Special News Edition
May 3, 2006
“Living With
ADHD” 
“Organizing Life One Minute
at A time”
An UncommonSense Health Newsletter
from
drhuggiebear.com and Frank Barnhill, M.D.
SPECIAL DELIVERY to all subscribers
ADHD treatment: News Flash
FDA approves new patch for ADHD treatment
On April the sixth, the FDA approved the first ever applied
to the skin patch for treatment of ADHD in kids ages six through twelve years.
Although not available for prescription at this very
moment, “Daytrana”, a slow release form of methylphenidate, should be in drug
stores over the next few months.
Parents and physicians have been awaiting approval of this
delivery form of the drug (transdermal means through the skin) for some time in
hopes it will ease some of the problems associated with use of the pill
formulation. Moms and dads often reported, “feeling” their ADHD kids actually
didn’t take their medications or “faked taking them” for a multitude of
reasons. More often, ADHD kids “forgot” to take mid-day doses at school because
it made them feel different or other kids picked on them for having to take
medications at school. Hopefully, Daytrana will help alleviate these problems
and provide for steady delivery of needed medications without interference from
foods or social-self-esteem problems.
Even though delivered through the skin, studies in over 700
children show Daytrana should provide at least nine hours of therapy per patch.
A word of caution: the very same drug related effects with the pill form of
methylphenidate might occur with the patch! These include appetite suppression,
nausea, problems sleeping, worsened ADHD symptoms, mood swings and suppression
of competitiveness. As with the pill form of any stimulant, Daytrana should not
be used in any child with known or suspected heart problems! If there is doubt,
always ask your ADHD doctor. Mild irritation may occur at the adhesive site and
can usually be easily treated.
For more information, please see your ADHD doctor or take a
look at the weblink:
We
hope you find this information useful in your goal of helping ADHDers achieve
their greatest potential in all aspects of life!
Dr.
Frank
Reference
Source: American Medical News May 1, 2006.
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Dr. Frank’s
Golden Rule:
“ADHD is first a diagnosis of exclusion, then a diagnosis
of inclusion”.
No portion of this information is intended to be offered as medical advice for the individual. Your family doctor is still the best source of advice for you and your family and you should consult him or her if you have any medical concerns. If you wish to use this article as a parent handout or in your newsletter, please see http://www.drhuggiebear.com/ for our reprint policy . mailto:drfrank@drhuggiebear.com
All
articles are derived from published materials, educational sources and years of
experience for each author. No portion of the
above-contained information is offered as medical advice in any manner. In
times of need, your family doctor or professional counselor is still the best source of advice for you and your family
and you should consult him or her if you have any medical concerns. If
you have comments or questions, please drop me a line at drfrank@drhuggiebear.com.
Frank
Barnhill, M.D.
All materials, content and graphics are Copyright 2006 Frank
Barnhill, M.D.