Thank You

I know I have not updated in several weeks I have been super busy with finals and finishing the dreaded research paper, BUT now are both finished!

I want to take this time to thank each and every one of you that took time to share your experiances with me and those of you who took time out of your daily lives to read my blog. If I have halped one person, or touched one person in any way all the hard work was worth it.

For those of you that would life to read the paper I will post it below. For those of you that care I got an A on the paper!

I know there are alot of you that have expressed doubts out the subject and it is an extreamly contravercial topic, I understand that, but I also believe that more research needs to be done. I am in no way condoning the use of any illegal drugs. If you have questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will get back with you if you leave your email address.Denise Sellers




Amanda Schafer



English 1203



12/09/2009







                                  Illegal Street Drug or Under Utilized Medication?





Do you know someone that has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, chances are you do. It is the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral, psychosocial disorders today. It does not only affect children of all ages but also adults. It was once thought that children diagnosed with ADHD would out grow the disorder but that is not the case. ADHD not only affects the person suffering with the condition, but the entire family both emotionally and financially. There is no known cure for ADHD and medications that are currently being used to treat the condition have serious side effects, and have even caused death in some patients. They are increasing in cost and insurance companies are becoming more reluctant to cover them making it that much harder to get treatment. There are alternatives to conventional drug therapies currently being studied around the world. Some of them seemingly as simple as vitamins and a healthy diet, and others more controversial such as the use of cannabis. If you or your child were suffering from this disease and you had tried every treatment and nothing had worked would you be willing to try the alternative and sometimes controversial treatments in order to live a “normal” life and be a productive member of society? In the United States alone the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, estimates three to five percent of the population has ADHD. That means in a room of thirty people three of them will be diagnosed with ADHD. It is also estimated to effect men and boys three times more often than girls. Emotional development in children with ADHD is thirty percent slower than in typical children. For example a ten year old child will have the same emotional development as a seven year old typical child, and a twenty year old will have the emotional maturity of a fourteen year old. According to Dr. Russell Barkley one forth of the children diagnosed with ADHD have serious learning disabilities, sixty five percent have problems with authority, and over half suffer from sleep disturbances. Teens with ADHD have four times the traffic accidents, and are seven times more likely to have repeat accidents. Twenty one percent of teens with ADHD skip school regularly, and thirty five
percent drop out before graduating. Adults diagnosed with ADHD often suffer the same symptoms as they did as children but on a much bigger scale. The pressures of adult life make coping difficult. They have lower vocational achievements, poor driving records, and frequent job changes.There are several types of ADHD Inattentive Type with symptoms varying from organization problems, the inability to finish tasks, and easily distracted. Hyperactive-Impulsive Type with symptoms somewhat like Inattentive Type but the person will also have trouble sitting still, may talk more than what is socially appropriate, and have little to no impulse control. There is also a Combined Type which is exactly what it say, it is a combination of both types of ADHD usually not showing all symptoms from both types but any combination of symptoms from either type.
There is also another increasing diagnosis among those with ADHD, it is ADHD with co-morbidity, meaning patients with ADHD having been diagnosed with other psychiatric illness'.
According to a study done on the use of Atomoxetine in Patients with ADHD and Co-Morbid Conditions that as many as eighty five percent of patients that suffer from ADHD also have at least one psychiatric co-morbidity, and sixty percent have two or more. One of the most common co-morbid conditions are Oppositional Defiance Disorder, ODD. Symptoms of ODD range from arguing with adults and authority figures,anger, resentfulness, and blaming others for mistakes. Patients who have ADHD/ODD tend to have more severe symptoms that are harder to treat conventionally.
Some other co-morbid disorders are Depression, Bi-Polar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety
Disorder (GAD), Conduct disorder, Sleep Disorder, Sensory Integrity Disorder, Learning Disabilities,
Early speech and language problems, and more recently Tourette's Syndrome, and Aspergers Syndrome
which is on the Autisim Spectrom. Because of the co-morbidity's and the wide variety of symptoms,
and the over lap of symptoms ADHD with Co-Morbidity is harder to treat therefore people with these illnesses often times can not function in society and spend their lives dependent on such powerful psychiatric drugs they become prisoners to their illness. As adults they are unable to keep jobs and often times become dependent on others financially for support. There are currently two types of drug therapies used in the treatment of ADHD. Stimulants and Non-Stimulants. Stimulants such as Ritalin, Concerta, Daytrana, Focalin, Dexadrine, and Adderall all work in basicly the same way by stimulating parts of the brain to help it stay focused on the task at hand. Stimulants are usually the drug of choice to treat ADHD but for some it just does not work. The other option is a non-stimulant drug such as Strattera, or Wellbutrin that were introduced in 2002 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Also patients that have co-morbid conditions also have to be on additional medications such as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and even sleeping pills in order to function.
Side effects from the drugs used to treat ADHD and co-morbid conditions can sometimes be worse than dealing with the illness itself. The National Resource Center on ADHD released the following list of possible side effects from the use of stimulant and non-stimulant medications in 2008.Moderate appetite suppression, weight loss,upset stomach, headaches, nervousness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, tics, diarrhea, fatigue, mood swings, sleep disturbances, dry mouth, accelerated heart rate, seizures, liver damage, and yes even death. According to a report on CNN there are 2.5 MILLION children in the United States alone that are currently taking these medications as part of a treatment plan for ADHD. A study was recently
published in The American Journal of Psychiatry that suggest that almost two percent of unexplained deaths of children are linked to the use of these medications that are being prescribed to treat ADHD and co-morbid illness'. In 2006 the FDA required that all stimulant and non-stimulant medications come with a black box warning on their labels about the possibility of death from the use of the product.
There are several alternative treatments to consider when making a treatment plan for ADHD and co-morbid conditions. The most common ones being diet, either by changing the things that are eaten by leaving out things like red die and certain preservatives, to adding vitamins and minerals. The most recent studies are being done of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acid. Other treatments that do not even require any type of medication called “green” therapy. All this is really is getting outside more, being exposed to sun shine and getting more exercise to help stabilize the brain. Bio-feedback is another treatment being studied with some success in younger children. Electrodes are places on the head of a patient and the patient learns to play a game using nothing but brainwaves. The computer is programed to positively reinforce the right brainwaves while ignoring brainwaves with ADHD behavior . The most controversial treatment being studied to date is the use of cannabis to treat ADHD.
“The use of Marijuana to treat young people has to include a consideration of the risk/benefit ratio on the effects of cannabis on youth,” says Deborah Malka Md. PhD. Although most of the information regarding cannabis being used to treat ADHD is still anecdotal progress is being made in clinical trials. There are eighteen FDA approved studies at UCI, UCSF, UC Davis, and UCSD School of Medicine. Cannabis works in the brain to stimulate the production of dopamine. It is thought that patients with ADHD have less free dopamine in their brains therefore triggering the ADHD symptoms.The side effects of cannabis are far less than with stimulants. Medical marijuana has been used for thousands of years and in spite of substantial efforts to find negative effects it remains the safest treatment available. There has never been a reported case of accidental overdoes on cannabis, in past studies researchers have been unable to give animals enough cannabis to cause an overdose even while trying to do just that.
In 1988, after a two year long hearing on cannabis DEA Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young said:
“Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But Marijuana is not such a
substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality... Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death...In Practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug related toxicity...In strict medical terms marijuana is safer than many foods we commonly consume...Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man.”
The biggest worry for scientist, doctors, and researchers is that smoking the cannabis will cause lung damage, but that seems to be unfounded as well according to Dr. Claudia Jensen who thinks that in order to keep the cannabis at a therapeutic level it would need to be eaten either by sprinkling it onto food, or taken in pill form.After doing my own research, I spoke with parents that have children diagnosed with ADHD
and other co-morbid conditions. They were all asked the same questions, focusing on what medication(s) their child/children are taking, how well the medication(s) have worked, and if there are any side effects from the medication(s). Out of the one hundred and twelve people questioned all of them have tried at least two different stimulant medications as part of their treatment plans. Over half of them were also taking some type of anti-depressant, and the majority of them were also taking some type of sleep aid weather it be over the counter (OTC) or physician prescribed. When presented with the question “how well is your current medication working?” With the three possible answers being : working great, working okay, not working at all. The majority, fourty six percent, said their medication was working okay, and twenty percent answered that it was not working at all. When asked if they were either currently, or had they in the past experiencing side effects all of them answered yes. All but two of them have tried alternative treatments including but not limited to diet change, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. When the same one hundred and twelve people were posed the question “ if it were proven to work and be safe would you consider using cannabis to treat ADHD?” Over half of them said yes they would consider it, twenty five percent said they would not even consider it, but the remaining twenty five percent had questions regarding its safety but said they would consider it once they had all the information.
As a parent I want the best for my child, if cannabis could eliminate my child's medication dependance, stop the horrible side effects that he suffers on top of the stigma of being labeled as mentally ill and help him live a “normal” life, of course I would consider it.Pot, reefer, grass, Mary Jane, weed, or cannabis, illegal drug or legitimate medication used to treat an illness. Everyone has their own opinion about it, but is it not worth a little more time and research if there is a possibility that millions of people could be helped?





