Really frightening because obviously there are no histological studies yet on adult subjects dealing with the effects of psychotropic drug administration on developing neural networks in humans. I wonder about the sample population, but have a hunch the results discussed apply across socio-economic lines.

Fair use etc: "Feb 22, 2000 - 04:20 PM

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIXH8C005C.html Study Shows Soaring Use of Psychiatric Drugs in 2-to-4-Year-Olds By Lindsey Tanner Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) - When he was a toddler, Heath Barker was nicknamed "the red tornado" for his auburn hair and his penchant for tearing things up and jumping off the furniture. When he was just 4, he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin. A study of more than 200,000 preschool-age children shows this was no isolated case.

The number of 2- to 4-year-olds on psychiatric drugs including Ritalin and anti-depressants like Prozac soared 50 percent between 1991 and 1995, researchers reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Experts said they are troubled by the findings, because the effects of such drugs in children so young are largely unknown. Some doctors worry that such powerful drugs could be dangerous for children's development.

Heath's mother has anecdotal evidence suggesting - as the researchers do - that the number of youngsters on psychiatric drugs is still rising. Through her involvement in Internet support groups for parents of children with behavior problems, Michele Barker said she is hearing of more and more 3- and 4-year-olds being put on drugs like Prozac.

"It's become a quick fix," said Barker, 39, of Hot Springs, Ark.

Although the study did not examine reasons for the increases, Julie Magno Zito, the lead author and an assistant professor of pharmacy and medicine at the University of Maryland, suggested a few possibilities.

With an increasing number of children attending day care, parents may feel pressured "to have their children conform in their behavior," Zito said. She also said there is a much greater acceptance in the 1990s of psychoactive drugs.

Dr. Joseph T. Coyle of Harvard Medical School's psychiatry department said the study reveals a troubling trend, "given that there is no empirical evidence to support psychotropic drug treatment in very young children and that there are valid concerns that such treatment could have deleterious effects on the developing brain."

"These disturbing prescription practices suggest a growing crisis in mental health services to children and demand more thorough investigation," Coyle wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

The authors reviewed Medicaid prescription records from 1991, 1993 and 1995 for preschoolers from a Midwestern state and a mid-Atlantic state; and for those in an HMO in the Northwest. The states were not identified.

Use of stimulants, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and clonidine - a drug used in adults to treat high blood pressure and increasingly for insomnia in hyperactive children - were examined. Substantial increases were seen in every category except anti-psychotics, though in some cases the actual number of prescriptions was quite small.

The number of children getting any of the drugs totaled about 100,000 in 1991, and jumped 50 percent to 150,000 in 1995. That year, 60 percent of the youngsters on drugs were age 4, 30 percent were 3 and 10 percent were 2-year-olds.

The use of clonidine skyrocketed in all three groups. Although the numbers were small, the researchers said the clonidine increases were particularly remarkable because its use for attention disorders is "new and largely uncharted." They noted that slowed heart beat and fainting have been reported in children who use clonidine with other medications for attention disorders.

Dr. David Fassler, chairman of the American Psychiatric Association's council on adolescents and their families, said the medications studied "can be extremely helpful for some children, even quite young children." But they should be prescribed only after a comprehensive evaluation and in conjunction with other therapy, he said.

Their use is increasing in part because doctors are getting better at diagnosing behavior disorders at an early age, Fassler said.

However, because their effects on younger children and their development aren't known, Fassler said, the Food and Drug Administration has recently instructed pharmaceutical companies to study the connection.

Barker said Ritalin calmed her son and helped him do well in school. But it also stole his bubbly personality, so she took him off it after four years.

"He started becoming the so-called zombie," she said. The family altered his diet and tried nutritional supplements instead.

Now almost 12 and drug-free for nearly four years, Heath is repeating fifth grade and has some learning difficulties. But his mother said he seems happier, and so is she.

"I don't care if he's not an honor roll student," she said, "because he's healthy."

AP-ES-02-22-00 1619EST "

-- mike in houston (mmorris67@hotmail.com), February 22, 2000

Answers

Good post Mike. Have several clients who have major seizure disorders, and believe childhood Ritilan use is to blame for adult seizures.

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), February 22, 2000.

