No Long-Term Benefit with ADHD Drugs

Two recent studies could change the way doctors view the current ADHD treatment protocol. These studies showed that;- ADHD medications do provide short-term benefits.- However, ADHD medications do not provide long-term benefits.

In the first study, UCLA researchers took the results of a study from Finland, where medication is rarely used to treat ADHD, and compared the findings against ADHD Americans. In the United States about 60 percent of ADHD children receive medication for symptoms at some point in their childhood. Interestingly, the medicated American ADHD children fared as well as the non-medicated Finland population by the time ADHD children reach 16 to 18 years of age. This study that was published in the “Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry” December 2007 issue.

Next, a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) showed that ADHD medications provide short-term benefits, while also confirming the lack of long-term benefits. In this study of almost 600 children, researchers found that medicated ADHD children functioned better at home and school at the end of 14 months compared to those who received behavioral therapy or no treatment at all. However, there was little difference between the medicated group and the non-medicated groups after three years.

These studies should put parents at ease when faced with the ADHD drug decision. Your child will not be slated for ruin in their adult years if you choose not to medicate. In fact, he will likely fare as well as his medicated peers by the time he reaches adolescence. And, he will likely do better at home and in school in the short-term if he is medicated. With this information in hand, parents can decide if the risks and side effects of ADHD drugs outweigh short-term benefits.