Drug companies are now spending $259 million dollars every year to sway parents to put their inattentive or hyperactive children on amphetamines. The ad campaigns are apparently working. The number of American children who are being treated with drugs for Attention deficit and Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) more than tripled in the 1990s. A study published this summer in the American Journal of Psychiatry revealed that over 2 million American children were being medicated for ADHD in 1997. The number is much higher now. Drug companies earned $1.5 billion dollars last year from the sale of ADHD drugs.

Thirty years ago the condition we now call ADHD was diagnosed mostly in fidgety young boys, who had difficulty staying in their seats in class. By the end of the 1990s, ADHD had spread from boys to girls and to all age groups. During the decade from 1987 to 1997, the rate of treatment for ADHD increased 378%. Significant increases in the rates of treatment for ADHD were evident across nearly all sociodemographic groups, with the largest increases among children from poor, near-poor, and low-income families and children ages 12 to 18. Among children who received treatment for ADHD, there was a significant decrease in the number of visits to the doctor, but an increase in the number of prescriptions for stimulant drugs.

Now adolescents in high school, or young adults in college, as well as toddlers are being diagnosed more frequently; so are many parents of kids with ADHD. Most are being given drugs: amphetamines or antidepressants. The numbers are likely even higher today, judging from a recent and still unpublished survey of elementary school teachers by psychologist William Pelham of the State University of New York in Buffalo. Mr. Pelham surveyed teachers all around the country and found that approximately 7% of the elementary school children had been diagnosed with ADHD.

Once considered primarily a only childhood condition, ADHD is now known to be a lifelong condition for as many as half of those troubled with its hallmark symptoms of inattention, distractibility, impulsivity and emotional instability starting before age 7.

Despite its persistence in as much as 1 percent of the population, the disorder often remains undiagnosed for a decade or more, finally becoming debilitating when academic, social or work pressures mount after high school graduation.

That's why ADHD seems to break out like an epidemic on college campuses every fall. "The structure of high school is such that students with ADHD can slip through unnoticed," says Robert J. Resnick, a professor of psychology at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. He's also the author of "The Hidden Disorder: The Clinician's Guide to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults."

"But college is a different story," Resnick adds. "The stepped-up demands of higher education, coupled with the absence of many familiar external structures and controls, bring these students problems with organization and distractibility to the forefront. They just can't fake academic performance any longer. When referred to the college's support services for help, they find out -- many of them for the first time -- that they have had ADHD for many years."

Female college students are just as likely as male students to be affected, despite the disproportionate number of boys diagnosed with ADHD in the early grades, says Resnick, a former president of the American Psychological Association.

"The condition is no respecter of gender," Resnick explains. "However, the symptoms in young males and females are often different. Boys with ADHD tend to be more active and aggressive, which results in earlier referral for assessment by parents and teachers. In elementary school, the ratio of boys diagnosed with ADHD to girls diagnosed is three- or four-to-one. On the college campus, the ratio is one-to-one."

Legal Speed: Dangerous Prescription Drugs
The most commonly prescribed drugs for ADHD include Adderal, Dexadrine, Ritalin, and Cylert. Adderal and Dexedrine are both Amphetamines with high potential for dependence. The Physicians Drug Reference lists a strong WARNING for these two drugs, stating:

"AMPHETAMINES HAVE A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE. ADMINISTRATION OF AMPHETAMINES FOR PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME MAY LEAD TO DRUG DEPENDENCE AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PARTICULAR ATTENTION SHOULD BE PAID TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SUBJECTS OBTAINING AMPHETAMINES FOR NON THERAPEUTIC USE OR DISTRIBUTION TO OTHERS, AND THE DRUGS SHOULD BE PRESCRIBED OR DISPENSED SPARINGLY."

Adderal (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) and Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine)
"Amphetamines are non-catecholamine sympathomimetic amines with CNS stimulant activity. Peripheral actions include elevation of systolic and diastolic blood pressures and weak bronchodilator and respiratory stimulant action."

"There is neither specific evidence which clearly establishes the mechanism whereby amphetamine produces mental and behavioral effects in children, nor conclusive evidence regarding how these effects relate to the condition of the central nervous system."

Ritalin (Methylphenidate hydrochloride)
Ritalin, is another central nervous system stimulant known as Methylphenidate hydrochloride. "The mode of action in man is not completely understood, but methylphenidate presumably activates the brain stem arousal system and cortex to produce its stimulant effect.

"There is neither specific evidence which clearly establishes the mechanism whereby methylphenidate produces its mental and behavioral effects in children, nor conclusive evidence regarding how these effects relate to the condition of the central nervous system."

Cylert (pemoline)
Cylert (pemoline) is a central nervous system stimulant, but structurally dissimilar from the other ADHD drugs. Although studies indicate that Cylert may act in animals through altering Dopamine, the exact mechanism and site of action of the drug in man is not known. There is neither specific evidence which clearly establishes the mechanism whereby CYLERT produces its mental and behavioral effects in children, nor conclusive evidence regarding how these effects relate to the condition of the central nervous system.

