Researchers give Ritalin a clean bill of health

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has confirmed that the drug, prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, does not increase the risk of a heart attack.

Six years ago, concerns were raised about the safety of the amphetamine-based stimulant medication, which is mainly used to treat children who struggle to concentrate at school.

The US Food and Drug Administration's drug safety and risk management advisory committee initiated an investigation into the deaths of 25 people - including 19 children - who were taking the drug when they died.

The Food and Drug Administration recommended that prominent notices be placed on the packaging of the drug warning patients of the possibility of an increased risk of a heart attack.

But those safety concerns can now be laid to rest. A team at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, found "no evidence that current use of [the drug] was associated with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events".

The study reviewed data from four medical insurance companies covering more than 1.2 million people aged between two and 24.

Using records supplied by medical aid schemes, the researchers found that the risks associated with the use of the drug were negligible.

A specialist child and adult psychiatrist , Dr Shabeer Ahmed Jeeva, said that, of the 10000 patients he had seen over the past 25 years, "not one [had suffered a] heart attack from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication".

"The positive effect of the medicine far outweighs the negatives," he said.

A Boksburg woman who gives her six-year-old son Ritalin every morning said she was relieved about the results of the study.

The woman, who asked to be known only as Patricia, said the study made her "happy".

Her son had difficulty concentrating at school but has his attentiveness improved significantly because of the medication, she said.

Source: The Times