Natalie: Now today we are going to do a video on ADHD and what has come out in the news recently, but before we get started I want to ask you a question because chances are if you are watching this video, you personally have been on ADHD drugs, maybe your child has been or maybe you know someone you know is on them or has been on them or maybe you are just looking for a solution because you are concerned about yourself or someone else. So before you got on those drugs whether its or your child, did you have a heart scan, did you have any type of preventative health heart check. So just really simply you can just answer yes or no. I’m really just curious to know out of how many is watching if you were or are on drugs if you got a heart scan.
Now the reason why I ask you that question is because just recently the American Heart Association came out with a recommendation in the news for any child prior to getting on ADHD drug to get an electrocardiogram, which is a heart scan to determine if there are any heart malformations or any heart problems associated with that child and the reason why you need to get the scan is because ADHD drugs are stimulant drugs and stimulant drugs increase your heart rate, they increase your blood pressure and basically they just cause undue stress on the heart.
So, this has actually been a problem for a while and the reason why this is, is because young kids you know anywhere from 10-14 years old, after starting on ritalin and after starting on stimulant ADHD drugs have had heart attacks and died and its caused the FDA to pay attention to this, they have had a hearings and they have actually decided that warnings need to be placed on these stimulant ADHD drug labels.
Now here the official FDA warnings on all stimulant ADHD drugs and I’m just going to read them to you. Sudden death has been associated with stimulants at usual doses, we are not talking about extra, excessive doses here we are talking about usual doses, in children and teens with structural heart abnormalities or other serious heart problems. Children, teens or adults who are being considered for treatment with stimulant medicines should have a careful checkup, including family history and a physical exam to check for heart disease. Patients who develop symptoms such as chest pain during exertion, unexplained fainting or other possible heart symptoms should promptly get a heart evaluation.
Sudden death, stroke and heart attack have been reported in adults taking stimulant drugs at usual doses for ADHD and adults with heart abnormalities should also generally not be treated with stimulant drugs. Now, of course, I’m a nutritionist and if you have seen my other videos you know that I believe that drugs are really a last resort and actually I did a video on ADHD medications and how after three years they are not effective, so they are not a long-term solution anyways but if you are going to go the medication route this is the data that you need to know. The FDA recommends a heart scan. Now the American Heart Association is recommending a heart scan and also the recommendation is for children who are already on the stimulant ADHD drugs to also get this heart scan and you know and you might have to just demand that your doctor do it because sometimes they don’t follow the recommendations and sometimes they don’t know all the recommendations that are out there. So it’s really your job to make sure that he is doing or that she is doing what they need to do to protect you and your child.
Here is a great website, it’s called ritalindeath.com and it has information about heart problems associated with ADHD medications, it has information about children who have died from ADHD drugs, it also has alternative solutions to treating ADHD rather than just depending on medications and it also has information on how to sue your doctor and the drug companies if you have had or someone you know has unfortunately passed away from these stimulant drugs. So checkout ritalindeath.com, it is a fabulous resource.
So, there you have it, get your heart scan, make sure your kids have their heart scans if they are going to be going on any stimulant drugs and rate the video, please subscribe, we are going to be putting on a lot more videos in the future, leave your comments if you have any comments or questions and I will see you next time, bye.
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