Antidepressants - Drugging kids in school
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, is a custom-made "disease" to start selling drugs quite legally to school kids. Have the doctor prescribe them. Your kid will be that much better off - or not?
It appears that the real dough about the adverse effects of antidepressant drugs has been kept secret so as not to ruin sales. Violence and suicide are common side effects of those drugs, and there are some who say that just about every major school shooting has been commited by a kid on psychiatric drugs.
It is time we stopped rooting for the profits of pharmaceutical companies, even if they do make up much of the national economy of several countries, and started thinking about the health of our children and their future lives. (Just a hint for legislators...)
Jenny Thompson of the Baltimore Health Sciences Institute has put the story together in a very easy-to-follow way, and what's best - she gives us an idea of what natural alternatives to use.
Update April: Added an interesting discussion of the drugging-kids issue by Jon Rappoport at the end of the article.
Update 18 April 2005: Advocates Protest the Drug Industry's "Take Over of the Mental Health System."
Representatives of mental health and consumer advocacy groups from throughout the USA will hold a peaceful protest and press conference in front of the headquarters of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Researchers of America (PhRMA). Protesters allege that, "The drug industry has taken over the mental health system. And we want it back."
MindFreedom International is sponsoring the legal protest at 12 noon on Monday, May 2, 2005 at PhRMA; 1100 Fifteenth Street, NW; Washington, DC, USA.
Image credit: Emma Holister
Minor Concerns
Health Sciences Institute e-AlertFebruary 11, 2004
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Dear Reader,"A complicated web of money, emotion, science and regulation."
That's how a reporter for National Public Radio (NPR) described the recent hearing conducted by an FDA advisory panel, convened to examine the negative effects that antidepressant drugs have on children.
No comment was expected from the panel until summer. So it came as a surprise when the panel issued a statement last week recommending that warnings are needed immediately to elevate the level of concern for doctors who might prescribe antidepressants to treat young patients.
But any doctor who's not already concerned - who hasn't been aware, for instance, of the disturbing number of young people who have committed suicide while taking these drugs - simply hasn't been paying attention.
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Secret keepers
-----------------------------------------------------Last October, the FDA issued a warning that doctors should be cautious in prescribing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft) to children. The warning cited the possibility that SSRIs may be linked to suicides when taken by patients under the age of 18.
Then in December, regulators in the UK issued a warning that SSRIs may be unsuitable for children because of an estimated 3.2 percent increased risk of suicide among children who take these drugs. The warning also revealed that several negative studies of SSRI effects on young patients have been withheld from publication.
This supposed revelation was referred to as a "smoking gun" by some, but no one who's familiar with the drug approval process is surprised. When drug makers conduct trials in preparation for an FDA review, they routinely withhold studies that could be damaging - submitting only the studies that would encourage FDA approval. This is their right under the current system. They fund all of the research, so they can keep any study secret if the results would negatively affect a pending approval.
The problem with this system is obvious: When negative results are withheld, doctors may end up prescribing a drug without knowing about some of the associated problems. But because SSRIs are such popular drugs, their effects on children have also been researched in government-funded studies. And according to a report on NPR, analysts have found that government studies are far more likely than industry-funded studies to conclude that antidepressants may not work well for children.
Show of hands: Is anyone really shocked by this?
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Safe alternatives
------------------------------------------------An FDA analysis of available SSRI studies involving children suggests that more than 100 subjects experienced suicide-related behaviors.
Advocates of SSRI use in children (and there are many) say that the number of suicides by users of the drugs are offset by the number of kids who would commit suicide without the drugs. But this argument only holds water if you completely ignore the natural alternatives to treating depression.
Prescribing drugs to address depression has become so common that the idea of giving SSRIs to kids makes perfect sense to doctors with pharmaceutical tunnel vision. Apparently, most of them never imagine that nutritional changes can often provide effective treatment for depression in young and old alike.
In the e-Alert "Omega Delta Blues" (10/28/02), I told you how those who experience mild to moderate depression often find relief with an increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids (in fish or fish oil supplements). And people who are depressed are often deficient in magnesium, which is found in whole grains, nuts and leafy green vegetables. Herbal supplements like valerian root, chamomile, black cohosh, and rosemary may also help manage depression. And the standout among the herbs for mild to moderate depression is, of course, St. John's wort, which is sometimes called the "natural Prozac" for its apparent ability to help manage the proper functioning of seratonin in the brain.
High levels of B vitamins have also been shown to relieve symptoms of depression. In addition to supplements, good dietary sources of vitamin B are: tuna, salmon, avocados, bananas, mangoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, poultry and meat. Note that stress (which often goes hand in hand with depression) is believed to deplete the body's store of B vitamins.
If you're the parent or grandparent of a child who's struggling with depression, I urge you to explore the dietary and supplement options before you choose to medicate with a powerful drug whose effects in children have been studied, but not completely revealed.
To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit this page:
To start digging deeper, here are a few pointers:A great ADHD page: The Block Center
http://www.alternet.org/story/20594/
AlterNet - Here, Kiddie, Kiddie - By Kelly Hearn - Posted on November 29, 2004
For Gene Haislip, a former official of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the perennial debate over Ritalin, the stimulant commonly prescribed for children with "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," is an aching reminder of a moral battle he fought ˆ and lost ˆ to big drug companies.Poor diet linked to bad behaviour
Children who have a poor diet are more likely to become aggressive and anti-social, US researchers believe. The University of Southern California found a lack of zinc, iron, vitamin B and protein in the first three years caused bad behaviour later on.Pharma makers withhold suicide data in drug studies
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline knew that the anti-depressant Seroxat could not be proved to work on children in 1998, according to a leaked internal document.
How to achieve positive results without actually lying to overcome the truth
Corrupting the research process - NIH officials paid as industry consultants
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Ruse
FDA Sought to Suppress Evidence of Antidepressant Harm from Public Advisory Committee Meeting on February 2
Drug test altered in wake of suicide
Child warning on anti-depressants
Study Advises Against Drugs for Children in Depression
Antidepressants for kids may be 'hyped'
Expert Kept From Speaking at Antidepressant Hearing
Fluoxetine: Prozac Affects Babies, Sexual Function, Report Says
How Could Drug Companies Be So Evil?
Now They Want to Give Antipsychotic Drugs to "Disruptive" Kids
Has the Romance Gone? Was It the Drug?
Now Infants Are Being Diagnosed With Depression
Behavior Drugs Lead in Sales for Children
Parents Pressured to Keep Children on Psychiatric Drugs
Kennedy ties up drug bill - Boston Globe
A bill banning schools from coercing parents into putting t
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