Ritalin and oxidative damage to the brain

[seamstress]

I have a feeling that a high dose of Ritalin increases the metabolic activity of the brain, causing a build up of free radicals. The problem is : what is a high dose for me, is not necessarily a high dose for everyone else. I suspected the ``free radical`` problem and decided to research the idea and realized that there is some literature on the topic. I also realized that when I drink herbal remedies such as St. John`s Wort or Camomille it helps calmed me down and makes the crash from the Ritalin tolerable.

It just so happens that these teas are antioxidants, which scavenge the free radicals in the brain. The tea also calms down the ``obsessive``or ``dark thoughts`` that sometimes come with too much metabolic activity in certain parts of brain (well, for me anyway).

The antioxidant problem may be the reason why sometimes stimulants are prescribed with anticonvulsants. Have you guys heard about this before? Have you experienced the ``Ritalin Crash``. If so, what did you try to help ``slow down`` your brain. What about ``dark`` or ``obsessive`` thoughts. How normal are these side-effects?

[sarahsweets]

could you provide sources for this research that I can read?

[seamstress]

So, I many have jumped into conclusions in my own ADHD way. LOL! But, It’s definitely an idea to look into though, because there is a lot of preliminary data to indicate that oxidative damage and Ritlain may be related. It has not yet been proven, and there’s a lot of controversy surrounding.

See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16771035

Conflicting Results

- Some articles indicate Ritalin increases oxidative damage:
o DNA damage in rats after methylphenidate treatment:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...78584607001856
o DNA damage in children treated with methylphenidate:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...04383505000376
o Methylphendiate stress induces oxidative stress in young rat brain:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...06899306000606
o The concentration of enzymes which deal with oxidative stress are not high enough to deal with oxidative damage caused by methylphenidate:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q437g56767373376/

- Some articles indicate that Ritalin decreases oxidative damage: <--WTH?
o http://www.springerlink.com/content/w0035r03v378qv7k/

- Some articles indicate that Ritalin causes no oxidative damage:
o http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...90856708601367
o http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...78427408012988
o http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...20515/abstract
o http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...nticated=false (Review Article)

- Either way, Methlphenidate does somehow alter oxidative defenses:
o http://www.springerlink.com/content/8587222500x74647/
o http://www.springerlink.com/content/36086m75mx4u4617/
o http://jop.sagepub.com/content/24/12/1829.short

Personally, I don’t trust those articles that say there is “no damage”. You can’t prove a null! Especially, if other research has shown that there has been damage, in some circumstances. Also, I don’t trust the articles that say that Ritalin is an antioxidant. That doesn’t make logical sense, because Ritalin increases metabolic rate. Any substance which increases metabolic rate will also increase free radical production. In fact, I think that Ritalin is probably equated with “speed” because of the fact that increases metabolic rate!

We all know where pharmaceutical companies stand. I would like to see at least one research article by a pharmaceutical company, showing at least the potential of oxidative damage! If they were doing good research, then the frequency of positive/negative results by pharmaceutical companies should be approximately equal to that published by other research agencies.

I don’t mean to hate on Ritalin. I LOVE Ritalin! But, I think it’s important that we realize that taking Ritalin “is not all roses”. At least, we know what kind of complications to expect in the long-run and it may help us reduce some of the side-effects associated with any potential damage. If you want to look for more articles, go to google scholar and search under: “methylphenidate damage”.