Kids Get Their Daily Fix
Every day millions of children worldwide line
up and get their dose of a mind-altering drug. The drug - pushed by
reputable drug companies and their sales force, the medical fraternity - is
promoted as necessary for appropriate social behavior for the child.
Perplexed parents feel powerless as they are told that these unnatural
chemicals in their children's brains are necessary in order for them to
function properly and cope with their ADD/ADHD condition.
Yet more evidence as reported in the Journal
of the American Medical Association: Vol. 286 No. 8, August 22-29, 2001,
will hopefully start to make doctors and parents think about what they are
doing to their children. According to Nora Volkow, MD, psychiatrist and
imaging expert at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, advanced
imaging research has answered a 40-year-old question about methylphenidate
(Ritalin). Ritalin "acts much like cocaine, albeit cocaine dripped
through molasses." Taken orally in pill form, Ritalin rarely produces a
cocaine-like high, however, if Ritalin is injected as a liquid it sends a
jolt that "addicts like very much."
Primary research on 11 healthy men, who took
various doses of Ritalin orally, produced shocking results: "Instead of
Ritalin being a less potent transport inhibitor than cocaine,
methylphenidate was more potent." (This means that Ritalin worked more
potently than cocaine in causing another hit of pleasure).
A typical dose of Ritalin for children of 0.5
mg/kg blocked 70% of dopamine transporters. Dr. Volkow stated: "The data
clearly show that the notion that Ritalin is a weak stimulant is completely
incorrect."
The only thing that prevents children from
becoming addicted to this drug is that Ritalin takes about an hour to raise
dopamine levels, whereas inhaled or injected cocaine hits the brain in
seconds. "It is the speed at which you increase dopamine that appears to be
a key element of the addiction process." This does mean that the drug is
without side effects.
The long-term dopamine effects of taking
Ritalin for years, as many children do, are "unknown." One large
epidemiological study reports more drug addiction in children with ADHD
who took Ritalin compared with children with ADHD who took no drug.
(Journal of Learning Disabilities. 1998; 31:533-544).
Volkow notes that as a psychiatrist she is
sometimes embarrassed about the lack of knowledge of how Ritalin works
because Ritalin "is, by far, the drug we prescribe most frequently to
children."
How long will we put our future generations
at risk allowing their bodies and minds to be deformed by their daily 'fix'?
By OzChiropractic
