This is insanity, and is EVIL. Anyone who can't see it is totally brainwashed.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifeandstyle/health/articles/8211049?version=1
Ritalin 'may cause damage to brains'
By Pravin Char, Metro
17 December 2003
Children given Ritalin to control hyperactivity could be permanently brain
damaged, it was claimed yesterday.
Research suggests the controversial 'chemical cosh' drug raises the risk of
depression and anxiety in adulthood.
Ritalin alters the brain's chemical composition so that it has a lasting effect
on mental health, US scientists believe. Because these changes take place while
a child's brain is growing, they could cause irreversiblle damage
The findings will alarm parents using the drug to control a child's attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
British GPs dispensed a record 254,000 Ritalin prescriptions last year, up from
208,500 in 2001. One in 20 children is said to have ADHD, which makes them
boisterous and unfocused.
'It is vitally important we evaluate the long-term effects of these drugs,'
said Dr Nora Volkow, director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Although American studies involved laboratory rats, the doses given were
comparable to those used on children.
In one test, giving Ritalin to young, healthy rats increased the presence of
certain chemicals linked to depression in adults. Asecond study found higher
levels of stress hormones and anxietylike behaviours.
Last night, Shadow children's minister Tim Loughton urged the Government to
investigate Ritalin use.
The Royal College of Paediatrics said: 'Ritalin has been used for 40 years. If
there was a long-term side-effect, it would have been discovered by now.'
Novartis, the company which makes Ritalin, insisted there was no clinical link
to depression or anxiety disorders.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/thisweek/story/0,12977,1004390,00.html
Is it safe for children to take Ritalin?
David Adam
Thursday July 24, 2003
The Guardian
If not, then we're storing up a whole heap of trouble. New figures this week
show that use of the drug given to calm hyperactive children has soared
100-fold in Britain in the past decade. Doctors dispensed 254,000 prescriptions
of it last year, up from 2,000 or so given annually in the early 1990s.
Ritalin has been approved for use in children over five years old who suffer
from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but many doctors
prescribe the drug - also known as methylphenidate - for children as young as
18 months.
The drug is widely considered safe, but few long-term studies have been done
because of the ethical difficulties of experimenting with children. And some
scientists are concerned how the drug - a powerful stimulant shown to have a
similar effect to cocaine - could affect developing brains. One high profile
investigation in 2001 did suggest that Ritalin triggered changes to brain
function. But Joan Baizer, who led the research at Buffalo University, New York
says its results were largely exaggerated. "It was a preliminary report on
basic research in rats _ it doesn't imply anything about a long-term health
effect," she says.
Dave Woodhouse, who runs an ADHD clinic at the University of Teesside says some
evidence is emerging that children taking Ritalin for several years show
reduced cognitive ability, but this work is also at an early stage and has not
yet been published.
A controversial three-year clinical trial of Ritalin use among hundreds of
preschool US youngsters diagnosed with ADHD is due to report next year. The
study is led by Laurence Greenhill of the New York State Psychiatric Institute
and is the first to look at the effects of a drug on children as young as
three.