More Evidence Daily Exercise For All Ages Helps Most Everyone - Increases Survival Better Than Angioplasty For People With Heart Disease

regular exercise
provide remarkable help for patients with certain forms of serious heart disease.

improved indications of disease in people with heart failure, a condition usually thought to be incurable
exercise improved cardiac event-free survival in coronary patients better than angioplasty with stents.

about 800,000 angioplasties are performed each year in the U.S. at a cost of about $10 billion annually
[Exercise gets better results than $12,000 per angioplasty.]

long term benefits of angioplasty have been questioned by many doctors

after five years of follow-up
participants who went through exercise training had a better event-free survival rate than those treated with stent angioplasty.
63 percent of patients had survived, free of cardiac events.
only 40 percent in the angioplasty group

Two other studies
exercise can often help even patients with very serious heart problems.
reduced their cholesterol levels and markers of inflammation (which are associated with heart disease).

moderate exercise program daily for four weeks improved the function of endothelial cells in patients with heart failure.
endothelial cells
are associated with the progression of heart disease and heart failure when they don't function properly.

No improvement was noted in the control group of heart failure patients who did not exercise.

beneficial effect of exercise was seen as much in older subjects as in younger.
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New Evidence: Exercise Helps Heart Disease, Increases Survival Better than Angioplasty

Saturday, July 11, 2009 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
Key concepts: Disease, Heart disease and Angioplasty
http://www.naturalnews.com/026596_disease_heart_disease_angioplasty.html

Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation meeting recently held in Barcelona, Spain, new heart research was presented that shows one treatment in particular can provide remarkable help for patients with certain forms of serious heart disease. It's not a new drug or surgical procedure. Instead, it's a natural therapy -- plain old-fashioned regular exercise.

In fact, in several studies just presented at the meeting, exercise reduced the markers of heart disease in patients following coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). What's more, it improved indications of disease in people with heart failure, a condition usually thought to be incurable and often just treated with symptom-relieving drugs. But the news that's perhaps most likely to make some interventional cardiologists' hearts skip a beat or two was the evidence presented that showed that exercise improved cardiac event-free survival in coronary patients better than angioplasty with stents.

Also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), angioplasty is commonly used to help people with coronary artery disease whose arteries are narrowed and even blocked by a build-up of sticky plaque. By threading a thin tube through a blood vessel in the arm or groin, interventional cardiologists perform angioplasty to restore blood flood through a clogged artery. A tiny balloon at the end of the tube is inflated when it reaches the exact spot of blockage. That pushes the plaque outward against the walls of the artery, restoring blood flow. A small metal device called a stent is also carried by the tube and deployed at the site of the blockage in order to prop open the artery.

This approach to treating heart disease is a huge business. A report in Bloomberg News last fall noted that about 800,000 angioplasties are performed each year in the U.S. at a cost of about $10 billion annually [Exercise gets better results than $12,000 per angioplasty.] And, although many cardiologists consider angioplasty to be the "gold standard" of care in most types of acute coronary events such as heart attack, the procedure's long term benefits have been questioned by many doctors. In addition, the role of angioplasty in treating other kinds of coronary disease, like angina, isn't clear.

To help shed light on this issue, researchers at the University of Leipzig in Germany conducted a study to compare the event-free survival rate in 101 stable angina patients. Research subjects with the condition were divided randomly into two groups. Each group was treated with either a regular exercise program or with angioplasty.

The results, just presented at the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation meeting, showed that after five years of follow-up, the study participants who went through exercise training had a better event-free survival rate than those treated with stent angioplasty. In the exercise group, 63 percent of patients had survived, free of cardiac events. However, only 40 percent in the angioplasty group had survived without cardiac problems (which included heart attack, stroke and death).

Two other studies released at the Barcelona conference also back up the idea that exercise can often help even patients with very serious heart problems. Research by Dr. Tomasz Mikulski and colleagues from the Medical Research Centre in Warsaw, Poland, showed that aerobic training using an exercise bike not only improved the physical fitness of cardiac patients following bypass surgery, but also reduced their cholesterol levels and markers of inflammation (which are associated with heart disease).

