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Wednesday, February 23, 2000 THE BATTALION Page?
Doctors worry psychiatric drugs
could be harmful to children
CHICAGO (AP) — When he was a
toddler, Heath Barker was nicknamed
‘ the red tornado” for his auburn hair and
his penchant for tearing things up and
jumping off the furniture. When he was
just 4, he was diagnosed with attention
deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin.
A study of more than 200,000
preschool-age children shows this was
no isolated case.
The number of 2- to 4-year-olds on
psychiatric drugs including Ritalin and
anti-depressants like Prozac soared 50
percent between 1991 and 1995, re
searchers reported in Wednesday’s Jour
nal of the American Medical Association.
Experts said they are troubled by the
findings, because the effects of such
drugs in children so young are largely
unknown. Some doctors worry that such
powerful drugs could be dangerous for
children’s development.
Heath's mother has anecdotal evi
dence suggesting — as the researchers
do — that the number of youngsters on
psychiatric drugs is still rising. Through
her involvement in Internet support
groups for parents of children w ith be
havior problems, Michele Barker said
she is hearing of more and more 3- and
4-year-olds being put on drugs like
Prozac.
“It’s become a quick fix,” said Bark
er, 39, of Hot Springs, Ark.
Although the study did not examine
reasons for the increases, Julie Magno
Zito, the lead author and an assistant pro
fessor of pharmacy and medicine at the
University of Maryland, suggested a few
possibilities.
With an increasing number of chil
dren attending day care, parents may feel
pressured “to have their children con
form in their behavior,” Zito said. She
also said there is a much greater accep
tance in the 1990s of psychoactive drugs.
Dr. Joseph T. Coyle of Harvard Med
ical School’s psychiatry department said
the study reveals a troubl ing trend, “giv
en that there is no empirical evidence to
support psychotropic drug treatment in
very young children and that there are
valid concerns that such treatment could
have deleterious effects on the develop
ing brain.”
“These disturbing prescription prac
tices suggest a growing crisis in mental
health services to children and demand
more thorough investigation,” Coyle
wrote in an editorial accompanying the
study.
Drugging the young
A study found that the number of
2- to 4-year-olds on psychiatric
drugs, including stimulants such
as Ritalin and anti-depressants
such as Prozac, jumped between
1991 and 1995.
12
14 per 1,000 preschoolers
■ Total stimulants
Ritalin
10 Total anti-
g depressants
1991
1993
1995
Note: Results shown are for 151,675
preschoolers in one Midwestern
Medicaid group.
lource: Journal of the American AP
Medical Association
The authors reviewed Medicaid pre
scription records from 1991, 1993 and
1995 for preschoolers from a Midwest
ern state and a mid-Atlantic state; and for
those in an HMO in the Northwest. The
states were not identified.
Use of stimulants, anti-depressants,
anti-psychotics and clonidine — a drug
used in adults to treat high blood pres
sure and increasingly for insomnia in
hyperactive children — were exam
ined. Substantial increases were seen in
every category except anti-psychotics,
though in some cases the actual num
ber of prescriptions was quite small.
The number of children getting any of
the drugs totaled about 100,000 in 1991,
and jumped 50 percent to 150,000 in
1995. That year, 60 percent of the young
sters on drugs were age 4, 30 percent
were 3 and 10 percent were 2-year-olds.
The use of clonidine skyrocketed in
all three groups. Although the numbers
were small, the researchers said the
clonidine increases were particularly re
markable because its use for attention
disorders is “new and largely uncharted.”
They noted that slowed heart beat and
fainting have been reported in children
who use clonidine with other medica
tions for attention disorders.
Dr. David Fassler, chairperson of the
American Psychiatric Association’s
council on adolescents and their families,
said the medications studied “can be ex
tremely helpful for some children, even
quite young children.” But they should
be prescribed only after a comprehensive
evaluation and in conjunction w ith other
therapy.
Their use is increasing in part because
doctors are getting better at diagnosing
behavior disorders at an early age,
Fassler said.
llowever, because their effects on
younger children and their development
aren't known, Fassler said, the Food and
Drug Administration has recently in
structed pharmaceutical companies to
study the connection.
Barker said Ritalin calmed her son
and helped him do well in school. But it
also stole his bubbly personality, so she
took him off it after four years.
“He started becoming the so-called
zombie,” she said. The family altered
his diet and tried nutritional supple
ments instead.
Now almost 12 and drug-free for
nearly four years. Heath is repeating fifth
grade and has some learning difficulties.
But his mother said he seems happier,
and so is she.
“1 don’t care if he’s not an honor roll
student,” she said, “because he’s healthy.”
Most of you have read it. Many of you have probably
seen the movie with Leo. And some of you may
have even the seen the play. But now is your chance
to experience William Shakespeare’s story as you
never have; danced by one of the world’s most
acclaimed ballet companies.
But no one should watch Romeo and Juliet
alone. Bring a date. Who knows? It could be
the most romantic thing you do all year...
ROMEO AND
JULIET
Ballet de l Opera de Bordeaux
Friday and Saturday,
February 25 & 26 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 27 at 2:00 PM
For the best seats, call the MSC Box Office at
845-1234. Or order on line at opas.tamu.edu.
..v° ut e °^
7999-T-
Season Media Partners:
kbjx vmiv /osrkj
Collage Station N
KC
Want to learn more?
Join us prior to the performance for a Patricia S. Peters Lagniappe Lecture in the
MSC Forsyth Center Galleries at 6:30 PM. Sponsored by the OPAS Guild.