Congress Looking into Ritalin Usage
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Every year, thousands of children are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or more easily said, ADHD, a condition not even recognized until recent years, and many parents say too many children are being diagnosed and medicated for the disorder, and Congress is taking up the matter today. Our own medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is here more with our "House Call." The biggest travesty, though, is a lot kids are not even diagnosed, and they are taking medication for it.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- well, this is a very confusing issue on a lot of different levels. First of all, the number of people -- the number of kids getting treated with medications has jumped 500 percent over the last ten years.</s>ZAHN: Whoa.</s>GUPTA: Just to put it in perspective, there is about 2 million school-aged children that carry the diagnosis of ADHD. I want to talk about that specifically, and about -- Paula, you and I were talking about this -- 4 to 6 million kids that are being treated with medications. That is two to three times the number of kids that are actually diagnosed that are being treated. I think that is part of what is fueling this problem. ADHD -- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a disorder that has been around for some time. The definitions have changed a bit. You have ADHD, but you also have three different subtypes of that. One is the primary hyperactive component, one is the primary inattentiveness component, and a lot of kids have a combination of both. The definitions are changing a little bit.</s>ZAHN: Which makes it very difficult to diagnose. What does a doctor go through when they attempt to figure out what your kid has got?</s>GUPTA: There is no blood test, there is no brain scan. There is nothing can specifically diagnose it quite like that. The way people make this diagnosis -- the way doctors make this diagnosis is through a series of criteria. The criteria, we take a look at them, but even they are a little vague. Basically, they have to do with a difficulty following instructions, easily distracted, not paying attention to details, losing things needed for activities, and with the hyperactivity disorder, you actually interrupt people, fidgety, you can read through the whole list there. No question about it. Paula, those symptoms have to be around for at least six months. Typically, the diagnosis is made before the age of 7, and when that happens, a lot of times, you can actually make the diagnosis. A lot of those 4 to 6 million kids that are on these medications, Ritalin in particular, never actually meet those criteria.</s>ZAHN: That is terrible. So what is it, that classrooms are less tolerant of behavioral norms outside this very defined area?</s>GUPTA: We're a quick fix society, Paula. Ritalin -- it is an effective medication, seems to work pretty well in those kids that actually have ADHD. Let me just show you a little bit about how it works, because this actually will make it -- put a little bit more sense to it. First of all, people talk about a paradoxical hyperactivity, meaning that people who take Ritalin -- actually, instead of calming them down, it actually makes them even more hyperactive. But if you actually have the diagnosis of ADHD -- and let's take a look at this animation here -- what people believe is that you actually have a lack of what is known as dopamine, that is a neurotransmitter in the brain. You don't have enough of it, it doesn't stick around long enough. You put in the Ritalin now, and when you put in that Ritalin, the dopamine stays around longer. That actually allows the kids that don't have -- that have the dopamine problem to actually be able to correct that. Now, in someone who is totally normal, doesn't have that problem, you give them this Ritalin, and all it does is make them even more hyperactive.</s>ZAHN: There are other drugs other than Ritalin, but the most common side effects are kids lose their appetite, on this whole class of drugs?</s>GUPTA: Yes, difficulty eating, and difficulty sleeping. This can really ruin a kid's life, a kid who -- especially a kid that doesn't have ADHD, a kid who -- at times, hyperactive, at times that doesn't pay attention. Every kid does that. If the kid is not actually meeting these criteria, and is put on Ritalin, it can really have some disastrous side effects, which is why they are having this meeting, I guess.</s>ZAHN: Later today, great attention drawn to it. The president's brother, right, Neil Bush will be testifying.</s>GUPTA: Neil Bush's son pierce was inappropriately diagnosed with this. Lisa Marie Presley will be there as well.</s>ZAHN: The king's daughter.</s>GUPTA: The king's daughter. Absolutely.</s>ZAHN: We'll be watching.</s>GUPTA: We'll keep you posted on that.</s>ZAHN: Thanks Sanjay. Appreciate it. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com