line treatment, with parent management as a supplementary treatment. ..more
Showing posts with label Attention Deficit Disorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attention Deficit Disorder. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Heart tests urged before children take ADHD drugs
From the Ottawa Citizen:
Every child prescribed Ritalin or other ADHD drugs should first get heart tests to check for conditions that could put them at risk of sudden unexpected death, U.S. experts are recommending.
The drugs --among the most widely-prescribed pills to Canadian children -- can increase blood pressure and heart rate, side effects that could be dangerous for children with known heart problems or heart defects.
But some children can have undiagnosed heart conditions without showing any symptoms.
"They might get a little bit dizzy when they exercise or they might feel fluttering heartbeats or a near fainting spell that they don't bother to worry about," says Dr. Catherine Webb, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and chair of the council on cardiovascular disease in the young at the American Heart Association. ...more
Every child prescribed Ritalin or other ADHD drugs should first get heart tests to check for conditions that could put them at risk of sudden unexpected death, U.S. experts are recommending.
The drugs --among the most widely-prescribed pills to Canadian children -- can increase blood pressure and heart rate, side effects that could be dangerous for children with known heart problems or heart defects.
But some children can have undiagnosed heart conditions without showing any symptoms.
"They might get a little bit dizzy when they exercise or they might feel fluttering heartbeats or a near fainting spell that they don't bother to worry about," says Dr. Catherine Webb, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and chair of the council on cardiovascular disease in the young at the American Heart Association. ...more
Monday, June 04, 2007
More kids prescribed Ritalin after divorce
From MSNBC:
Children from broken marriages are twice as likely to be prescribed attention-deficit drugs as children whose parents stay together, a Canadian researcher said on Monday, and she said the reasons should be investigated.
More than 6 percent of 633 children from divorced families were prescribed Ritalin, compared with 3.3 percent of children whose parents stayed together, University of Alberta professor Lisa Strohschein reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The study of more than 4,700 children started in 1994, while all the families were intact, Strohschein said. They followed the children’s progress to see what happened to their families and to see what drugs were prescribed. ...more
Children from broken marriages are twice as likely to be prescribed attention-deficit drugs as children whose parents stay together, a Canadian researcher said on Monday, and she said the reasons should be investigated.
More than 6 percent of 633 children from divorced families were prescribed Ritalin, compared with 3.3 percent of children whose parents stayed together, University of Alberta professor Lisa Strohschein reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The study of more than 4,700 children started in 1994, while all the families were intact, Strohschein said. They followed the children’s progress to see what happened to their families and to see what drugs were prescribed. ...more
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