Ritalin and other drugs help boost brain power

[Poins]

"Brain boosting drugs need not be feared www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026863.400-brainboosting-drugs-not-to-be-feared.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&n sref=online-news"

juule, quite. I also don't understand why this question was glossed over in the articles that were linked.

I don't know -- there was a neuro ethicist there I think?

OH STM, I love it when people have different views from me. I like it better when they are co-herent views though. I really do.

NN, only you are taking about abusing ritalin. I'm not, and never have been. There is nothing in Ritalin (or the other drugs mentioned) to abuse. If they help you they help you. If you don't need them they will have no effect.

And it is okay to enhance physically. Athletes take suppliments all the time, they train, they have surgery to maximise the tools they have. What's not good is taking illegal substances that will only shorten your life and make healthy athletes the reverse.

I used "evil" as a descriptive word to cover all you'd said.

I know this is about misuse but you really ought to think about how you phrase things when you are talking abut a drug many people take due to clinical need.

That's the difference

So is Ritalin a legal drug in the way that a steroid isn't?

Steroids can be prescribed, can't they? But presumably not to enhance athletic performance.

I'm genuinely interested and understand that I may need to look a few things up.

soupdragon, the people who are taking it, presumably know all this stuff. Should I ask Medic8 to take it off their site, in case someone who's taking ritalin stumbles across it? Sorry, but this is a bit pre-moldie mumsnet - dont be precious!

MT - where do you get this "fact" from that ritalin will have no effect if you don't need it? as far as I saw, they said more research was needed.

Ritalin has side-effects, your summary is not complete, because you are suggesting that it is merely neutral and safe, if you have no clinical need for it. It isn't - it is a prescription drug for good reasons.

As far as I am aware, it's not available over the counter. So, people who are taking it without a prescription, are abusing it.

coherent enough?

I wonder if they feel the road has been travelled enough to be used as a lifestyle drug of choice yet

obviously some others do but hey -- it's a different view

juule, I dont think there are rules about ritalin yet, becuase I only saw these reports earlier this year.

My son's paediatrician said that Ritalin would have no effect unless he had ADHD (he has another condition, which often overlaps and shares symptoms). He's pretty well qualified.
I do agree that you have to be careful who you prescribe too, due to serious side-effects, and there is evidence that Ritalin only works for a limited period even in people for whom it does work. After that people become immune to its effects. However, I hate the idea that ADHD has only just been 'invented'. The term is new, but the condition isn't. My own brother was diagnosed late in life, after a truly terrible childhood and non-existent education all due to ADHD.

Maybe I should start feeding my children ritalin now so that they get to Oxford?

get thee down the nutritional route nighty

wrapster - I do hope you didnt read that from my post. My own brother also suffered from Adhd. I meant the reports about ritalin to improve marks.

On the medic8 site, there was quite a lot about ritalin abuse, that I didn't copy across. Sort of poor man's cocaine.

stuffit - lol, yes.

I do try to manage my son's adhd type symptoms with regular small meals (big difference) fish oils, other supplements. It helps, but I still wonder about other medication. If he's still as jumpy, twitchy, impulsive and has such a short attention span in a couple of years, I think we might revisit the idea. Another paed thought it might help. I think, given the side effects, you'd be mad to try it for no medical reason.

It was food additives with my bro.

have you tried zinc? about 15 mg a day worked with my son

I think my brother's problems ran deeper than that. BUT I agree that food additives are a criminal disgrace. The way they affect my son (if he accidentally gets any) makes me so sad and angry. they should be banned from all foods. All my kids know that chemical colours are bad! Of course in the 70s everything was stuffed full of this crap .

nutritional route? Are we talking the omega acid trials here?

SIL, I haven't had a chance to read that paper yet but the title is hardly conclusive "Ritalin May Cause Long-Lasting Changes In Brain-Cell Function"

Sounds like a corrolation has been found but more tests needed to establish if any causation is there.

And 'changes' is a bit innocuous. Many things cause changes in our brains, for better and worse.

many different things, MT: removing food additives, adding fish oils or evening primrose oils, adding mineral supplements, having small regular meals, etc.

Do you intend to quote Ben Goldacre here? Do you know that trials of Omega 3 supplements around the world have shown quite a few beneficial effects for all sorts of neurological symptoms including adult and childhood depression, adhd symptoms etc?

MT I have looked at a lot of studies of Ritalin as we have considered it as a treatment for our son, and believe me, it is not a side-effect-free treatment, and some of the side effects are very serious. I am not sure you'd rush to put your own children on it.

here is some more stuff about ritalin long-term effects;
answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/572351.html

but actually I think this is a bit of a red herring, unless anyone actually thinks it is OK to take ritalin (a prescription drug) without a prescription or a clinical need over a long period.

answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/572351.html