Study Shows ADHD can be Linked to Lead Poisoning
February 16th, 2010
Natural News
By S. L. Baker
What causes the frequently diagnosed behavioral problem in children known as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that leads to countless youngsters being given side-effect laden stimulant drugs? Research has focused on genes and, more recently, on the idea that multiple environmental triggers could be the cause. For example, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a recent British study indicates that certain food additives like artificial colors or preservatives could cause ADHD symptoms in some children.
Now two studies — one published in the January issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and the other published in the February issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science — provide the best evidence yet that lead could be one of the biggest culprits behind ADHD.
At very high levels, lead poisoning can cause seizures, coma, and even kill. But it is chronic, long term exposure that is the more common health threat, especially for children. Researchers have previously linked elevated blood levels of lead in kids to problems ranging from mental retardation to learning disabilities. In a statement the media, Oregon Health and Science University researcher Joel Nigg, who co-authored both of the new studies, pointed out that almost all Americans have a low-level exposure to lead, a well-known neurotoxin, making the metal an ideal candidate for causing ADHD.
Although government regulations drastically reduced environmental exposure to lead a generation ago by regulating automobile fuel and paint ingredients, lead is still found in everything from children’s costume jewelry and toys to soil and some imported candies. In fact, Dr. Nigg stated that virtually all U.S. children have measurable levels of lead in their bodies.
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ADHD Drugs Abuses by Teens
January 21,2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Inquiries to poison control centers about teenage abuse of drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increased by 76 percent over the last eight years, indicating a surge in rates of the abuse itself, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Memorial Center and published in the journal Pediatrics.
“It’s more bad news on an entrenched problem,” said Steve Pasierb, head of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, who was not involved in the study.
The researchers reviewed data collected by the American Association of Poison Control Centers between 1998 and 2005. They found that the number of calls by parents, emergency room doctors and others about teenagers abusing ADHD drugs increased from 330 per year in 1998 to 581 per year in 2005, far outpacing the rate of increase in calls about other forms of teenage substance abuse. The majority of teenagers involved in the calls ended up being treated in emergency rooms, and 42 percent suffered moderate or severe side effects. Four of the teenagers died.
Far more teenagers are probably experiencing side effects, the researchers noted, since most cases of abuse don’t end in calls to poison control.
During the time period covered by the study, prescriptions for ADHD drugs rose 86 percent in children between the ages of 10 and 19, from roughly four million to almost eight million.
Pasierb said that many teenagers do not understand that abuse of prescription drugs can lead to potentially fatal side effects. In the case of ADHD drugs, these can include agitation, rapid heartbeat and dangerously high blood pressure.
“They say, ‘It’s FDA approved, how dangerous could it be?’” he said.
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Children Becoming Pshychiatric Gold Mine
December 17, 2009
TruthOut
By Evelyn Pringle
Prescriptions for psychiatric drugs increased 50 percent with children in the US, and 73 percent among adults, from 1996 to 2006, according to a study in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal Health Affairs. Another study in the same issue of Health Affairs found spending for mental health care grew more than 30 percent over the same ten-year period, with almost all of the increase due to psychiatric drug costs.
On April 22, 2009, the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported that in 2006 more money was spent on treating mental disorders in children aged 0 to 17 than for any other medical condition, with a total of $8.9 billion. By comparison, the cost of treating trauma-related disorders, including fractures, sprains, burns, and other physical injuries, was only $6.1 billion.
In 2008, psychiatric drug makers had overall sales in the US of $14.6 billion from antipsychotics, $9.6 billion off antidepressants, $11.3 billion from antiseizure drugs and $4.8 billion in sales of ADHD drugs, for a grand total of $40.3 billion.
The path to child drugging in the US started with providing adolescents with stimulants for ADHD in the early 80s. That was followed by Prozac in the late 80s, and in the mid-90s drug companies started claiming that ADHD kids really had bipolar disorder, coinciding with the marketing of epilepsy drugs as “mood stablizers” and the arrival of the new atypical antipsychotics.
Ritalin Side Effects can Include Sudden Death
November 20, 2009
Examiner
By Etta Brown
After years of speculation and rare case reports, a recent FDA-funded study by The National Institute of Mental Health claims that drugs such as Ritalin – widely used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder in children – increase the risk of sudden death by five hundred percent among children and teens.
“Drugs are not the answer,” said Etta Brown, a licensed educational psychologist, veteran social worker and author of Learning Disabilities, Understanding the Problem and Managing the Challenges from Langdon Street Press. “Doctors and pharmaceutical companies are quick to tell parents there is a pill that will fix their kids, but it’s a false bill of goods. In many cases, these drugs – like Ritalin – will serve only to dull their kids’ senses and create health risks the parents could never have imagined.”
The irony of Ritalin, Brown added, is that it actually damages the neural connections needed for learning. While it may calm a hyper-active child, so that he is less of a problem in the classroom, it does not create the ability to learn.
“Another well-documented side effect of Ritalin is that it may cause a permanent tic of the face, head and neck,” Brown said. “There is a long fifty-year history of false advertising by drug companies that sell drugs with known side effects that are more damaging to the developing nervous system of children than the condition they are designed to treat.”