Dr. Marcus Sandri from the University of Leipzig presented data showing that a moderate exercise program daily for four weeks improved the function of endothelial cells in patients with heart failure. This is important because endothelial cells, which line the circulatory system, are associated with the progression of heart disease and heart failure when they don't function properly.

No improvement was noted in the control group of heart failure patients who did not exercise. Dr Sandri noted in a statement to the media that the beneficial effect of exercise was seen as much in older subjects as in younger. "The effects of exercise were not diminished in our older heart failure patients which suggests that exercise as a treatment might be just as effective in older patients as younger," he explained.

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Community Approves 1,000 SQ Foot Edible Garden For Public School

BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVES THE CONSTRUCTION OF 1,000 SQ. FOOT EDIBLE GARDEN AT STAPLES HIGH SCHOOL IN WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT

At the strike of midnight on June 2nd, 2009 the future just got a little brighter, thanks to the inspiring presentation by Dan Levinson, of Green Village Initiative (www.westportgvi.org), the behind the scenes prepping of the powers-that-be by Kimberly Lake and the unshakable professionalism of Eileen Flug, and all the other key people that made this possible.

Congratulations, to Dan, Kimberly and Eileen, and to the entire Staples community who will benefit from this incredible gift of an edible school garden!
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STAPLES HIGH EDIBLE GARDEN: GVI has underwritten a Teich Garden to be installed and planted at Staples High School. In addition to being a tremendously valuable lesson topic for classes, the food being grown will be used by the culinary classes for cooking. This garden will be a model for schools of all levels to implement this learning tool and food source. For more information contact Kim Lake klake57@mac.com.

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See more about the Green Village Initiative below - following the description of how the initiative and other progressive initiatives are funded by a group of people that have decided to make a positive difference with positive projects.

The Westport Green Village Initiative is fully funded by and investment group, Main Street Resources
http://www.mainstreetresources.com/nonprofit.html

Whose purpose is:
Main Street Resources is a private equity firm comprised of entrepreneurs, executives and investors who provide investment capital and resources to companies with great people and potential.

Founder Dan Levinson, along with his team, advisors and operating partners (the “Guild”), bring deep resources and expertise to create a supportive environment for the firm’s portfolio companies, helping them to thrive. We provide capital, financial and strategic expertise, and the resources, contacts and advice of our 100+ experienced investors.

Main Street’s investors are principally owners and operators of mid-size companies interested in backing and assisting other promising companies and management teams. On behalf of these investors, who have long-standing relationships with the firm, we search for attractive, proprietary opportunities where our resources can be brought to bear.

 Main Street’s primary activity is the identification and sponsorship of entrepreneurs and management teams who are proven in their fields and are emotionally and financially committed to their businesses. In reaching investment decisions, we weigh the quality and commitment of the individuals involved above all else. Once we decide to invest, we work tirelessly in support of these partners.

 While the firm has the flexibility to invest in any type of company, transaction or security, Main Street generally commits $2-10 million equity capital in transactions which include growth capital fundings, recapitalizations and management buy-outs. Main Street targets stable companies in niche businesses that are poised for growth, and as a rule, does not invest in start ups, technology or style/fad companies.

Historically, dedication to this investment approach and philosophy has generated rewarding long-term relationships with outstanding operating partners and yielded financial and non-financial success for all involved.

In addition to seeking to utilize our resources to create safe attractive investor returns, we attempt to integrate corporate social responsibility principles into our operations and companies. We believe businesses can be both profitable and good corporate citizens – taking care of their people, communities and environment – while growing and creating value.

Dan Levinson directs 10-20% of his Main Street-related income in support of these and other charitable endeavors.

