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ADHD Drug Alert - Adderall

Feb 11, 2005

  • The drug Adderall commonly used to treat ADHD in children and adults has been linked to a number of sudden deaths: the FDA is soon to release a public health advisory concerning this.
  • The Canadian drug regulatory agency, Health Canada, has gone a step further and suspended the sale of Adderall XR in Canada.
  • Currently there have been 20 reports of sudden death internationally in patients taking Adderall products
  • Alarmingly the deaths were not because of overdose, abuse, or incorrect use
  • 14 deaths occurred in children and 6 in adults
  • 12 of the deaths were from strokes and 2 of the children who died did so from a stroke
  • 5 of the sudden deaths occurred in people with structural defects of the heart
  • Methylphenidate, which is the generic name for the drug Ritalin, also carries a similar risk profile

Two New Studies - Resveratrol Protects the Eyes and Breasts

Epidemiological evidence connects moderate red wine consumption may protect against age-related macular (AMD) degeneration. The development of AMD and other diseases of the retina are associated with free radical damage to the cells lining the retina, these epithelial cells structurally and nutritionally support it. Resveratrol the red wine polyphenol that these scientists believe is responsible for the protective effect in the eye was added to human retinal epithelial cells. The Resveratrol was a stunning success. It reduced the abnormal proliferation of cells by 25% and protected the retinal cells from free radicals, even those generated by hydrogen peroxide. The study was performed at the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State University and is published in the January 15th, 2005 issue of the journal Chemical Biological Interactions.

In a second study, supplementing mice that normally and spontaneously develop mammary tumors, the rodent version of breast cancer, with Resveratrol delayed the development of mammary tumors. The average number of tumors was decreased, the size of the tumors was decreased, and there were fewer cases of cancer metastases to the lungs. Similar results were obtained with human breast tissue. The study was performed at the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Italian National Research Center on Aging in Ancona, and is published in the February 2005 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

St John's Wort Works as Well as Paxil for Severe Depression

251 patients with severe depression were treated with either St. John's Wort at 900mg a day, or with the antidepressant Paxil at 20mg a day. Patients did not know which compound they were getting and if they didn't respond the dosage was increased. At the end of six weeks 71% of the St. John's Wort patients and 60% of the Paxil patients had responded to treatment. Half of the St. John's Wort patients and 35% of the Paxil patients were free of symptoms of depression at the end of the study. The study appears in the early on-line edition of the British Medical Journal.