Med-Start Kids: Pros, cons of Ritalin for preschool ADHD
By Bruce Bower
The stimulant known as Ritalin displays pluses and minuses in preschoolers receiving the drug for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the first large, long-term study of the drug’s effects in such youngsters.
In many cases, low doses of the medication, methylphenidate, safely quelled 3-to-5-year-olds’ ADHD symptoms, the government-funded investigation revealed. However, preschoolers more often developed stimulant-related side effects, including irritability, insomnia, and weight loss, than older children with ADHD have in prior studies.
Preschoolers with ADHD also experienced slowed growth rates during the year after starting stimulant treatment, reports a team led by psychiatrist Laurence Greenhill of the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. By the end of the 70-week study, these children were one-half inch shorter in height and weighed 3 pounds less than expected, based on average growth data for same-age U.S. children.