Deadly dangers of ADHD drugs For years, I've warned you about the potential dangers of the drugs that kids are being pumped full of to combat the fake "disease" called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And now, finally, there are some other doctors who've found a link that could be frightening enough to curtail the use of these drugs. A new study funded by the FDA and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) claims that kids taking ADHD drugs such as Ritalin and Adderal are many times more likely to die suddenly and for unexplained reasons that kids who aren't on these drugs. I've been telling you for some time how dangerous these drugs are. But this new announcement about links to unexplained sudden death is by far the most extreme. And as sad as this is, it's hardly surprising. Ritalin is no lightweight narcotic - it's a schedule II controlled substance (like cocaine) and the possible consequences of taking this drug include heart attacks, growth problems, psychosis, and blood disorders. And now you can add death to the list. The speculation among doctors is that taking these stimulant drugs routinely increases the heart rate and has an impact on the cardiovascular system. And yet, in spite of these links to possible death, the FDA doesn't feel the need to toughen up the prescribing guidelines for ADHD drugs. That inaction alone needlessly and irresponsibly exposes the more than 2.5 million kids in this country taking Ritalin- like drugs to danger. In typical half-measure fashion, the FDA even held a press conference to downplay the importance of the findings - yes, the findings of a study that the FDA themselves helped to finance. The agency claimed that the study was too small to allow far-reaching conclusions to be drawn, and that the incidence of sudden death (less than one in 10,000 kids) was too rare to limit the use of drugs to treat a "serious illness" like ADHD. The fact that even one child has died as a result of taking dangerous drugs to treat an entirely fictional "disorder" is an utter and complete outrage. And I'm not the only one who has called ADHD nonsense. Not long ago, a law firm filed a class action suit suggesting the manufacturers of Ritalin invented the disorder to boost sales. Despite compelling evidence, the initial trial dismissed these complaints. You should look at these results the way I have - legitimate proof of the dangers of all ADHD drugs. The suspicions have been there for years (and they weren't just mine). But the drug companies are making too much money, and too many people in the medical community have bought into the lie of ADHD. All I can do is spread the word to you and hope that parents get the word. Sometimes I wonder about how the healthcare community can continue to support certain medical practices or treatments in spite of an avalanche of evidence that they are downright dangerous. That's especially the case with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Researchers are doing their best to put a positive spin on two of the latest HRT studies, but in the end, I'm more convinced than ever that HRT is one of the most dangerous scams being foisted upon our nation's women by both Big Pharma and a willing health care community. Over the course of six years, the first study examined the brain scans of 1,400 women who were part of a Women's Health Initiative (WHI) memory study. This research found no link between brain lesions or any evidence of increased dementia. But don't get too excited just yet. The second study analyzed MRI scans of the same women and concluded that HRT led to a "small but significant" shrinkage of the brain's frontal lobe and hippocampus regions - areas known to be crucial to the brain's ability to handle memory and cognition. So the risks of HRT include cancer, stroke, gallbladder disease, blood clots … and now brain shrinkage? I've yet to hear any legitimately positive things about this treatment. It's unbelievable to me that women subject themselves to all these dangers - aided and abetted by their physicians - just to alleviate postmenopausal symptoms. As the downside of HRT pile up higher and higher, doctors - and researchers, too, it seems - continue to be in willful denial of the obvious dangers of this treatment. The bottom line is that HRT is a cash cow for many doctors. My advice? Forget HRT. If you're bothered by hot flashes, load up on Vitamins E and C and call it a day. | 
