As a medicinal chemist I've had
opportunity to see a shockingly different side of Ritalin (methylphenidate) and ADHD than
media exposes. The Experimental Pharmacology Department of
American Cyanamid Company and
Merck Index report that Ritalin is no less toxic or safer than amphetamine and methamphetamine. They continue, by stating that upon administration of these drugs, motor activity decreases. Often time's tremors and convulsions occur. Further studies on these amphetamine derivatives show that short-term clinical doses produce brain cell death. Long-lasting and sometimes permanent changes in
biochemistry of
brain are also a result. Toxicological studies cited by
Merck Index showed that Ritalin was more toxic when administered to grouped mice. Moreover, researchers showed that increased excitement observed by maintaining mice in groups while under
influence of Ritalin and other methamphetamines was
cause of death, but
exact mechanism of lethality was unknown. Lastly,
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classify commonly prescribed drug such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine in
same Schedule II category as methamphetamine and cocaine. Logic says, end of story regarding Ritalin use. Unfortunately,
most typical response from parents when confronted with toxicity facts is as follows:
"I'm sure that Ritalin is prescribed improperly in many cases. But, my son definitely has a chemical imbalance. Without Ritalin he is a total mess and it has made his life so much easier! Without it he can't focus, he talks out of turn, he's moody, and he won't listen to anybody. So don't tell me ADHD doesn't exist and that my kid doesn't need Ritalin."
My fist question is what chemical imbalance?
To date, no medical or scientific paper or research group has elucidated
cause of ADHD! With our expensive and all-important college and medical degrees professionals have ostensibly hypothesized a cause (brain chemicals) and advocated a cure (stimulants) for ADHD. To back it up we have listed dozens of symptoms of ADHD while at
same time sacrificing a few billion brain cells. How can we administer a toxic stimulant to treat a "disorder" that doesn't exist according to a 100 years of research?
Daily, schoolteachers tell us "yes, Ritalin is a great drug".
School nurses assure us that, "Ritalin would be great for little Johnny!"
And doctors assert, "yes, ADHD is a real disease".
When we trace back
history of Ritalin (say 40-60 years) we see that medicinal chemists originally derived this synthetic stimulant from natural stimulants, most notably caffeine (isolated from guarana) and ephedrine (isolated from Ma Haung). Scientists found that when given stimulants, rats were more focused, calm, attentive and manageable when large groups were crowded into small cages.
Ma Huang and caffeine however, are not good stimulants due to their very short half-lives and inability to "patent". To remedy this, scientists experimented, and still are, with longer lasting synthetic stimulants. To date, a conglomeration of long lasting synthetic stimulants like Ritalin (methylphenidate), Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine), Desoxyn (methamphetamine), and Adderal (a mixture of Ritalin, Dexedrine, and amphetamine) have been encapsulated and administered to millions of children. Perhaps one day they will simply infuse a Ritalin gas into classrooms.