This was bought to my attention last night. It's so stupid that I didn't bother to blog it. One children on Ritalin is a disaster.
The minute they take that first pill? They are screwed for life!!!
There has to be a lobbylist from the Drug company pushing this one.
Their stocks must be down a little?
Here's the story-
Not enough youth prescribed Ritalin for ADHD: study
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | 4:05 PM AT
CBC News
Ritalin may not be prescribed enough to Atlantic Canadian youth who may need it, a new study from a researcher at Dalhousie University suggests.
The study by Dr. Christiane Poulin, an associate professor of community health and epidemiology, contradicts the widely held belief that Ritalin is being overprescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and teenagers.
Her study was made available in March in the online version of the journal Addiction. The research was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Canadian Population Health Initiative.
Using data from a 2002 survey of 12,990 adolescents in Atlantic Canada, the study found that six per cent of respondents screened positive for ADHD, but only two per cent of them had been prescribed Ritalin or amphetamines.
"There is a fairly large percentage of teenagers with ADHD who are not known to the health care system," she added.
"Contrary to popular opinion, which is that children and teenagers are largely being prescribed medications for attention deficit disorder, in fact … we found that it’s only about nine per cent of our teenagers who are positive for ADHD are on prescribed Ritalin. That is, in fact, a low rate of utilization."
Poulin's study also found many children who are using Ritalin without a prescription — usually buying it or obtaining it from friends — are at high risk of having ADHD themselves and are, in effect, self-medicating.
Governments and doctors should ask why the health care system has not identified and helped those children and youth, she suggested.
The random sample of students filled out anonymous confidential paper questionnaires for the survey.
New Brunswick Health Minister Michael Murphy said the information in Poulin's study will help youth in his province.
"The more studies there are like this, then the more able we are to treat who needs to be treated," he said.
One of Poulin's previous studies, published in 2001 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that nearly 15 per cent of teenagers gave away at least some of the Ritalin or other stimulant pills that were prescribed to them. About seven per cent of those youth sold their pills.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2007/04/10/nb-ritalin.html
4 comments:
So we should believe you over a Doctor who has been researching the subject and has had their work in the Canadian Medical Association Journal? Sure...............
Thanks for not posting my comment. I see now that you are also an editor as well as an expert on everything.
I'm very sorry but lies just won't do it!!!
Why don't you run along and go read an Irving's paper somewhere?
I'm certain they will print your views but then again?
Cowards like yourself wil not give their real name?
:P
This should really be at the top of the blog and not buried down here.
Of course the idea that NO children should EVER be prescribed ritalin is not scientifically valid and should be ignored. However, the issue, and this study, is an important one.
First, let's look at the media. THis is a perfect example of media manipulation, and thats what causes bad policy, because of course politicans do what they think the public is concerned about, which obviously comes from MEDIA.
That most drug companies advertise heavily with media isn't a shocking assertion, so let's look at this case. The headline reads "Not enough students prescribed ritalin".
That is what set Charles off, and to the layman just reading the paper who reads the article that might well be the conclusion they reach.
BUT, that is not what the research says. First, let's look at the Doctors own words from two years ago: "given the risk of misuse of stimulants, physicians should carefully consider whether a stimulant prescription is the most appropriate treatment for a child, Poulin suggested."
Look specifically at her figures:
"medical: 2%
non-medical methylphenidate: 6.6%
medical: 1.2%
non-medical amphetamine: 8.7%
About 26% of students with prescribed methylphenidate gave or sold some of their medication."
So in the first case we see that three to almost four times as many students use the drug recreationally, and in the second amphetimine category, there is almost NINE TIMES the number of students that use it recreationally from that 26% who sell or give away their drugs.
So in other words, the more you prescribe the drug, then you will have a four to ten times the number of students using the drugs recreationally, and that doesn't even include these kids who are essentially 'self medicating'. In other words, one quarter of the kids prescribed medication won't even be taking it, and many others lose theirs through theft and violence.
So as the doctor says herself, that DOES NOT support the call for more use of ritalin and the media is outright lying. She merely says that many kids haven't gotten treatment. As we know, there are numerous treatments for ADHD like exercise, diet modification, control of sugars and caffeines and on and on.
So Charles is right to argue against drugs, the doctor herself says the same thing. Keep in mind also that one of the most controversial issues is the 'diagnosis' of ADHD. So many kids who may have been told they have ADHD may not have it at all. They could be simply hopped up on sugar and caffeine or have an allergy to something or any number of other problems.
We can also note the media's selective use of research. Notice in this case she is touted as an expert who is saying give kids more drugs. In fact she IS 'soft on drugs' because in other research she maintains that in older teens education should not be aimed at 'saying no to drugs' but should be aimed at 'harm reduction', in other words, attempting to decrease the harm that drugs are doing. I know many people who would freak out at such a suggestion in drug education, however, this 'expert' maintains it, so hopefully the posters above who listen to doctors over others will adopt that recommendation as well. That would mean legalizing marijuana, or rapidly decreasing the prosecution and policing of it, since the numbers of teens using it has basically tripled in the last fifteen years. It'll be interesting to see if THAT 'study' gets as much media attention!
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