Main Street Resources Non-Profit Affiliations include:

Westport Green Village Initiative		Westport Green Village Initiative www.westportgvi.org The Westport Green Village Initiative (“GVI”) was started by Dan Levinson and friends to provide funding, staff, support and partnership to individuals and groups committed to environmental and community action in our town. We are now living in a time when the right thing and the environmental thing and the human thing and the economic thing – are all the same thing. GVI helps committed individuals and groups undertake environmental and community action in Westport by bringing focus, energy, capital, staff and a wide range of further assistance to what has traditionally been a splintered volunteer effort. Westport Green Village Initiative Receives Awards — April, 2009 - Westport Green Village Initiative (“GVI”), the local environmental/community organization founded and funded by Dan, has received the 2009 We Green Westport Award. This award, given annually by the Town of Westport ...
		Deb Nelson, President, Social Venture Network www.svn.org Social Venture Network (“SVN”) is the leading non profit network and facilitator between charities, businesses and communities - committed to building a just and sustainable world through the integration of these sectors.  SVN is comprised of roughly 500 innovative and socially-conscious business, community and non-profit leaders.  SVN Innovation Award Sponsor: Main Street Resources — January 2009 - Main Street Resources is a Social Venture Network Innovation Award Sponsor. Social Venture Network is a nonprofit network committed to building a just and sustainable world through business ...
		Susan Witt, Director, The E.F. Schumacher Society www.smallisbeautiful.org The E.F. Schumacher Society (“EFSS”) is a non-profit that envisions an economic system based on the values of human scale, democratic participation, local production for local consumption, equitable distribution of wealth, and stewardship of the natural environment. EFSS's mission is to develop model programs, conduct educational events, publish papers, and maintain a library to engage scholars and citizen-activists in building strong local economies that link people, land, and community. Economic Life/Grace of Innovating: E. F. Schumacher Society — January 28, 2009 - In October the Society bought a house for staff and interns. It was not a simple transaction, rather a complex and marvelous adventure weaving our work lives together with the story of a small manufacturing company ...
		William Shutkin, Director and Chair, Initiative for Sustainable Development Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder www.leeds.colorado.edu Bill recently joined the faculty of the Leeds School of Business after years of productive work in his space, including founding Partner of the Innovation Network for Communities, Interim Executive Director of BALLE (the world’s fastest growing network of sustainable businesses), President of the Orton Family Foundation and founder of New Ecology, Inc. (a pioneering green development research and consulting organization). Bill and Dan have supported each other for years in their various and numerous non-profit initiatives.
		David Downie, Director, Program on the Environment, Fairfield University www.fairfield.edu David recently joined Fairfield University after fourteen years at Columbia University where he taught graduate courses on environmental policy, conducted research, and served, at different times, as Director of Environmental Policy Studies at the School of International and Public Affairs, Director of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, and in several positions at Columbia's Earth Institute.  David seeks to connect students and faculty with companies and organizations working in innovative ways to address pressing environmental and social issues. Main Street Resources, through Westport Green Village Initiative, has a mutually-productive relationship with Professor Downie, involving shared resources, community action/education, employment opportunities for students and other similar projects.

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Here is some of what the Westport Green Village Initiative is doing in their community of Westport, Connecticut. See the website for much more:
http://www.westportgvi.org/

Green Village Initiative is a new grass roots organization established to support people and organizations passionate about creating local environmental and community change.  We provide resources, funding, support, staff – and often a feeling of home – to these wonderful people who inspire us.

     Our initial projects revolve around food, energy and conservation. We hope that our results will ultimately influence our elected officials and town and state legislation.  We are focused on results and focus on projects where we feel we can create real tangible progress.

     One common theme driving us is the desire and responsibility we feel to begin to repair the damage done to the world so as to make it a better place for our children and future generations.

     This site summarizes the current initiatives of our group. The work that is being done by our members is a testament to the shift in consciousness and new energy toward these issues.

     We believe good ideas alone are not enough – good people cause good results.  We are here to make a difference.

Green Village Initiative
c/o Main Street Resources
120 Post Road West
Westport, CT 06880
203-227-5320
attn:  Carmela
         ci@mainstreetresources.com

GVI meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 10:30AM at the office above.  Everyone is welcome.  Please email Carmela if you are new and wish to attend.

