Adderall News and Research

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Adderall (dextroamphetamine-amphetamine) is a combination of two synthetic agents with central nervous system stimulant activity. Both agents are non-catecholamine, sympathomimetic agents that elevate blood pressure and cause bronchodilation. These agents are commonly abused psychostimulant drugs that induce psychologic dependence manifested by elevated mood, increased wakefulness, concentration, physical performance and a feeling of well-being. Tolerance to various effects develops unequally, so that tachycardia and enhanced alertness diminish while psychotoxic effects (hallucinations and delusions) may occur.

More kids are dying of drug overdoses. Could pediatricians do more to help?

A 17-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair stepped onto the scale at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.

5 Apr 2024

Study links long-term ADHD stimulant use to increased risk of cardiomyopathy

Young adults who were prescribed stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were significantly more likely to develop cardiomyopathy (weakened heart muscle) compared with those who were not prescribed stimulants, in a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

27 Mar 2024

Taking "study drugs" can lead to other drug use and decline in mental health

Taking "study drugs" like Adderall without a diagnosis is not only dangerous in itself, but can lead to other drug use and a decline in mental health, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

11 Mar 2024

Patients with narcolepsy face a dual nightmare of medication shortages and stigma

Nina Shand couldn't stay awake. She had taken afternoon naps since she was a teenager to accommodate her "work hard, play hard" attitude, but when she was in her mid-20s the sleepiness became more severe.

3 Jan 2024

The DEA relaxed online prescribing rules during covid. Now it wants to rein them in.

Federal regulators want most patients to see a health care provider in person before receiving prescriptions for potentially addictive medicines through telehealth — something that hasn't been required in more than three years.

27 Jun 2023

Legal pot is more potent than ever — and still largely unregulated

Marijuana and other products containing THC, the plant's main psychoactive ingredient, have grown more potent and more dangerous as legalization has made them more widely available.

9 May 2023

Truly random drug testing: ADHD patients face uneven urine screens and, sometimes, stigma

Some adults who take prescription medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are required to have their urine tested for drugs several times a year. Others never are tested.

28 Mar 2023

End of covid emergency will usher in changes across the US health system

The Biden administration's decision to end the covid-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests.

22 Mar 2023

Behavioral telehealth loses momentum without a regulatory boost

Controlled substances became a little less controlled during the pandemic. That benefited both patients (for their health) and telehealth startups (to make money).

10 Jan 2023

Human gene variant in ADHD, autism exposes sex-dependence of neuronal signaling mechanisms

The prevalence, age of onset, and clinical symptoms for virtually all neuropsychiatric disorders differ between men and women. Among the disorders with pronounced sex bias are Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), where the ratio of males/females diagnosed is approximately 4 to 1.

21 Sep 2022

Digital mental health companies draw scrutiny and growing concerns

When Pat Paulson's son told her he was feeling anxious and depressed at college, Paulson went through her Blue Cross Blue Shield provider directory and started calling mental health therapists.

8 Jul 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Leaked abortion opinion rocks Washington’s world

People who pay attention to the Supreme Court have been expecting the justices to scale back the right to abortion when they issue their ruling on a Mississippi abortion law by the end of the current session.

5 May 2022

Youth with intentional BZD overdoses more likely to have recent doctor-written prescription

A high number of teens and young adults with an overdose involving a benzodiazepine (BZD), like Xanax, or psychostimulant, like Adderall – medications commonly used to treat mental health issues like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders – have a recent medical prescription for a BZD or stimulant, according to Rutgers researchers who say physicians need to weigh the risks and benefits of these medications more closely.

10 Mar 2022

Stimulant users more likely to drink heavily and use other drugs, study finds

College students who misuse stimulant drugs or nootropics like Adderall or Ritalin are also likely to drink heavily and use other drugs, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

28 Sep 2021

Marijuana use among college-age adults remains at historically high levels in 2020

Marijuana use continued to rise among college students over the past five years and remained at historically high levels among same-aged peers who are not in college in 2020, according to survey results from the 2020 Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study.

8 Sep 2021

With a diagnosis at last, Black women with ADHD start healing

Miché Aaron has always been a high achiever. The 29-year-old is in her third year of a planetary sciences doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University, where she researches minerals found on Mars. She's a former NASA space grant scholar and hopes to become an astronaut one day.

20 Jul 2021

ADHD medications may lower suicide risk in children with hyperactivity, behavioral disorders

ADHD medications may lower suicide risk in children with hyperactivity, oppositional defiance and other behavioral disorders, according to new research from the Lifespan Brain Institute (LiBI) of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania.

7 Jun 2021

ADHD medications may decrease suicidality risk in certain children

ADHD medications may lower suicide risk in children with hyperactivity, oppositional defiance and other behavioral disorders, according to new research from the Lifespan Brain Institute of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

5 Jun 2021

Study provides the most detailed picture on stimulant use by LGB individuals

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals report higher rates of medical, non-medical, and illegal stimulant use compared to heterosexuals, mirroring patterns seen in other substance use.

24 Sep 2020

Vaping among teens doubles in a year says MTF report

The 45th Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey 2019 has revealed that teenagers are preferring e cigarettes more and more and there is an increased propensity of using nicotine and marijuana in their e cigarettes. The latest report titled, “Trends in Reported Marijuana Vaping among U.S. Adolescents, 2017-2019”, was released in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

18 Dec 2019