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Long-term treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with certain stimulant medications may alter the density of the dopamine transporter, according to research published May 15 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gene-Jack Wang and colleagues from Brookhaven National Laboratory and the intramural program at NIH. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-long-term-adhd-treatment-brain-dopamine.html Attention deficit disorders Wed, 15 May 2013 17:04:19 EST news287856251 (HealthDay)—Parent behavior training is an effective and well-studied intervention for preschoolers at risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new review shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-parent-focused-classes-tots-adhd.html Attention deficit disorders Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:30:01 EST news284031544 A University of Illinois study has established a possible link between high-fat diets and such childhood brain-based conditions as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and memory-dependent learning disabilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-link-childhood-obesity-adhd-disabilities.html Attention deficit disorders Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:30:01 EST news280496481 Physicians in Canada should consider refusing to prescribe cognitive enhancement medications—also used to treat attention deficit disorder (ADD)—to healthy patients, states an analysis article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Lack of evidence for benefits and possibility of harm, limited health care resources and professional integrity of physicians are reasons why this use is not acceptable. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-physicians-drugs-healthy-people.html Medications Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:00:05 EST news274958998 Medication development efforts for cocaine dependence have yet to result in an FDA approved treatment. The powerful rewarding effects of cocaine, the profound disruptive impact of cocaine dependence on one's lifestyle, and the tendency of cocaine to attract people who make poor life choices and then exacerbate impulsive behavior all make cocaine a vexing clinical condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cocaine-pharmacotherapy.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:23:19 EST news273320322 (Medical Xpress)—Methamphetamine users' use of synthetic cannabis products (such as Kronic) increased from ten per cent in 2010 to 41 per cent in 2011 an annual report on illegal drug use shows. Many of these synthetic cannabis products have subsequently been banned; they have contributed to an increase in new synthetic drug use, often in the form of 'legal highs', over the past three years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-illegal-drug-users-synthetic-drugs.html Addiction Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:23:38 EST news269767409 (HealthDay) -- Chronic use of methylphenidate (Ritalin) in young monkeys has no significant effect on growth or the dopamine system, or the likelihood of becoming addicted to cocaine, according to a study published online July 18 in Neuropsychopharmacology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-animal-long-term-ritalin-doesnt-impact.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:30:02 EST news262008331 Drugs used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) do not appear to have long-term effects on the brain, according to new animal research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-long-term-adhd-drug-safe-brain.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:42:58 EST news261823367 The ability of the commonly used stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) to speed recovery from general anesthesia appears to apply both to the inhaled gas isoflurane, as previously reported, and to the intravenous drug propofol. Members of the same Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team that reported the isoflurane study are publishing similar results for propofol in the May issue of Anesthesiology, and their paper has been issued online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-recovery-propofol-anesthesia-sped-common.html Medical research Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:55:57 EST news252856538 New research with monkeys sheds light on how the drug methylphenidate may affect learning and memory in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-effects-doses-adhd-drug-higher.html Attention deficit disorders Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:06:01 EST news250441490 Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 5-9% of youth and is frequently treated with stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine products. A recent safety communication from the US Food and Drug Administration advised that all patients undergoing ADHD treatment be monitored for changes in heart rate or blood pressure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-treatment-adhd-cardiac-events-youth.html Attention deficit disorders Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:44:33 EST news247920251 It has long been known that psychostimulant drugs have the paradoxical effect of reducing hyperactivity. [Psychostimulant drugs include methylphenidate – known by the trade names Ritalin, Concerta, and Methylin – and methamphetamine]. Since the mid-1950s, millions of children and adults have been prescribed stimulant medications to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But for more than seven decades, since the first experiment that gave an amphetamine drug to children diagnosed with behavioral problems, scientists have not known how stimulants work to control hyperactivity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-mechanism-calming-hyperactivity-psychostimulant-drugs.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:20:00 EST news247857590 Children with certain dopamine system gene variants have an improved response to methylphenidate - the most commonly prescribed medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - in a finding that could help eliminate the guesswork from prescribing effective medications for children with ADHD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-children-dopamine-gene-variants-adhd.html Attention deficit disorders Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:17:34 EST news238411045 The prescribed use of stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose slowly but steadily from 1996 to 2008, according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study was published online ahead of print September 28, 2011, in the American Journal of Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-adhd-steadily.html Attention deficit disorders Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:34:51 EST news236399666 Administration of the commonly used stimulant drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) was able to speed recovery from general anesthesia in an animal study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The report, appearing in the October issue of Anesthesiology, is the first demonstration in mammals of what could be a safe and effective way to induce arousal from general anesthesia. While there are drugs to counteract many of the agents used by anesthesiologists – such as pain killers and muscle relaxants – until now there has been no way to actively reverse the unconsciousness induced by general anesthesia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-common-recovery-anesthesia.html Other Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:48:28 EST news235813689 (Medical Xpress) -- A new study released this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reveals that the medication methylphenidate, best known as Ritalin, may delay puberty in males. The researchers caution that this study was performed in monkeys and more research needs to be done before it can determine possible effects on humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-adhd-drugs-affect-male-puberty.html Attention deficit disorders Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:34:03 EST news235733605 Universities and colleges need to do more to protect young adults from the dangers of illicit stimulant use and to educate them about harms, argue the authors of an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-abuse-campuses.html Health Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:34:25 EST news234531232