 "Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible."

2009 We Green Westport Award
This award, given annually by the Town of Westport, is in recognition of GVI’s commitment and inspiration it provides to the community through the ignition of its rapidly spreading grassroots efforts to make Westport Green. Click here

EPA Merit Award
This award was given to 4 Westport RTMers who banned the bag in Westport (one being a founding memeber of the GVI - Liz Milwe). Click here

Official Citation from State of Connecticut
This citation was presented on April 25, 2009 for GVI's advocacy and promotion of conservation initiatives.

===

FOOD CO-OP:  GVI members current have a CSA and the GVI is looking for available store-front to expand this program into a community space for food, activities, and environmental awareness.  The goal is to create a new food model - a relationship between local farmers and consumers- that offers local/healthy food to people at reasonable prices.  Members of The Green Garage will be able to purchase seasonal CSA shares. Contact Monique Bosch moniqueb@optonline.net. ...click here for more information.

TOWN-WIDE GARDENS: Gardens play an important role in providing a sustainable food source, supporting our environment, and educating the community on healthy solutions to the world's waning quality of food. Staples High Edible Garden is GVI's first installment in its commitment to planting gardens all over town. If you have a location for a garden or need support in your garden contact Dan Levinson dl@mainstreetresources.com.

WESTPORT FARMER'S MARKET:  Supporting local agriculture protects our natural resources and open space, boosts our region's economy, strengthens our community and tastes great! GVI is underwriting the Summer 2009 Farmer's Market. The market will be on Thursdays from 10am-2pm, at Imperial Avenue parking lot, May 21st - November 19th. Come visit, eat, and support local, sustainable agriculture one delicious bite at a time! For questions, contact Sherri Brooks Vinton sherri@sherribrooksvinton.com (author of 'The Real Food Revival' and nationally recognized speaker on healthy local food (sherribrooksvinton.com)) WestportNow Article    ...click here for more information.

STAPLES HIGH EDIBLE GARDEN: GVI has underwritten a Teich Garden to be installed and planted at Staples High School. In addition to being a tremendously valuable lesson topic for classes, the food being grown will be used by the culinary classes for cooking. This garden will be a model for schools of all levels to implement this learning tool and food source. For more information contact Kim Lake klake57@mac.com.

 Related Resources

Two Angry Moms "Are you sick and tired of packing your kids’ lunch box everyday because the cafeteria food is unfit for human consumption? Do you feel guilty when your kids “buy”? Are you annoyed at all the junk being handed out and sold at school? Are you angry enough to do something about it? We are! Two Angry Moms is a documentary that asks the question: What happens when two “fed-up” moms try to change the school lunch program?"

The Real Food Revival  "Eaters everywhere are reclaiming their food chain — enjoying food that's full of flavor, isn't loaded with chemicals, and is raised with great sensitivity to the environment, and any animals in its care. I call this empowering movement, The Real Food Revival, and it is taking our food supply out of corporate hands and returning it to the growers, chefs, market owners, and most importantly, to the eaters who want a more sustainable, delicious future!"

Green Drinks  "Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks. We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network."

The Hickories  "With CSA, you, as a consumer, "buy in" in springtime to our farm's summer harvest. In essence, you buy a share of the harvest and then the land and farmer pay you back with vegetables all summer. During the summer, once a week, shareholders will come to the farm to pick up their boxes of vegetables and fruits. You will get a mixed box of whatever is being picked, and the food will change as the harvest changes over the growing season. In addition, you as a shareholder take on the risk of the harvest, as well. Shareholders join us during seed purchasing in March. We plant in April and May. The harvest will start in the middle of June and we hope to run until the end of September. Once a week, on a set day and a set window of time, you will come to the farm to pick up your box. One share is a box that should feed a family of four."

Vonne's Victory Gardens "Like the Victory Gardens of WWI and WWII you can have your own garden of fresh fruits and vegetables. Your garden will be a readily available, sustainable food source; free of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals which are physically harmful to you. I create organic gardens right on your property which are a convenient and environmentally conscious way of enjoying chemical free fruits, vegetables and herbs. Vonne’s Victory Gardens was created to help people in the Farifield County, Connecticut  area grow their own organic food."

