Apparently, medicating kids from childhood through adolescence wasn't quite enough, though. "We also realized that children could take medication more than once a day. They can take it in the morning, in the afternoon and evening, and even late in the afternoon when they come home from school. ... So all these factors combined to cause a rise in the prescription rates of medication today," Parker said.
Note the lack of any indication that the higher prescription rate is a bad thing. Also note that a recent review of previous studies on whether or not ADHD drugs stunt growth concluded that the stimulants do, in fact, stunt growth, by an average of three-quarters of an inch and about 2 pounds of body weight for 10-year-old boys.
Essentially, kids are being massively over-prescribed ADHD drugs that come with possibly deadly side effects, and the government is doing little to nothing to warn parents of those dangers. However, it seems that yet again, it's the U.S. government that is dragging its feet to protect consumers -- and in this case, millions of children -- from dangerous medications.
In late May 2006, Health Canada issued warnings of heart risks -- including sudden death -- on all drugs used to treat ADHD. "The effects are usually mild or moderate, but in some patients, this stimulation may -- in rare cases -- result in cardiac arrests, strokes or sudden death," the agency warned. Health Canada issued the warning even though no deaths caused by ADHD drugs have been reported in Canada.
The FDA is being sluggish to issue warnings on the newest risks ADHD drugs pose to users, the majority of which are children. It forms committees such as the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory committee, which convened in February 2006, and the Pediatric Advisory Committee, which convened in March 2006 and was attended by FDA epidemiologists and physicians, as well as two representatives from Big Pharma, to discuss if and how patients should be warned about the dangers of ADHD drugs. Notably, both committees did not find the need for a black-box warning "warranted."
One might wonder why Canada -- which has suffered zero deaths because of ADHD drugs (thus far) -- found the need for a warning "warranted" and acted quickly to issue it, while the United States, which has suffered 25 deaths (19 involving children) because of ADHD drugs, has effectively done nothing to warn its citizens of the dangers of such medications.
While the United States has a few lobbyists on the side of public health arguing for strong warnings and patient education on ADHD drugs, it seems no one has considered the third alternative: That ADHD can be prevented, rather than treated.
In an August 2004 News Target article, Mike Adams writes that ADHD is caused by harmful food additives such as the chemicals used in food coloring, as well as refined carbohydrates like white flour and the high fructose corn syrup found in soft drinks. Adams says the so-called "disease" is merely a result of children (and adults) consuming these toxic food ingredients, which eventually poison the brain and affect behavior, leading to a misdiagnosis of "ADHD."
"When you eat processed foods containing additives and artificial colors, you are introducing toxic chemicals into your bloodstream," Adams' article states. "Those chemicals find their way into the brain and alter brain function, and in the case of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, it alters their behavior to make them restless or to have a shortened attention span. It can also cause children and adults alike to display other problems derived from their mental state."
The remedy? It's simple, according to Adams: "If you feed your children foods that enhance their health -- that is, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and superfoods -- then they won't exhibit these behavioral problems."
The sad truth is that many Americans will never subscribe to the idea that ADHD can be prevented or reversed through dietary changes. They would rather go to their doctor or psychiatrist and get a prescription for a little bottle of pills that will ostensibly "cure" their or their child's behavioral problems. It is on behalf of these people, as well as the people who never hear about the simple dietary solutions for ADHD, that the FDA and all its "advisory committees" must stand up for the public good and -- at the very least -- issue strong warnings with these drugs to warn patients that the stimulants their doctor prescribes them or their children may come with side effects ranging from stunted growth and skin irritations to strokes, heart attacks and sudden death.
Source : http://www.naturalnews.com/
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