Late in November of 2015, the prestigious Cochrane Library issued its report Benefits and harms of methylphenidate for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which you may want to know about and consider seriously.
One of the conclusions the authors of that report came up with is that "Better designed trials are needed to assess the benefits of methylphenidate [Ritalin]."
Rather than my parsing the report, I think it would be wise for parents of ADHD children, who have questions, to print that Cochrane report, study it carefully, and discuss it with your child's managing physician who prescribed the drug.
Why do I say that? Well, under "Main Results," the findings in Primary and Secondary Outcomes may be of particular interest to you, including the drug's impacts relative to your child/children, especially "teacher-rated ADHD symptoms."
Other Cochrane Library resources for children with attention and social interaction issues include:
- Social skills training for children aged between 5 and 18 with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children with tics
About the author
Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.
Catherine's latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don't Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.
Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.
Two of Catherine's more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What's Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)
Comment: Read more about Ritalin gone wrong: The Over-Prescribing of Psychoactive Drugs to Children is very concerning, considering the information above, there appears to be no long term benefits from attention-deficit medications. Big Pharma-funded doctors are making a killing prescribing questionable drugs to young children: