Study Shows Ritalin, Concerta Pose Cancer
Risk Factor
A study released Thursday, (February 24, 2005) links Ritalin
to an increased cancer risk and other health problems.
In a small but startling study, researchers found that 1 out of
every 12 children using methylphenidate experienced a threefold
increase in levels of chromosome abnormalities, occurrences
associated with increased risks of cancer and other adverse health
effects.
These chromosome abnormalities occurred after just three months of
using the drug methylphenidate, the generic name for a group of
amphetamines that includes Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate CD and
others. Methylphenidate is the most widely prescribed of a class
of drugs used to treat ADHD.
Researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
(UTMB) reported their detection of the chromosome abnormalities in
the journal Cancer Letters. Their peer-reviewed paper is to be
published in the next several months, but the journal editors made
the study available online in the journal's "articles in press"
section.
In this new study, researchers drew blood from children before
they began taking methylphenidate for ADHD. Researchers drew blood
three months later and compared results.
Most chromosome abnormalities found in the studied blood cells
consisted of breaks. A higher frequency of chromosomal breaks and
abnormalities are associated with an increased risk of cancer
later in life.
"It was pretty surprising that all of the children taking
methylphenidate showed an increase in chromosome abnormalities in
a relatively short period of time," said lead author Randa A. El-Zein,
M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology at M.D.
Anderson.
The researchers in this study because "there are surprisingly few
studies" in either animals or human beings "on the potential for
serious side effects," such as causing mutations and cancer even
though methylphenidate has been approved for human use for over 50
years.
Researchers stress that the results of this study do not guarantee
that a child will have cancer later in life. It does, however,
mean that the child is exposed to an additional risk factor.
And with that, researchers also note the need for larger studies
to confirm results and to answer questions not addressed by the
study. A key question is whether the chromosome damage repairs
itself after patients stop taking methylphenidate or whether the
damage is permanent.
It is important to note that this is the third piece of news in as
many weeks highlighting serious risks associated with ADHD
medications. First,
Strattera linked
to liver damage. Then, Canadian officials pulled
Adderall off the shelves because
Adderall has been linked to
sudden death. Now, Ritalin is linked
to conditions in the body that indicate cancer risk factors.
The bottom line is that ADHD drugs are drugs. The body does not
know the difference between a prescribed “legal” drug and a street
drug - of which these are close cousins. For the sake of your body
and your health (or your child’s body and health), seek out
healthy alternatives to drugs.
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