Despite the increase in cardiac risks, stimulant medications remain the most effective treatment for ADHD in adolescents. “Treatment with ADHD medications reduces accidental injuries, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, cigarette smoking, educational underachievement, bone fractures, sexually transmitted infections, …”<p>ADHD is associated with a litany of negative consequences if left untreated. An increase in the risk of a rare cardiac issue seems trivial next to the well documented risks of not treating this condition as effectively as possible.<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33549739/" rel="nofollow">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33549739/</a>
I would love to see a study on how banning social media impacts ADHD symptoms.<p>The current wisdom is as soon as a diagnosis is made: go straight on the meds because there is minimal side-effects. So environmental modifications as treatment are not explored. Plus, once meds are involved, you now have a stimulant dependence to deal with too involving a afternoon crash, and increased anxiety, etc. Then your on anti-depressants to counteract these side-effects, etc. etc.<p>I was listening to the All-In podcast and Chamath's child got a diagnosis recently, and they said: absolutely no meds. Then took his iPad away and symptoms decreased dramatically.
Stimulants bring so many other benefits that the risks of cardiomyopathy are outweighed even within their narrow slice of outcomes: taking stimulants reduces non-psychiatric hospital admissions in attention disorder subjects by up to 40%, with stronger stimulants showing stronger protection. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2816499" rel="nofollow">https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle...</a>
Will be interesting to see the paper when it's out. I am wondering if they collected dosage in the study. I could see the risk going up if in 8 years some of the study group ramped up dosage to top end of the therapeutic range. I don't think anyone's surprised that high dose and/or misuse of stimulants can cause heart damage.
is there a greater likelihood of substance abuse and smoking in ADHD individuals without stimulant medication?<p>If meds still offset that risk, meds are still a better option. Everything is a choice between evils.
Water makes you wet.<p>Also not very significantly:<p>> You can have almost 2,000 patients on these medications for a year and you might only cause one of them to have a cardiomyopathy that they otherwise would not have had, but if you leave them on it for 10 years, 1 in 500 will have that happen.