Medical marijuana for children, cont'd.

http://www.slate.com/id/2251174/pagenum/2

-- Part three in a series of a mother's essays on why she gives her autistic son medical marijuana.

Politics Northwest | Mary Jane goes to Olympia | Seattle Times Newspaper

Fresh on the heels of news about the New Jersey legislature's approval of marijuana used for medicinal purposes, and a proposal in California to decriminalize use of marijuana by adults, here is a story about bills being discussed in Washington.

I am posting these links here because I believe the medical benefits of marijuana for individuals with disorders such as TS ought to be explored, and I would like to see an end to the stigma surrounding the use of "alternative" treatments.

Do ADHD meds lead to a lower crime rate?

Hmm. After years of hearing how using ADHD meds leads to a life of crime, now, courtesy of The Economist, we have an article suggesting that the use of ADHD meds may have led to a drop in the violent crime rate. Presented. . .without comment.

New ADHD med approved

The FDA has approved Intuniv for treatment of ADHD in children. An extended-release form of guanfacine, "the way it works is unclear, but the drug is thought to directly (sic) engage receptors in the brain's prefrontal cortex."

What is the long-term impact of using ADHD medications?

Thanks to Carolyn K. for the heads-up about this article from Scientific American Mind.

FDA to vote on use of anti-psychotics in children

An FDA panel meets today and tomorrow to debate the use of Seroquel, Geodon, and Zyprexa in children. The panel will vote tomorrow on whether or not to approve the drugs for pediatric use.

Medicinal marijuana and children

In DoubleX's "debut," a mother writes about why she gives her son marijuana. "Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut."

The herbal remedy

The Washington Post looks at medical marijuana laws in California.

Know your meds, part one

Risperdal

FDA warning letter about Risperdal

Last November's story in the New York Times about ties between a research center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Johnson & Johnson. -- And the original post about this story on my blog.

Drugs.com Risperdal page and Medicinenet page. Note that extrapyramidal side-effects are most common. Extrapyramidal effects include tardive dyskinesia and parkinsonism. In other words, the most common side-effects from a drug that often is used to treat Tourette Syndrome are spasms, tremors and jerky movements.

Two years and out?

A story in today's Washington Post questions the long-term benefits of ADHD drugs and asks if researchers downplayed the medications' side-effects and the absence of long-term benefits from their use. Noteworthy: the medications' tendency to stunt growth, and the apparent loss of any benefit from these medications after 24 months.

Is Provigil addictive?

A new paper in JAMA discusses the potential for abuse of modafinil (Provigil).

ADHD meds and hallucinations

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090126/hl_nm/us_adhd_drugs

An FDA study suggests that the adverse effects of ADHD medications include hallucinations. One interesting point is that these side-effects were noted in Strattera and Provigil as well as in standard stimulant ADHD medications. Also noteworthy is the comment that Provigil was not approved as an ADHD treatment in children.

At the same time, some of the described adverse effects, such as incessant talking, sound like standard ADHD behavior to me.

Meet the new drugs, same as the old drugs?

An article published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine reports that newer antipsychotic medications have the same risk of sudden cardiac death as older antipsychotic medications. These medications commonly are used to treat Tourette Syndrome.

A doctor's ties to J & J

The New York Times reports today on Dr. Joseph Biederman, who, apparently, has been earning far more money through his ties to Johnson and Johnson than he had been telling his employer, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Noteworthy quote from this story: "Dr. Biederman’s work helped to fuel a fortyfold increase from 1994 to 2003 in the diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder and a rapid rise in the use of powerful, risky and expensive antipsychotic medicines in children."

Off-label use of meds in children

Courtesy of Slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2202338/

Quotable quote from Slate: "Insurance companies prefer using medication to treat these [psychiatric] problems because it is less labor-intensive and, therefore, less expensive than psychotherapy. Anyway, they are inclined to be suspicious of treatments based on talking and thinking."

The paper can be found here.

Alternative treatments for ADHD?

A New York Times article on non-drug treatments for ADHD. It does not say much that is new, but it is nice to see that some research on options such as fish oil is happening.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/17well.html

Use of anti-psychotic drugs by children is rising in UK and US

Posted without comment:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080505/ap_on_he_me/psych_drugs_children

Melatonin

"Melatonin therapy for circadian rhythm sleep disorders in children with multiple disabilities: What have we learned in the last decade?"

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=255857

"Comfortably Numb"

I am hearing snippets of this show in between running in the backyard with the kids and making lunch. Today on Fresh Air, Charles Barber discusses his book, Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation. Find more information here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89882885

I have mixed feelings about medications. I have to agree, though, with Barber's statements about the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy. We have seen many benefits from CBT.

"Talk of the Nation" on brain enhancers

Almost lost amidst the Bear Stearns coverage: "Talk of the Nation" today interviews Dr. Barbara Sahakian about "performance enhancing drugs" for the mind -- including Provigil and ADHD medications. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88405785

The interview stems from Dr. Sahakian's article, published in Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v450/n7173/full/4501157a.html Note that you need to pay for the article....