All of you super smart chemical peeps please tell me what, if any, concerns we should have about the drugs that have been banned with close properties to amphetamine and the effects of taking amphetamine salts for ADD/ADHD. Any responses to the article below is wanted:)Thanks!


http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Anorectic&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1
Used on a short term basis clinically to treat obesity (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Obesity&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1), some appetite suppressants are also available over the counter (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Over-the-counter+substance&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1). Drugs (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Drug&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) of this class are frequently stimulants (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Stimulant&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) of the phenethylamine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Phenethylamine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) family, related to amphetamine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Amphetamine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) (speed). Indeed, amphetamine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Amphetamine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) itself was sold commercially as an appetite suppressant until it was outlawed in most parts of the world in the late 1950s (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1950&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) due to increasing exploitation of its stimulant (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Stimulant&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) properties ("abuse"). Many amphetamines (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Amphetamine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) produce side effects including addiction (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Addiction&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1), tachycardia (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Tachycardia&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) and hypertension (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Hypertension&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1), making prolonged unsupervised use dangerous.
Epidemics (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Epidemic&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) of fatal pulmonary hypertension (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Pulmonary+hypertension&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) and heart valve damage associated with anorectic agents have led to the withdrawal of products from the market. This was the case with aminorex in the 1960s (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1960s&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1), and again in the 1990s (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1990s&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) with fenfluramine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Fenfluramine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) (see: Fen-phen (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Fen-phen&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1)). Likewise, association of the related appetite suppressant phenylpropanolamine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Phenylpropanolamine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) with hemorrhagic stroke (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Cerebrovascular+accident&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) led the FDA (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Food+and+Drug+Administration&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) to request its withdrawal from the market in the United States (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=United+States&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) in 2000 (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=2000&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1), and similar concerns regarding ephedrine (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Ephedrine&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) resulted in an FDA (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Food+and+Drug+Administration&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1) ban on its inclusion in dietary supplements, in 2004 (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=2004&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1).

Amphetamines are probably among the safest medications on the market when taken as prescribed. They've been around for 75 years. To put that in some perspective, aspirin has only been around just over 100 years. The same goes for ritalin.

Most stimulants are chemically similar - in fact many psychotropic drugs have a similar basic structure, as well as decongestants like psuedoephedrine. Amphetamines aren't used anymore for weight loss due to the fact that they can be abused and can be risky if you have heart issues - which would be more common in those who are obese - or at least more serious. One stimulant is still used as an anorexic agent - phenteramine (sp?). It's not commonly used for ADHD however. Fen-phen had very specific problems that other drugs don't share. Ephedra was banned because it was difficult to regulate and people took it in situations that were risky - like when excersizing in hot weather, etc - and deaths resulted. If it was a prescription medication, I doubt whether there would have been any major problems.
Stimulants are very safe if used as directed by healthy people. Heart problems, especially arythmias, will exclude you from taking stimulants for obvious reasons. Many doctors will screen you, checking for high blood pressure and may even do an EKG before prescribing, but there is still a chance that a problem could be missed that would be made worse by stimulants, but on the whole, they are very safe. Health Canada banned the use of Adderall due to a few unexplained deaths, but analysis of the data shows that the rate of these deaths was not any different from the rate of unexplained deaths you would get from a sample of the general population, so it wasn't a particularly rational move on Health Canada's part - I would call it stupid!
If you take medication as directed, you are not going to have problems with addiction. People that abuse amphetamines typically take quantities many times greater than a theraputic dose. There is always going to be some risk to taking any medication - you could have an allergic reaction to anti-biotics or some other drug and die from shock if you are unlucky enough to be born with such an allergy - but my feeling is that if you have such an undiagnosed weakness in your heart, it will "catch up with you" one day, regardless of the meds you are taking. I had myself checked out - went so far as an excersize stress test - and I was fine, as far as anyone can tell, so I don't worry about it, but no-one in my family tree has dropped from a sudden heart attack - at least not anyone in the last 3 or 4 generations, so I figure I'm pretty safe. There's a bigger chance of my getting killed driving to the pharmacy to pick up my scrip than there is of my medication killing me. And it's a quality of life issue for me - even if there was a more significant risk, I would still take the medication, I wouldn't even have to think about, the improvements are THAT profound!
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Greg

Sweetmama,
You use such big words, but do you understand what they mean? I'll give you a clue "NOTHING" For every medication out on market whether it be for diabetics, to heart:soapbox: disease all medication have bad side effects. Prednisone is a steroid and it's one of the worse drugs out there...it kills the good and bad stuff and make one immune system go crazy for awhile. However, without it I probably would either have died or been in the hospital. So go back and learn more about those big words you used ok.:eek:

Yo,

If you have ADHD then your brain is going to react completely differently to a stimulant than someone without ADHD.You can't make comparisons between non- ADHD & ADHD's because of the may differences between groups(caused by ADHD).

The first medication study using stimulants (benzine: a form of dexedrine) for behavior change was done in 1937 by a Rhode Island doc named Bradley. The US Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health:Chapter Three Disorders of Infancy,CHildhood & Adolescence, has a nice run down on that, as well as the safety record for stimulants in psychiatry.

Sweetmama,
You use such big words, but do you understand what they mean? I'll give you a clue "NOTHING" For every medication out on market whether it be for diabetics, to heart:soapbox: disease all medication have bad side effects. Prednisone is a steroid and it's one of the worse drugs out there...it kills the good and bad stuff and make one immune system go crazy for awhile. However, without it I probably would either have died or been in the hospital. So go back and learn more about those big words you used ok.:eek:
Johna they are not MY words it was an article I read and cut and pasted with the link to it from Answer.com.

I am in no way saying amphetamine is bad or that it will cause problems, I just wanted some feedback from the forum on the similarities of amphetamine and phenfen etc.

Ah @@@@ I made a mistake and missed the www part.........therefore I owe you an apology. Actually I was jealous that I don't use such big words :(