Last year, 46,000 individual prescriptions were recorded in Scotland.

However, fears have been raised that children as young as four could be wrongly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

A leading education expert at Edinburgh University has warned that doctors are too keen to label children as having the condition without proper investigation into other possible causes.

Dr Gwynedd Lloyd, head of Educational Studies at the university, has expressed concern that children were needlessly being given amphetamine-based medications such as Ritalin as a result.

"I think in 10 years time we will say that ADHD was too simple an explanation for many children," she said.

"We will ask ourselves what we were thinking giving these children amphetamines."

Children with ADHD suffer from inattention, hyperactivity and social problems.

Many are unable to attend mainstream school and have problems making relationships.

But treatments for the condition, such as the drug Ritalin, pose the risk of serious side effects.

Sleeping problems

These range from loss of appetite to sleeping problems.

The Investigation for BBC Radio Scotland has learned that the review of the medical guidelines for diagnosing and treating ADHD will not be available until 2008.

Parents' groups have expressed anger that the results will not be published for a further two years.

They have claimed the outdated guidelines mean they cannot rely on current medical advice and face a dilemma over whether to risk putting their children onto the drugs.

Donna Miller's son Lee was prescribed Ritalin after he was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of five.

Donna, who lives in Edinburgh, found her son's behaviour immediately worsened.

Although a boisterous "typical boy" before starting on the drugs, Lee became aggressive and violent when taking the medication.

"His behaviour totally changed. He was a handful before, but on that drug he was frightening," she said.

"The final straw was when he attacked his brother Derek.

"He was only five but he picked Derek up and physically threw him through a glass door."

Donna took her son off Ritalin after six weeks due to concerns that he was a danger to the family.

Dr Lloyd is concerned that other families face the risks of serious side effects.

She has called for more rigorous investigation by doctors into all aspects of a child's life before they rush into a diagnosis of ADHD.

However, Dr Dave Coghill, senior lecturer in child and adolescent psychiatry at Dundee University, said the medication was effective.

'Develop normally'

"By inhibiting impulsive behaviour in children with ADHD it allows them to socialize and develop normally," he said.

"Despite the risks, the medication can work for some children."

Anne Martin, who lives in Edinburgh with her son Kieran, believes that Ritalin saved her family.

Kieran was diagnosed with ADHD when he started school, after teachers complained about his behaviour.

Anne said her son was difficult and recalled him destroying the house and being impossible to control.

Now 13, he has been taking the drug for eight years.

"I don't know what I would have done without it," Anne said.

"At one point I was ready to take Kieran to the social services because I couldn't cope anymore.

"But once he started on his medication he was like a new boy."

The opposite experiences of Donna and Anne demonstrate the dilemma parents now face.

The drugs could dramatically improve life for one child or make a bad situation much worse for another.

Until the medical guidelines are reviewed and reissued, parents claim they are having to make this difficult decision alone.

The NHS told BBC Radio Scotland that the assessment would take four years to conduct.

The initial stage - a scoping exercise to audit the services currently available for ADHD across Scotland - will be available in 2007.

Cardiac problems

The NHS claims there has not been a delay in the publication of the review.

However, the calls to accelerate the audit have intensified after reports of potential new side effects.

Last month the United States medicines watchdog, the Federal Drugs Agency, issued its most severe advisory warning against Ritalin after 25 people were found to have died from cardiac problems.

Seven children are also thought to have died in the UK.

A spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK said they are aware of the new US warning and intend to review their own advice for the drug.

There is currently no date for the results of the review.

Cocktails of drugs that suppress the virus have been credited with allowing HIV patients to lead near-normal lives, and once- or twice-a-day dosing now makes them more manageable.

Nonetheless, AIDS remains incurable and is always fatal in places where the drugs are not available -- notably much of Africa.

Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Judith Sackoff and colleagues at the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said they found that 31 percent of HIV patients died because of substance abuse, close to 24 percent died of cardiovascular disease and 20 percent died of cancer unrelated to the virus.

"Physicians everywhere must remember that most of their HIV-infected patients will survive to develop the diseases that plague the rest of us," Dr. Judith Aberg of New York University wrote in a commentary.

Another study published in the same journal found that nearly 10 percent of men interviewed in New York who identified themselves as heterosexual reported having sex with at least one man during the previous year.

The survey of 4,193 men conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that 70 percent of the men who had sex with other men were married.

Many admitted they had not used a condom and had not been tested for HIV.

"Doctors need to ask patients about specific sexual practices instead of relying on self-reported sexual orientation to assess risk for unsafe sexual practices and risk for sexually transmitted diseases," said Preeti Pathela, who led the study.

"Public health prevention messages should target risky sexual activities, such as unprotected receptive anal sex, and should not be framed to appeal solely to gay-identified men."

McDonald's announced its plans to include nutrition information on its wrappers last October.

The company said it plans to unveil the new packaging in Canada next year.

Ron Christianson, a McDonald's spokesperson, said the restaurant's decision to revise its menu has had a direct impact on the deadline.

Christianson said the company has been examining oil options since 2003 but has had a difficult time finding a sustainable supply of trans-fat free oil.

"We can't make a change and then run out. We want to ensure that it's long-lasting and it's the right and best choice for our customers. We have not been able to locate that as of yet."

Until the restaurant can pinpoint the oil source, it will delay creating the new packaging with the nutrition information.

Trans fats, which raise the levels of low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol in the body, are created when liquid oils are turned into solids.

Increasing risk of heart disease

Health officials say consumption of trans fats significantly increases the risk of heart disease. While Health Canada has made significant strides in creating rigorous food labelling guidelines, critics often decry the lack of available information in restaurants.

Members of Parliament today were scheduled to debate a private member's bill, introduced by Scarborough Southwest MP Tom Wappel, calling for an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act to include food labelling in restaurants.

Under Canada's food labelling system, pre-packaged foods and drinks must list information on calories, fat, saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fibre, sugar, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and C in a nutrition box. However, food producers such as restaurants and bakeries do not have to disclose any nutritional information.

In June 2006, Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada chaired a joint task force on the issue of trans fat. The task force noted that 22 per cent of the average trans-fat intake is provided by foods consumed away from home, usually in fast-food restaurants.

However, the task force advised that restaurants would have a difficult time providing nutritional information given limited space on menus and menu boards.

Despite the limitations, 26 major restaurant chains have voluntarily committed to providing nutrition information to consumers in pamphlets, tray liners and websites under guidelines established by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.