Excuse me. but the story says the kid is 12 years old, has been off the drugs for 4 years and is now in the 5th grade???? Time frame doesn't work. The kid should be in the 7th grade. Did he repeat a couple of other grades twice???? How did keeping him off the medicine affect his educational level? Something fishy here...

-- Big D (ddac1986@yahoo.com), February 22, 2000.

Till recently I had the same feeling as you, Mike, about these types of drugs being given to kids ... it sounded like a short-cut designed to benefit busy parents/teachers, drug companies, etc., at the kids' expense. However, last year I became a foster parent to two kids with ADHD and have learned first-hand about its debilitating effects on these kids. Also have heard from parents of ADHD kids who initially tried all kinds of "natural" therapies because of their mistrust of drugs. In most (not all) cases none of the natural therapies worked and their kids' problems just got more severe until they broke down and tried the drugs, at which point they were able to live more "normal" lives. Adults who have benefited from these drugs compare it to getting prescription lenses for poor eyesight. It helps them focus, makes many everyday things possible that most people take for granted. Yes, there are often side effects, but usually no more than for other Rx drugs people routinely take (and give to children) to treat serious conditions. Articles like this imply that the worst case scenario is not being "an honor roll student," but ADHD can be much more serious. Left untreated (or ineffectively treated) it has side effects like being extremely accident prone, flunking out of school, and increased rates of drug addiction, crime & suicides. The National Institute of Mental Health recently did the largest study of the type that they've ever done on this very subject, with a far broader "sample population" than the little ones mentioned in this article, to see whether these drugs are being overprescribed, and their conclusion was "no", that in fact, ADHD is still being underdiagnosed and undertreated. Funny how the author of this article, and others like it, fails to mention these things. Check out the ADD site at About.com if you're interested in learning more...

-- observer (observer@work.com), February 22, 2000.

My Attention Deficit was cured instantly,every Time my old Man reached for that 2x2,stored in the closet.

-- Cured (pp@potty.can), February 23, 2000.

i've been listening to this stuff on the news. the first thing that comes to mind is the overabundance of nutrasweet in our foods. i've never allowed anything with nutrasweet(aspertane sp?) in our house. my boys are now 20 and 22. when they were in kindergarden, nutrasweet started coming out in everything. although i asked the school not to give them anything with this ingredient, there were times that someone messed up. they would come home bouncing off the walls. i would always know because of their behavior and would confirm- complain and it would be verified that they had in fact had this nasty stuff during their time at school that day. not only would they be super hyper, but their attention span be greatly diminished until a good 24 hours after, and they couldn't sleep well that nite at all. this i think has alot to do with all these problems we hear about with young children. just my 2 cents worth here. maybe more parents should eliminate it from their diets and see the difference. thanks, laura cavallari

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), February 23, 2000.

So... Could the makers of Nutrasweet be in cahoots with the makers of Ritalin? Create the problem, then produce an expensive solution. That's the American way.

Or am I just being a paranoid ex-doomer?

-- even paranoids (have@real.enemies), February 23, 2000.

gee, that is scary. laura

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), February 23, 2000.

Another interesting thing mentioned in the JAMA (Journal of American Medicine) study the article quoted:

"We were unable to investigate psychotropic medication use in infants 1 year old or younger in the 2 Medicaid populations because year of birth is recorded in a 2-digit field. Thus, "95" could refer to someone born in 1895 or 1995. We were unable, therefore, to distinguish those 1 year old and younger from 100- and 101-year-olds ...

Future studies using large databases for clinical descriptive information should require that the year of birth be stored as a 4-digit number to avoid misclassification of elders as youths. "

http://add.about.com/health/add/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://jam a.ama%2Dassn.org/issues/v283n8/full/joc91250.html

-- observer (observer@work.com), February 23, 2000.

Ritalin's behavior in the brain is very similar to that of cocaine. I have three nephews on it, and they are unbelievably incorrigible. Kids are not born that way. And it wouldn't be surprising at all to discover that the same chemical company that manufactures Aspartame (Monsanto) also has a branch that produces ritalin.

-- Liz (lizpavek@hotmail.com), February 23, 2000.

Liz,not necessary to come from the same Company.The same Hoods own both.

-- sockeye (&&&@^^^.000), February 23, 2000.