Controversy or Bias
Most psychiatrists, the MDs that do little or no counseling and prescribe psychoactive drugs for a living, see the large upsurge in the diagnosis and the prescription of drug therapy for ADHD as hopeful. They point out that ADHD is a serious condition that, left untreated, will cause a significant impairment in the child’s functioning in school, at home and with their peers. They say that hundreds of studies show that ADHD drugs work and have not been proven to have long-term adverse effects. Some, such as psychiatrist Peter Jensen of Columbia University, say the problem is that not enough children are getting drugs to help them with the disorder

Medical sociologist Peter Conrad of Brandeis University, on the other hand, decries the increased use of ADHD drugs. He says it's an example of how Americans have come to treat normal differences among children and adults as evidence of disease. Mr. Conrad says, “More and more of human difficulties, I think, have been defined as medical problems, and in some ways, we've turned a lot of human difference into pathology.”

Other critics blame drug companies for an overuse of drugs to treat ADHD. A recent study sponsored by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) gave its stamp of approval to the use of ADHD drugs among children. The agency compared ADHD medication to behavior modification training and found that medication was more effective.

Psychologist William Pelham participated in the NIMH study and disagreed with that conclusion. He said, “A lot of studies have shown that actually, if you start with the effective treatments for ADHD that are non-pharmacological – and those effective treatments are called behavior modification – that's parent training, working with teachers or working with the children directly. If you start with those interventions first, as many as half of ADHD children, or a little more than half, don't ever move to needing medication.

Psychiatrist Peter Jensen, who also participated in the NIMH study, agrees that some children benefit from behavior modification alone. However, he says children who get both do best. But, he says, if you have to choose, the study shows you'd be more likely to succeed with drugs.

Several separate and powerful forces fueled the boom in ADHD diagnosis and medication. Pelham points first to an event outside the world of medicine, in the field of education. It happened in 1991 and made the ADHD diagnosis extremely popular. He says “The US Office of Education identified ADHD as a handicapping condition that would make a child eligible for special education under some conditions. That change really caused all the school districts in the country to have to look for ADHD children and determine whether or not they needed special services. That caused a really big increase in the number of kids identified.”

National Public Radio’s reporter, Snigdha Prakash points out that “Bigger classes and increased emphasis on standardized achievement tests also may have added to the numbers of those diagnosed with ADHD, as parents looked to medicine to solve their children's learning problems. The pharmaceutical industry worked to make sure that those solutions came increasingly in the form of ADHD drugs. In 2000 and 2001, drug makers introduced long-acting versions of the two main ADHD drugs. The new formulations had practical advantages. Children could take a pill once a day before going to school and didn't have to go to the school nurse for another dose. Drug companies pushed that advantage hard, spending $259 million last year marketing their ADHD drugs, up from just $9 million five years ago. Most of the money was spent on pitching the drugs to doctors.”

Psychiatrist Michael Brody, the former head of child psychiatry at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, says, “It means a lot for the drug company if you start your patient on these medications, because these medications go on for years, and that's a lot of money to these drug companies.”

According to the money manager for Sanford Bernstein & Company, Americans bought $1.5 billion of ADHD drugs last year. Managed-care insurance companies have also played a significant role in the drug boom, because they limit access to specialists, such as psychologists and Naturopathic physicians. Most children get their ADHD diagnosis and drugs from their pediatricians. Dr. Brody says pediatricians are often too quick to diagnose ADHD and prescribe drugs to children without evaluating the stresses in the home or other emotional factors that could be treated by non-drug methods, including counseling.

“Back in the early '70s, the parents were very cautious and fearful that their child might have some adverse drug effect, but now a lot of the parents come in requesting medication, “ according to Dr. Daniel Safer, of Johns Hopkins Medical Center. And perhaps worse, ADHD drugs have cleared the way for increasing use of other drugs for other psychiatric disorders among children, ranging from mood disorders to shyness, according to sociologist Peter Conrad.

(Note: Some of the quotes in this article come from a report on National Public Radio, Morning Edition, September 25, 2003, 10:00-11:00 AM, by Snigdha Prakash, entitled, Increasing diagnosis and drug treatment of children with ADHD ignites controversy among professionals, Article Text: BOB EDWARDS, host.)

Dr. Hansen’s Recommendations
In place of Adderal, Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Cylert, I recommend non-drug therapy that includes counseling and nutritional supplements that help the body calm the nervous system and make enough of the natural calming neurohormones to deal with the stresses of modern living.

For my 6-12 year old patients with ADHD, I recommend a product known as Acuity™.

For teenagers or adults, I recommend higher potency products, including Tranquil Clarity™ and GSE Ultra 110™. Additionally, for all age groups I recommend testing for Neurohormones (Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Epinephrine) and treating the deficiencies and excesses with the appropriate nutritional building blocks for these essential neurohormones, including 5HTP and L-Tyrosine.

These products do not cause any adverse interactions with Adderal or Ritalin, however, since the amphetamines do not cure the problem and are associated significant adverse effects, I recommend that patients be weaned off of these drugs carefully over several weeks taking the natural products to correct the underlying neurotransmitter imbalances.

For more information about Acuity™ and Testimonials from parents who have given Acuity to their children, please click here .

For more information about testing Neurohormones please click here.

For more information about 5HTP , please click here.

For more information about L-Tyrosine , please click here.