Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Drugs... And Not the Good Kind
Some doctors are prescribing Adderall, a drug most typically used to treat ADHD, to treat obese and overweight children, not that it's been approved for that use. One of the side effects of Adderall is weight loss, but it can also stunt children's growth. My question is: why is it legal for doctors to prescribe drugs for conditions they weren't designed to treat? Why isn't the FDA paying more attention to regulating legal drugs? More importantly, why are doctors handing out drugs like candy? Is it possible that the reason Americans are so complacent is because they're sedated? How many people are on anti-depressants and other mind-controlling substances like Adderall? I'm not saying that some people don't need these drugs. If you're bi-polar, take the medication, but if your depression is being caused by major life changes and some serious bad luck, put down the pills and get some counseling first.
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6 comments:
Adderall is bad shit. It is speed, Amphetamine Mixed Salts. It is a mixture of Amphetamine and Dextroamphatamine. It is used in ADHD cases to stimulate the frontal lobe in order to calm the ADHD patient. In a non-ADHD patient, where the frontal lobe is normal stimulated, Adderall and other stimulants like Ritalin, have serious consequences, the least of which is not abuse potential due to the high from the dopamine flood it cause. Doctors who are prescribing these drugs in cases for which they are not indicated are committing crimes and should be prosecuted.
If parent would control their children's diet and make them exercise there would be no otherwise healthy children that are fat. Drug are not the answer to fat kids.
Cranky,
The child in the story apparently had a healthy diet and got exercise. I question how much exercise, but that's not the point. My cousin was very chubby until he was about 14, then hit a growth spurt and is now 6'4" and thin. I think doctors are messing with the natural process of growth, and I don't think anyone is looking at the hormones and other additives being put in food that might be the cause of this obesity.
I also agree that doctors who prescribe a drug for something for which it has not been tested or approved should ave criminal charges brough against them. Immediately.
why is it legal for doctors to prescribe drugs for conditions they weren't designed to treat? Why isn't the FDA paying more attention to regulating legal drugs?
Because there is mone to be made in their prescription and the FDA may as well be a wing of the pharmaceutical lobby.
More importantly, why are doctors handing out drugs like candy?
Because patients and HMOs are demanding quick fixes to problems. Think about it - particularly when it comes to chronic problems like obesity or other physical ailments, Americans want the easy quick fix. Look at all the quick diet remedies. The only reason they sell is because people buy them. Same thing with medication. If there's a pill (or surgery) that will fix the problem vs. changing your habits, diet, exercising more, even going to physical therapy maybe... then that's what most Americans would choose. Why? I'm not sure. Because we're lazy? Because we live in a consumerist culture that tells us we can buy our way out of any problem?
Laura,
I know all of that, I just wish that everything in this country didn't revolve around money.
All the schools here are conducting anti-meth campaigns. While the kids are drawing posters, the docs are prescribing the same thing basically.
Meth is pretty bad stuff, but if the Drs. would just prescribe pot, a lot of problems would be solved and we'd be putting a lot fewer chemicals into our bodies.
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