American Academy of Pediatrics (may 2006)



American Psychiatric association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.).



Washington,DC: American Psychiatric Press.





Dell' Agnello, G., Zuddas, A., Masi, G., Curatolo, P., Besana, D., & Rossi, A. (2009). Use of



atomoxetine in patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and co-morbid conditions. CNS



Drugs, 23(9), 739-753.


Early studies of atomoxetine show effectiveness, tolerability.(2004). ADHD Report, 12(2), 12-12.


Is Marijuana The Right Medicine for you?; Bill Zimmerman PhD., Rick Bayer M.D., Nancy



Crumpacker M.D.; (1998) Keats Publishing Inc.



Marijuana,The Forbidden Medicine, Lester Grinspoon M.D.,James B. Bakalar, Yale University Press,



1997.



Medical Uses of Cannabis, Tod H. Mikiuriya,M.D.



Prasad, S., & Steer, C. (2008). Switching from neurostimulant therapy to atomoxetine in children and



adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: Clinical approaches and review of current



available evidence. Pediatric Drugs, 10.


Prasad, S., & Steer, C. (2008). Switching from neurostimulant therapy to atomoxetine in children and



adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: Clinical approaches and review of current



available evidence. Pediatric Drugs, 10(1), 39.


Ramsay, J. R., & Rostain, A. L. (2007). Psychosocial treatments for attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity



disorder in adults: Current evidence and future directions. Professional Psychology: Research &



Practice, 38(4), 338-346. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.4.338.


Ramsay, J. R., & Rostain, A. L. (2007). Psychosocial treatments for attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity



disorder in adults: Current evidence and future directions. Professional Psychology: Research &



Practice, 38(4), 338-346. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.4.338


Ramsay, J. R., & Rostain, A. L. (2007). Psychosocial treatments for attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity



disorder in adults: Current evidence and future directions. Professional Psychology: Research &



Practice, 38(4), 338-346. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.4.338

Rapport, L. J., Friedman, S. R., Tzelepis, A., & Van Voorhis, A. (2002). "Experienced emotion and



affect recognition in adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder": Correction to rapport et al. (2002).



Neuropsychology, 16(3), 369-369. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.16.3.369