| ■ Aggressive Kids With ADHD May Not Need Antipsychotic Meds | 2010.09.17 |
| FRIDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- More and more children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who act out aggressively are being given antipsychotic drugs in addition to stimulant medications to help control their volatile outbursts. It's a trend that many parents and child mental health professionals find worrisome. However, a new study by researchers at New York's Stony Brook University School of Medicine suggests that, with careful tweaking, use of stimulant medication alone can significantly reduce or eliminate aggressive behavior in at least half of these children. "There's a big push in this country to have pediatricians manage these kinds of behavioral difficulties in children because there's such a shortage of child psychiatrists," noted the study's lead author, Joseph C. Blader, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Stony Brook. "I hope our study will embolden more primary care physicians to push the limits of first-line [stimulant] treatment for ADHD before going on to the next thing." The study findings were released online Sept. 13 in advance of publication in the October print issue of Pediatrics. |