Between two to18 percent of American children are thought to be affected by ADHD, and Ritalin remains one of the most prescribed drugs for the behavioral disorder. This suggests that the medical approach to poorly nourished children who aren’t getting enough exercise is to dose them with a drug that is known to interfere with the development of their brains, cause permanent tics of the face, head and neck, and increase the likelihood of sudden death by 500 percent. And the FDA is not looking.
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Abuse of ADHD Drugs on the Rise
August 24, 2009
Health Day News
As more and more prescriptions are being written for medications to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), more and more children are abusing these drugs.
That’s the conclusion of new research in the September issue of Pediatrics that found the rate of ADHD medication abuse was up 76 percent from 1998 to 2005, and at the same time, the rates of prescriptions for these medications rose about 80 percent.
“We looked at all the poison control centers across the nation and found a significant increase in the number of calls for ADHD medication abuse that parallels the amount of prescriptions being written,” said Dr. Jennifer Setlik, an emergency physician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio and a study author.
What’s more, Setlik said, is that this study is “not an estimate of the total problem” because it looks only at data from poison control centers, but it gives doctors and parents a snapshot of the trend toward rising abuse of these medications with increasing availability.
ADHD affects between 8 percent and 12 percent of children, and as many as 4 percent of adults worldwide, according to background information in the study. The disorder is commonly treated with stimulant medications, which have a seemingly paradoxical effect on people with ADHD, allowing them to concentrate and function more effectively. The drugs most often prescribed are mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall) and methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), according to the study.
The study also reports that next to marijuana, prescription medications are the most common drugs that teenagers use to get high. This may be because teens believe these medications are safe because they’ve been prescribed by a doctor, or simply because of their availability.
To assess whether increased availability of ADHD medications would also cause a rise in the number of teens abusing the drugs, Setlik and her colleagues reviewed data from the National Poison Data System, which includes information from poison control centers across the United States.
The researchers looked for cases of intentional abuse or misuse of ADHD medications in youths 13 to 19 years old from 1998 through 2005.
They found that over the eight-year study period, the number of calls to poison control centers regarding ADHD medication use went up 76 percent, from 330 calls during the first year to 581 calls the last year.
At the same time, overall ADHD prescriptions increased by 80 percent for all children and teens, and about 86 percent for kids between 10 and 19 years old.
The data didn’t include information about whether a teen abusing an ADHD medication was the one who had been prescribed the drug or whether the abuser was a teen without ADHD who was taking the medications.
Parents “need to be aware of the potential for the abuse of these medications for teens that have and haven’t been prescribed them,” Setlik said.
If a child is taking ADHD medication, she recommended keeping an eye on the amount the child is using.
Tom Hedrick, one of the founding members of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, agreed that parents need to monitor any prescription medications their children use to make sure that they’re being used properly. He also advised parents to safeguard their own prescriptions.
But what’s critical, he said, is letting your kids know that taking drugs that weren’t prescribed for them, or taking more than what was prescribed is not OK.
“We have to start thinking proactively instead of reactively,” said Hedrick. “Fifty percent of kids report never hearing a single word about prescription drug abuse, but these drugs are just as dangerous, just as addictive and just as deadly as illicit drugs.”
“Right now, parents may feel a sense of relief that their kids are taking medicines and not street drugs,” he said. “But what we really have is the perfect storm because there’s a lack of awareness and an ease of availability.”
Click here for the full report from Atlanta Journal Constitution
ADHD Drugs Proven Absolutely Useless for Children – Plus, They Stunt Growth
July 10, 2009
Natural News
by David Gutierrez
Stimulant drugs such as Ritalin provide no long-term benefit in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the latest findings of the ongoing Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA), published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
According to previous analysis of MTA data, stimulant drugs do improve the social functioning and reduce symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity in children with ADHD for the first year of treatment. In the current analysis, however, researchers followed 485 children for eight years and found that children who remained on medication for that entire time showed no improvement in symptoms over those who had stopped taking the drugs.
“If you put a child on medication, he or she is far better right at that time. The question for parents is: Is this going to make a benefit for my child long term?” said researcher William Pelham, of the University of Buffalo. “The answer is no. Behavioral treatments are going to have much better benefit in the long term.”
Another analysis of MTA data, published in the same journal, found that use of ADHD drugs appeared to stunt children’s growth. Children who had never taken stimulant drugs were an average of six pounds heavier and 0.75 inches taller than children of the same age who had taken the drugs for three years. This height and weight difference was permanent.
According to Pelham, behavioral treatments for ADHD can be harder to find than drugs, and often insurers will not cover them. Nevertheless, such treatments are available and have been proven to work without the side effect risk of pharmaceuticals.
“It’s wrong for a doctor to say to a parent, this treatment is harder to find, so instead we’re going to put your child on a drug that will have no long-term benefit,” he said.