Fairfield Green Food Guide "Welcome to The Fairfield Green Food Guide, Fairfield County’s online resource for finding fresh, local, sustainable food and connecting with the green food community. Whether you are searching for local farmers’ markets, CSAs (a share in a farm’s crops), specialty stores, grocers, or wine shops, The Buying Guide will help you find exciting resources in your neighborhood. The Buying Guide is now available to consumers, free! Do you have a  green food resource you’d like to tell us about? Suggest a listing to The Buying Guide at info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com. Read and comment in our green food blog (a virtual green food forum) to stay hyper-current on local green food happenings and share opinions, resources and advocacy opportunities with other green foodies. Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a bite!"

“Our food system unnecessarily generates 1/3 of all global warming.”
- EF Schumacher Society





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Rat Paradise - Where Drug Addiction Is No Longer An Issue For Rats Or Humans Who Are Not In Cages

Rat Park - It's not the drug, it's the box [cage] ...
http://suboxforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1444
 
In the late 1970's, Bruce Alexander conducted the Rat Park experiments in an attempt to better understand the effects of environment on addiction. Instead of keeping his junky (adicted) rats alone in a wire cage with nothing but heroin to do, he built them a rat paradise.

The rats in Rat Park showed some curious behavior: when presented with an unlimited supply of morphine, they chose plain fresh water instead. He even added sugar to the morphine water to make it more appealing, and still the rats just said No.

Quote:
A Skinner box is a cage equipped to condition an animal’s behaviour through reward or punishment. In a typical drug test, a surgically implanted catheter is hooked up to a drug supply that the animal self-administers by pressing a lever. Hundreds of trials showed that lab animals readily became slaves to such drugs as heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines. “They were said to prove that these kinds of dope are irresistible, and that’s it, that’s the end of the addiction story right there,” Alexander says. After one particularly fruitless seminar in 1976, he decided to run his own tests.

The problem with the Skinner box experiments, Alexander and his co-researchers suspected, was the box itself. To test that hypothesis, Alexander built an Eden for rats. Rat Park was a plywood enclosure the size of 200 standard cages. There were cedar shavings, boxes, tin cans for hiding and nesting, poles for climbing, and plenty of food. Most important, because rats live in colonies, Rat Park housed sixteen to twenty animals of both sexes.

Rats in Rat Park and control animals in standard laboratory cages had access to two water bottles, one filled with plain water and the other with morphine-laced water. The denizens of Rat Park overwhelmingly preferred plain water to morphine (the test produced statistical confidence levels of over 99.9 percent). Even when Alexander tried to seduce his rats by sweetening the morphine, the ones in Rat Park drank far less than the ones in cages. Only when he added naloxone, which eliminates morphine’s narcotic effects, did the rats in Rat Park start drinking from the water-sugar-morphine bottle. They wanted the sweet water, but not if it made them high.

The addicted rats in Rat Park even kicked their habits voluntarily when given the option to do so:

Quote:
In a variation he calls “Kicking the Habit,” Alexander gave rats in both environments nothing but morphine-laced water for fifty-seven days, until they were physically dependent on the drug. But as soon as they had a choice between plain water and morphine, the animals in Rat Park switched to plain water more often than the caged rats did, voluntarily putting themselves through the discomfort of withdrawal to do so.

Maybe this offers an explanation as to why some people can use addictive drugs without becoming addictive. It might also offer some ideas as to why addiction treatment so often fails. Maybe we're focused on the wrong things. Maybe we need to fix the issues that seem to so often foster addiction [Both physical and mental cages.]: poverty, loneliness, lack of community, lack of spirituality.

Well worth reading: A more in depth chapter from the book - Opening Skinner's Box by Lauren Slater is here.

More articles on Rat Paradise here:
http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/02/08/the-rat-park/
http://the-mouse-trap.blogspot.com/2008/02/rat-park-addiction-and-environmental.html
http://homelessnation.org/en/node/6949

You can read more about the Rat Park experiments here.

