RITALIN STUDY FINDS MEDICINE DOESN'T LEAD TO DRUG ABUSE

CHICAGO - There is no convincing or consistent evidence that giving
hyperactive children stimulant drugs such as Ritalin leads to drug
abuse later in life, researchers reported.

The finding confirms results from 11 previous studies and should
dispel public concern that the chemical similarity of such stimulants
to cocaine could lead to adult drug habits, a worry that is
unwarranted but persistent, the study said.

"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," concluded the report published in the January issue of
Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The study said that while there is a chemical similarity between
cocaine and stimulants used for the disorder the two drugs "possess
distinctly different pharmacokinetic properties," with the stimulants
entering and leaving the brain far more quickly than cocaine.

The study done at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and
the Medical College of Wisconsin covered 147 hyperactive children who
were followed for 13 years into adulthood. Some were treated with
stimulants, primarily methylphenidate, the ingredient in the popular
Ritalin brand marketed by Swiss-based Novartis AG.