Click here for the full story on NaturalNews.com
FDA Approval of Antipsychotics for Children Mirrors Bayer, AMA Approvals of Heroin as Cough Medicine for Children
June 11, 2009
NaturalNews.com
by Mike Adams
(NaturalNews) Today an FDA advisory panel approved the prescribing of powerful mind-altering chemicals for children. Seroquel, Zyprexa and Goedon have now been approved by the advisory panel to be prescribed to children as young as 10 years old to treat a fictitious disease invented by psychiatrists and given the name “bipolar disorder.” (There is no such thing as a bipolar disorder disease. It is merely a name assigned to children demonstrating the predictable side effects of correctable dietary imbalances.)
In light of this disturbing decision, it is instructive to remember the history of pharmaceutical medicine and children. One hundred and ten years ago, Bayer marketed heroin to children as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Did I say “non-addictive?” Yes, it’s right from the company’s own marketing materials. It just goes to show you that drug companies have been lying to the public (and poisoning the children) for well over one hundred years.
Much like the FDA’s present-day endorsement of antipsychotic drugs for children, the American Medical Association endorsed Bayer Heroin for kids, touting its ability to ease coughs. Heroin definitely eases coughs. And so does smoking meth! In offering this endorsement, the AMA apparently borrowed some of the FDA’s screwy logic, which claims “The benefits outweigh the risks.”
This means, of course, that the benefits to the drug companies outweigh the risks to the children!
During all this, of course, the AMA utterly failed to inform parents that heroin was a highly addictive narcotic drug. So parents were dosing their babies with heroin — all with the full approval of the American Medical Association!
Today, the FDA spearheads the promotion of drugs to children, doing its best to promote toxic synthetic chemicals that artificially alter brain chemistry while outlawing any mention of natural remedies that work much better (like omega-3 oils, which are natural brain chemistry stabilizers). The FDA also utterly fails to ban toxic chemical food ingredients known to destroy healthy brain chemistry (like MSG and artificial food coloring).
Thus, in one hundred and ten years, western medicine has learned nothing! It still poisons the children with the full approval of “health authorities” all while enriching the powerful drug companies.
Big Pharma’s ties to Nazi Germany
In remembering the endorsement by the AMA of heroin treatments for children, it’s helpful to consider a bit more of the history of Big Pharma:
The name Heroin comes from the German word heroisch, which means “heroic.” Take enough heroin, and you might feel heroic, too. (At least until the high is gone.)
Bayer, of course, is a German pharmaceutical company with all sorts of interesting ties to Nazi Germany and the medical experiments conducted on Jewish prisoners during World War II. In 1956, for example, Fritz ter Meer became the chairman of Bayer. What’s so interesting about that? This was after he served seven years in prison for carrying out experiments on Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz.
One minute you’re committing crimes against humanity, and the next minute you’re the Chairman of Bayer. Amazing, isn’t it? (Amazing how deep the criminal backgrounds go for these Big Pharma people, it seems…)
More recently, Bayer has been found contaminating the U.S. rice crop with genetically engineered rice seeds.
There’s a lot more you probably didn’t know about the true history of Big Pharma’s dangerous experiments on humans.
Pushing narcotics for children – the Big Pharma way!
Bayer eventually pulled its heroin from the market in 1910, by the way. In 1914, the U.S. Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, which allowed heroin to continue to be prescribed as a medicine. In wasn’t until 1924 that the U.S. Congress banned heroin sales outright.
Interestingly, 85 years later, narcotics are routinely prescribed to U.S. schoolchildren as “ADHD medications” (they are actually amphetamine drugs). And now, with the help of the FDA, drugs like Seroquel and Zyprexa can be legally prescribed to children by doctors.
And yet even that is just a hodge-podge of FDA theater, because in reality, doctors have been illegally prescribing these drugs to children for well over a decade, and not one doctor has ever been arrested or fined for engaging in this “off-label prescribing” of dangerous, mind-altering chemicals. In fact, the FDA’s decision today isn’t really about medical science at all: It’s about sweeping under the rug the routine crimes of America’s psychiatrists who have been poisoning children’s minds with dangerous drugs for years on end.
And rather than enforcing existing medical laws that forbid off-label prescribing of drugs, the FDA apparently finds it more convenient to simply legalize the criminal behavior of psychiatrists via a politically-motivated vote.
A hundred and ten years from now, this decision will be viewed with the same disbelief that we now evoke when looking back at the AMA’s endorsement of heroin cough syrup for children. Future citizens of our world will look back and ask themselves, “Were these people on drugs?”
And the answer, of course, is yes, the decision makers are all on drugs. They’re taking drugs, pushing drugs and profiting from drugs. And now they’re going after the children with those same drugs because there’s more profit to be found by expanding the age range of victims who can be targeted for financial exploitation by the pharmaceutical industry. Children are simply the next target on the corporate profits priority list.
Let’s be honest here: These are crimes against our children. And those FDA advisory panel members who voted to whitewash these crimes are, themselves, guilty of crimes against humanity (and should be arrested and tried accordingly).
The Nazis gassed Jewish children with Zyklon B. America now openly drugs its own children with Zyprexa.
Both chemicals, not coincidentally, were invented and manufactured by the same industry: The pharmaceutical industry.
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