How safe are ADHD drugs for children?

Washington: A new study now suggests that drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unlikely to cause cardiac damage in children who take them.
The study, conducted at the University at Buffalo, has been published in the journal Pediatric Research.
The authors, however, caution that because the study was conducted on primates, the finding is not automatically applicable to humans.
Nonetheless, they have previously published that this primate model reliably shows other side effects similar to what is found in children receiving these medications.
The new findings conclude that chronic exposure to methylphenidate (MPH), a commonly prescribed ADHD drug, is unlikely to increase cardiovascular risks in healthy children.
“The findings are very reassuring in that even high-dose chronic MPH stimulant therapy did not result in any evidence of abnormal structures or function in the hearts of the monkeys,” said Steven E. Lipshultz, the study’s principal investigator.