Ritalin poses child crime risk

[Guest guest]

Messagehttp://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22133793-5006007,00.h\

tml

Ritalin poses child crime risk

CHILDREN who use Ritalin for a long period of time could be more at risk of

delinquency and substance abuse, a study has found.

Doctors are suggesting children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD) should take a break from medication after three years of use.

An American study - published in the Medical Observer - has found that while

drugs such as Ritalin can initially help sufferers, the benefit of prolonged use

is in doubt.

Some children stay on medication until they reach 18, but researchers believe

it may not protect them from all the symptoms.

Has your child been adversely affected by ADHD medication? Tell us your

experience via feedback section below.

The US Multimodal Treatment Study of Children revealed the more days of

prescribed medication, the more serious delinquency became.

In a cohort of 500 children with ADHD - followed for 36 months until they were

12 - researchers found 27 per cent were at a greater risk of committing crime,

compared with 7 per cent among " normative " children.

Substance use also increased to 17 per cent in ADHD children - almost double

the normal rate.

More than 30,000 children in Australia take Ritalin or a similar drug.

Jill Sewell, Associate Professor of the Royal Australian College of

Physicians, said evidence suggested a break from medication was beneficial.

" Evidence shows that there is very clear benefit of taking medication for

12-18 months, but after three years it is not so clear, " she said.

" Often in medications you do have to stop for a period of time to see if it is

still effective. "

Belrose mother Leanne Komaromi said she took her son Dominic off Ritalin after

four months.

" It made him a completely different person - it shut him down, " she said.

" It was like someone had drawn the blinds on him. "

The nine-year-old now uses the Dore program, which relies on exercise to treat

symptoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\

~~~~

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this

message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit

research and educational purposes only. GRG [Ref.

http://www.law..cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]

Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

My 23 year old son is a statistic. Put on this medication at age 4, he is now

in prison. Crime and addictions have followed him since his teens. There is no

family history of these behaviors.

Posted by: T Rader of NV 3:54am November 19, 2007

Ritalin poses child crime risk - and adult crime risk too. I'd like to see the

results of a study to determine how many young men who took Ritalin and other

ADHD drugs are in prison.

Posted by: Burton of 11:54am September 29, 2007

Yet another 'plug' for the Dore Program. With NO double blind peer reviewed

research on this Program why is now being Franchised.

Posted by: Mark Brandtman of Sydney 8:12am July 26, 2007

We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible

publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full

name. We also require a working email address - not for publication, but for

verification. The location field is optional. Read our publication guidelines.

Submit your feedback: Go to this website.