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Children Taking Ritalin & Other ADHD Meds Has 5 Times Risk Of Sudden Cardiac Death

stimulants used to treat children for so-called ADHD can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death in kids.

drugs includes amphetamines like Adderall and Dexedrine and methylphenidate products such as Ritalin, Concerta, and Focalin.

Children and youth age 7 to 19 taking prescribed Ritalin for ADHD were four to five times more likely to die of sudden unexplained cardiac arrest than other children who were not taking Ritalin.

the study was skewed to hide just how many children die of sudden death when taking Ritalin.

Unconscionable, the study researchers were trying not to prove that stimulants cause sudden death in children.

There is also evidence from studies of stimulant addicts and case reports that stimulant drugs can cause heart disease, including inflammation and scarring. When drugs like Ritalin and Adderall are prescribed in routine pediatric doses, they commonly cause hypertension, which can lead to an enlarged heart. Yet children with even slightly enlarged hearts were excluded from the study. So the researchers ended up excluding any children with enlarged hearts caused by the stimulant treatment itself.

The same is true in regard to anorexia. Stimulants commonly cause anorexia. The researchers therefore excluded cases of stimulant-induced death in anorexic patients when the anorexia itself could have been caused by the stimulant.

the answer to this problem is simple.
Don't give stimulants to children.
There are far better non-drug ways to deal with so-called ADHD.

Very often these children improve dramatically when parents develop a more consistent, rational and loving plan for discipline.

Sometimes the problem completely disappears when the child is assigned a better teacher.

the child may be especially full of life and need more opportunity to run, to play, and to be creative.

these children ... don't need toxic drugs that can lead to drug addiction, cause psychosis and depression, stunt growth, impair brain function, and even cause sudden cardiac arrest. 

Our children  ... need us to protect them from misguided health professionals while we make every effort to meet their real needs in our families and schools.
+++

Children taking ADHD medication may be at risk of sudden cardiac death, study finds

by Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/06/18/2009-06-18_children_taking_adhd_medication_may_have_an_increased_risk_of_sudden_cardiac_dea.html

Thursday, June 18th 2009, 4:00 AM

A study that links ADHD drugs to an increased risk of sudden cardiac death in children may be driving parents crazy.

Related News

Articles

• New York drivers need to take road rage down a gear
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• Babies who are nursed perform better in school, study finds
• Zicam cold med can permanently damage smell, says FDA

If your child has ADHD, a new federally funded study that links ADHD drugs like Ritalin to an increased risk of sudden cardiac death may be making you crazy.

But mental health experts say the research is not conclusive enough for parents to necessarily take their children and teenagers off their medication.

The FDA is saying that the study has its limitations and should not necessarily change the way the stimulant drugs are used, according to WebMD.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the FDA, identified 564 children and teenagers who had died suddenly for unexplained reasons, and who had no structural heart defects.

Researchers also looked at 564 young people who had died as passengers in car accidents, many of whose deaths were later attributed to undiagnosed cardiac problems.

The researchers concluded that the odds of using a stimulant like Ritalin were six to seven times higher among the children who had died suddenly of unexplained causes than among those who died in auto accidents.

The study, which will appear in The American Journal of Psychiatry, does not prove that ADHD drugs cause cardiac deaths but they highlight the importance of screening kids and teens for heart problems before putting them on a stimulant medication, says Charlotte Armstrong, a NIMH spokesperson.

"One of the concerns is that there need to be improvements in screening for cardiac abnormalities in young people before putting them on medications like Ritalin," she says.

She also stressed the need for more studies.

"The bigger the numbers they can look at, the better," Armstrong says.

Dr. Ramon Solhkhah, director of the Child and Family Institute of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, says that while medication is the "gold standard of treatment for moderate to severe ADHD," some kids may benefit from non-drug therapies.

"There are definitely some behavioral and lifestyle changes that could be beneficial," he says. "These include cognitive behavioral therapy, certain organizational skills, more individual attention in the classroom and life coaches who can get kids organized."

