[ad_1]
(Gray News) – A study has shown that young people with ADHD who take amphetamines such as Adderall might be twice as likely to have psychosis as those who take methylphenidates such as Ritalin.
The study, "Psychosis with Methylphenidate or Amphetamine in Patients with ADHD," will be published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers examined more than 200,000 young patients with ADHD, an equal amount of prescribed amphetamines or methylphenidates.
Although the overall risk of psychosis is still very low, more than twice the number of patients in the amphetamine group (0.21%) was affected, compared to 0.10% of those in the methylphenidate group.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, psychosis is a general description of "conditions affecting the mind, in which there has been a loss of contact with reality". This is not in itself a mental illness, but rather what the National Alliance against Mental Illness describes as "a disruption of a person's thoughts and perceptions, which makes it difficult for her." to recognize what is real and what is not.
"The results are worrisome because the use of amphetamines in adolescents and young adults has more than tripled in recent years," said Dr. Lauren Moran, lead author of the study, in a report. communicated. "There is not much research comparing the safety profiles of amphetamines and methylphenidate, despite the increasing use of these medications."
In an article accompanying the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Samuele Cortese writes that, even though much of the world prescribes methylphenidates, "data from claims for medical benefits," he said. Private insurance show that amphetamines are more commonly prescribed in the United States.
Cortese notes that other badyzes have revealed a "more favorable safety profile of methylphenidate than that of amphetamine in young patients".
Moran pointed out that it was not uncommon for patients without a psychiatric history to experience "psychosis" as part of a stimulant use. Stimulant is the general term used to refer to ADHD medications such as Adderall and Ritalin.
Cortese warns that the study "can not establish causality" and that the data could be skewed, for example, by the possibility that some patients are simply more likely to suffer from psychosis with no one. what kind of stimulant drug for ADHD.
According to its publication, the study examined insurance claims for patients between the ages of 13 and 25 between January 2004 and September 2015 and the number of patients taking ADHD medications "who contracted a psychosis requiring antipsychotic treatment."
Copyright 2019 Gray Television Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link
