Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is a commonly used central nervous stimulant. It has been used in various neurological conditions, including attention deficit disorder, depression, and narcolepsy. Methylphenidate has been advocated in patients with traumatic brain injury and stroke for a variety of cognitive, attention, and behavioral problems. It also has been shown to speed recovery from poststroke...

"Dare to Say No to Drugs." How many times have you seen the familiar black tee shirt with the red logo on our elementary school kids? I've always smiled as I thought, "I'm so glad to see that we're about educating our kids about drugs at this crucial age." Now I shake my head in disbelief and wonder at the irony as I read the recent chilling report in the Journal of the American Medical Associa...

Driving performance of adult males with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was compared with matched controls in a double-blind (Ritalin vs. placebo) cross-over design, using a high-fidelity driving simulator. Seven ADHD and six non-ADHD drivers (mean age 22) were screened to rule out comorbidity and assess for ADHD, and then admitted to the General Clinical Research Center to cont...

One hundred children, ages 6–19, who were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), either inattentive or combined types, participated in a study examining the effects of Ritalin, EEG biofeedback, and parenting style on the primary symptoms of ADHD. All of the patients participated in a 1-year, multimodal, outpatient program that included Ritalin, parent counseling, and ac...

Imagine the following experiment. Researchers administer a certain drug to young rats, and subsequently find that the drug has harmful long-term effects. This straightforward experiment has been done numerous times with numerous drugs. It is common for the researchers, in their published papers, to at least make some suggestions about what the findings in rats might mean for human brain develop...

OBJECTIVE It is postulated that ritalin may adversely affect sleep, appetite, weight and growth of some children with ADHD. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate melatonin supplementation effects on dietary intake, growth and development of children with ADHD treated with ritalin through circadian cycle modification and appetite mechanisms. METHOD After obtaining consent from parents, 50 children a...

Long-acting (LA) preparations of methylphenidate allow for once-daily dosing; however, pharmacokinetics may vary and depend on food intake. The objective was to evaluate effectiveness of a two-phase release formulation (Ritalin(®) LA) under daily practice conditions. This was a prospective, multicenter, observational study in Germany. Eligibility and dosing were determined by the physician base...

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness and safety of the methylphenidate produced in Iran (Stimdate®) with its original brand (Ritalin®) in children with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS In this double-blinded randomized clinical trial, 30 patients with ADHD who were 6 to 16 years old, were divided into two groups: 15 in Stimdate® and 15 in Ritalin® group. The two grou...