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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/health/06RITA.html

Study Finds No Ritalin Link to Later Drug Abuse

By REUTERS

HICAGO, Jan. 5 (Reuters) — There is no convincing evidence that giving hyperactive children stimulants like Ritalin leads to drug abuse later in life, researchers reported today.

The finding confirms results from 11 previous studies, the researchers said, adding that they hoped it would dispel public concerns about the stimulants, which are chemically similar to cocaine.

"The present results indicate that clinicians probably need not fear that the stimulant treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is predisposing those children to later drug use, dependence or abuse," said the report, published in the January issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The study, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Medical College of Wisconsin, kept track of 147 hyperactive children for 13 years, into adulthood. Some were treated with stimulants, primarily methylphenidate, the ingredient in Ritalin, a brand sold by Novartis.

The report concluded that there was no "consistent or convincing evidence that stimulant treatment in childhood or during adolescence was associated with risk for adolescent or adult substance use, the frequency of such use in adulthood or the likelihood of having a substance dependence or abuse disorder."

The study covered use of 10 legal and illegal drugs including alcohol, tobacco, heroin, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens and hashish.

In the United States attention deficit disorder is diagnosed in 3 percent to 5 percent of children. Symptoms are a reduced ability to concentrate, difficulty in organizing tasks and belongings and hyperactive, impulsive behavior.

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