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ADHD drugs to carry warnings regarding heart problems, psychotic behavior and sudden death

According to U.S. health officials several drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) must now include new warning information about the risk of serious heart problems, psychotic behavior and sudden death.

24 Aug 2006

Almost half of kids with ADHD are not being treated

In contrast to claims that children are being overmedicated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that a high percentage of kids with ADHD are not receiving treatment.

4 Aug 2006

"Magic" mushrooms create profound mystical experience and change behaviour

A group of healthy well educated volunteers appear to have achieved some sort of profound mystical experience that led to behaviour changes lasting for weeks after taking a drug derived from 'magic mushrooms'.

12 Jul 2006

Hallucinogen in mushrooms creates mystical/spiritual experiences

Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.

11 Jul 2006

Study shows how ADHD drugs Adderall, Ritalin and Dexedrine work in brain

Although millions depend on medications such as Ritalin to quell symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), scientists have struggled to pinpoint how the drugs work in the brain.

27 Jun 2006

Midbrain, striatal and amygdalar dopaminergic dysfunction in ADHD

The brain's dopamine system, which has long been associated with reward learning and reward-related behavior, works differently in treated and untreated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) individuals.

7 Jun 2006

Misuse of ADHD drugs sends thousands each year to seek emergency hospital treatment

Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have estimated that problems with the drugs used to treat attention deficit disorders force as many as 3,100 people to seek emergency hospital treatment each year.

25 May 2006

Heart risk warning wanted on ADHD drugs

A U.S. advisory panel has recommended that drugs used by millions to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), should carry a warning of the risk of heart problems.

12 Feb 2006

Fish oil may improve behaviour of children with special educational needs

Students at a school for children with special educational needs in the UK are taking part in a study to see if taking fish oil supplements can improve their behaviour.

10 Jan 2006

Prescription drug abuse in the USA exceeds 15 million

A recently released report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggests between 1992 and 2003, more Americans were abusing controlled prescription drugs than cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin put together.

11 Jul 2005

Combining behavior modification therapy with medication is the most effective way to improve the behavior of many ADHD children

In fact, when the two are combined, the study showed, the amount of medication required to achieve the same results as use of medication alone can be reduced by two-thirds.

10 May 2005

Research is first to test effectiveness of a new patch for treating ADHD

A new University at Buffalo study of treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has found that combining behavior modification therapy with medication is the most effective way to improve the behavior of many ADHD children.

5 May 2005

Teens get high on painkillers

The latest study, by a group called the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, has found that approximately one in five teenagers have tried to get high by using prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin which they often find in their parents' medicine cabinets.

23 Apr 2005

Methylphenidate linked to chromosomal changes

In a small but startling preliminary new study, Texas researchers have found that after just three months, every one of a dozen children treated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with the drug methylphenidate experienced a threefold increase in levels of chromosome abnormalities—occurrences associated with increased risks of cancer and other adverse health effects.

27 Feb 2005

Seven percent of college students have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes

Seven percent of college students have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes over their lifetimes and 4 percent have used in the past year, according to a study of students at 119 four-year colleges and universities nationwide published in the January issue of the journal Addiction.

10 Jan 2005

Ethical challenges ahead for neuroscience and society

Are we ready for a future where brain scans invade our private thoughts? Will we have to alter our brains chemically to keep competitive at our jobs? Could science determine that "souls" do not exist, and, if so, what does that mean for how we think of ourselves as human beings?

20 Dec 2004

Early ritalin may cause long-term effects on the brain

A new study conducted in rats by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School suggests that the misdiagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) combined with prescription drug use in children may lead to a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms in adulthood.

13 Dec 2004

Methylphenidate improves attention, behavior of children surviving acute lymphoblastic leukemia, brain tumors

Children who suffer from behavioral and learning problems after their central nervous systems have been exposed to chemotherapy or radiation appear to benefit from treatment with methylphenidate (MPH), the drug commonly known by the brand name Ritalin®.

4 Dec 2004

Dopamine in the brain plays a key role in how we make choices

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder studying Parkinson's disease patients found strong evidence that dopamine in the brain plays a key role in how people implicitly learn to make choices that lead to good outcomes, while avoiding bad ones.

8 Nov 2004

Hispanic children are less likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Hispanic children are less likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder during primary care visits than white or black children are, according to a new study that looks at children's physician visits nationwide.

29 Oct 2004