Chiropractor Gerard Clum notes that many young people with ADHD can benefit from chiropractic techniques.

"A number of case reports have been published with chiropractic care and there has been a positive resolution in the severity of symptoms," he says.

And Dr. Robert Melillo, author of "Disconnected Kids," recommends not just behavioral modification, but careful attention to diet and nutrition.

"ADHD medications can help with symptoms," he says. "But there are a lot of alternatives out there that address the underlying problem."
===

Stimulants for ADHD Shown to Cause Sudden Death in Children
Dr. Peter Breggin

Posted: June 17, 2009 03:04 PM

A new study, published Monday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, confirms what I've been warning about for years in my scientific books and articles. The stimulants used to treat children for so-called ADHD can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death in kids. The study was published by the journal online in advance of regular publication in the near future. On Monday, I had the opportunity to comment on the study on Good Morning America. Here is more detail.

The stimulant group of drugs includes amphetamines like Adderall and Dexedrine and methylphenidate products such as Ritalin, Concerta, and Focalin. The study focused on Ritalin because at the time it was more commonly used than the amphetamines, although amphetamines are probably even more toxic to the heart.

The results of the study were as dramatic as they are tragic. Children and youth age 7 to 19 taking prescribed Ritalin for ADHD were four to five times more likely to die of sudden unexplained cardiac arrest than other children who were not taking Ritalin.

Despite these ominous results, the study was skewed to hide just how many children die of sudden death when taking Ritalin. The study relied heavily on identifying cases through toxicology reports at autopsy. But autopsy studies for the detection of these controlled substances are geared to detect more massive doses from addiction and overdose. They are not sensitive enough to detect many cases of routine prescription use. As a result, many stimulant-caused deaths were probably missed.

Also, the study excluded a large number of sudden deaths if the children had even the slightest evidence of pre-existing heart disease. They excluded these children even when the coroner thought that heart disease played no role in the death. For example, if a child was taking stimulants and had minimal heart disease, such as a slightly enlarged heart, the researchers didn't include the case as a possible death due to the stimulant. They also did not count children who were severely obese, anorexic, or asthmatic. But all of these children, especially ones with undetected heart disease, are much more highly at risk for of stimulant-induced sudden death. They even excluded children whose parents had some forms of heart disease.

It's as if they did not want to confirm the obvious--that an examination of children with heart disease and related disorders would swell the numbers of those killed by Ritalin. In fact, the current FDA approved label specifically mentions the risk of cardiac sudden death when Ritalin is given to children with heart conditions.

Unconscionable, the study researchers were trying not to prove that stimulants cause sudden death in children. They made the findings despite their own attempts to avoid it. I was not surprised to find that some of the researchers for this study are among the biggest advocates of psychiatric medications for children.

Sudden cardiac death in children is rare, probably occurring--as the study notes--in a slightly little less than 1 in 100,000 children. But we need to take a few other facts into account. First, the rate is going to be much higher in children taking stimulant drugs. Not just the four or five times higher found in this study, but many more times higher when vulnerable children are included such as those with undetected heart disease, severe obesity, asthma, or anorexia. Second, stimulant drugs are one of the few causes of cardiac death in otherwise normal children, making it impossible to detect the risk before it happens.

There is also evidence from studies of stimulant addicts and case reports that stimulant drugs can cause heart disease, including inflammation and scarring. When drugs like Ritalin and Adderall are prescribed in routine pediatric doses, they commonly cause hypertension, which can lead to an enlarged heart. Yet children with even slightly enlarged hearts were excluded from the study. So the researchers ended up excluding any children with enlarged hearts caused by the stimulant treatment itself.

The same is true in regard to anorexia. Stimulants commonly cause anorexia. The researchers therefore excluded cases of stimulant-induced death in anorexic patients when the anorexia itself could have been caused by the stimulant.

