Doctors Should Not Prescribe ADHD Drugs To Healthy People For Neuroenhancement

Physicians are advised stop prescribing medication for ADD and ADHD patients to healthy people for the purpose of enhancing their cognitive abilities (neuroenhancement).

A growing trend for some individuals is to enhance their cognitive capabilities through prescription drugs meant for patients with ADD. These individuals use these medications despite having no diagnosed disorder.

Neuroenhancement is the artificial increase of mental performance using medication. It is also referred to as brain doping. The individual enhances his concentration, alertness, and overall behavior.

Drinking coffee or taking in caffeine may be considered as a practice of neuroenhancement. But caffeine is considered both as a drug and a food additive. It is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world whereas ADD drugs require a prescription.

This practice is more similar to performance enhancing drugs in sports than for recreational use. Questions whether this practice is ethical in the light of academic and professional environments.

Although this practice is not widespread (It is estimated that 1% to 11% of university students take these drugs for cognitive enhancement), there is a danger that this practice may become prevalent.

Research Data Reveals ADHD Is Overdiagnosed

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-behavioral disorder. It is most commonly diagnosed with school aged children affecting about 3% to 5%. A person who has ADHD has no control over how he or she behaves towards a particular situation. It is a a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be outside of the normal range of a child's age and development.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder of childhood. It is prevalent more often in boys than in girls.

Although the cause for ADHD is unknown, ADHD could be genetic in nature, it may run in families. The disorder is triggered in early childhood as the brain is developing. Imaging studies suggest that the brains of children with ADHD are different from those of other children.

Depression, lack of sleep, learning disabilities, tic disorders, and behavior problems may be confused with, or appear with, ADHD. Every child suspected of having ADHD should be carefully examined by a doctor to rule out possible other conditions or reasons for the behavior.

Over-Diagnosis

What experts and the public have already long suspected is now supported by representative data collected by researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and University of Basel: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is over-diagnosed. The study showed that child and adolescent psychotherapists and psychiatrists tend to give a diagnosis based on heuristics, unclear rules of thumb, rather than adhering to recognized diagnostic criteria. Boys in particular are substantially more often misdiagnosed compared to girls. These are the most important results of a study conducted by Prof. Dr. Silvia Schneider and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Margraf (both from RUB) and Dr. Katrin Bruchmüller (University of Basel) as reported in the American periodical "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology".

Younger Children May Be Misdiagnosed with ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder for children (more often with boys than girls). Around 3% to 5% of school aged children are affected by ADHD.

Children affected with ADHD manifest a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination of the three. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for a child's age and development.

The symptoms of ADHD fall into three groups:

• Lack of attention (inattentiveness)
• Hyperactivity
• Impulsive behavior (impulsivity)

Some children with ADHD primarily have the inattentive type. Others may have a combination of types. Those with the inattentive type are less disruptive and are more likely to not be diagnosed with ADHD.

Researchers have observed that younger children in the classroom are likely to be overdiagnosed with ADHD. Immaturity may lead to diagnosis of disorder

The youngest children in the classroom are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — and prescribed medication — than their peers in the same grade, according to a study just published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).