Meanwhile the psychiatric establishment--represented by American Psychiatric Association, NIMH and drug companies--has been quick to dismiss the importance of the study. Instead, they should be emphasizing that the study detected the risk even though the highest risk patients were excluded, including some who were displaying toxic stimulant effects such as heart disease and anorexia.

Meanwhile, it's hard to imagine a greater tragedy for the surviving family than the unexpected death of a child from taking a medication prescribed by a doctor. I've been involved as a medical expert or consultant for families in several tragic cases of stimulant-induced cardiac death. I've also been an expert in cases of suicide in children caused by stimulants. These tragic deaths are always heartbreaking. Years afterward, the emotional wounds remain as raw as ever for their parents and brothers and sisters. The family's trust for doctors and the healthcare system can be forever shattered.

Yet the answer to this problem is simple. Don't give stimulants to children. There are far better non-drug ways to deal with so-called ADHD. ADHD is defined as involving hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. These are not diseases--they are disciplinary and educational problems. Very often these children improve dramatically when parents develop a more consistent, rational and loving plan for discipline. Sometimes the problem completely disappears when the child is assigned a better teacher.

At times the child diagnosed with ADHD is simply a little delayed in learning self-discipline or finding the motivation to study. Often something is distressing the youngster, such as peer ridicule and abuse. Or the child may be especially full of life and need more opportunity to run, to play, and to be creative.

Whatever these children need, they don't need toxic drugs that can lead to drug addiction, cause psychosis and depression, stunt growth, impair brain function, and even cause sudden cardiac arrest. I describe and document all of these adverse stimulant effects, and many more, in my medical book, Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock, and the Psychopharmaceutical Complex, Second Edition (2008).

Our children don't need drugs--they need us to protect them from misguided health professionals while we make every effort to meet their real needs in our families and schools. It's time for all of us to retake responsibility for our children.

Dr. Breggin's latest book is Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime (St. Martin's, 2008). It is now in paperback.

Dr. Breggin's website is www.breggin.com.

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Camas - ITXWE' - At Drumheller Springs

A movie about the native plant, Camas, at Drumheller Springs, an urban wilderness, in Spokane.

5 minutes with a third grade class on a beautiful spring day nature exploring.



http://www.youtube.com/BetterSpokane


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NZ Large Scale Ocean Beach Sand Art - Creativity Is First - A Celebration

(Ignore the previous this email includes the short 3 minute movie link.)

For the last ten years, New Zealand’s artist Peter Donnelly has practiced his ephemeral art at the beach.

“Many tourists and local residents can find Peter down at the beach, low tide, most Sundays working beside the New Brighton pier carving the sand”.

“It’s a celebration, - he says - in a sacred way, sharing the process of creation. It’s good for putting something into large scale that is small inside yourself”.

Sometimes people ask him about a drawing. ‘What is it?’ - they ask.
And Peter says: “Sand”.
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A three minute movie:
NZ Ocean Beach Sand Art short version

A longer ten minute version of the movie:
NZ Ocean Beach Sand Art



http://www.impactlab.com/2009/05/05/amazing-3d-sand-art-by-new-zealander-peter-donnelly/29464/

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NZ Large Scale Ocean Beach Sand Art - Creativity Is First - A Celebration

For the last ten years, New Zealand’s artist Peter Donnelly has practiced his ephemeral art at the beach.

“Many tourists and local residents can find Peter down at the beach, low tide, most Sundays working beside the New Brighton pier carving the sand”.

“It’s a celebration, - he says - in a sacred way, sharing the process of creation. It’s good for putting something into large scale that is small inside yourself”.

Sometimes people ask him about a drawing. ‘What is it?’ - they ask.
And Peter says: “Sand”.
---

A ten minute movie:
NZ Ocean Beach Sand Art



http://www.impactlab.com/2009/05/05/amazing-3d-sand-art-by-new-zealander-peter-donnelly/29464/

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Subscribe to emails from :
- Better World News: http://at7l.us/mailman/listinfo/bwn_at7l.us
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- Health News - better ways of healthy living: http://at7l.us/mailman/listinfo/health_at7l.us
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View these blogs:
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