The potential for long-term methylphenidate treatment to have a negative impact on the developing brain and on the cognitive-motivational development of children with ADHD has been the subject of intense debate. In particular, concerns about such effects in the media and raised by some interest groups, scientists and health professionals, have resulted in concern among patients, their families and the general public. As methylphenidate is being increasingly administered to younger children and is used over long periods it is important to know whether evidence exists to support this view. Unfortunately this is an area of research that has been relatively neglected and not previously systematically reviewed. Therefore ADDUCE will systematically review the human literature relating to the adverse impact of chronic methylphenidate exposure on brain development and neurological side effects. If sufficient “safety doubt signal” is generated from this review then we will recommend that regulatory authorities commission additional empirical studies.
 
Also much has been written in the media about the potential for methylphenidate to result in adverse effects on neurocognitive function. For example, it is said that ADHD medication turns children into “zombies”. However, most clinicians report that such effects are very rare. Only a few studies have addressed these effects by using laboratory measures of cognitive function that cannot be used in clinical practice. Therefore, ADDUCE will not attempt to measure these processes in the study, but will conduct methodological research to develop, validate and pilot a reliable, valid, clinically relevant and widely applicable tool which will then be made freely available for use in future studies.
 
The effects of methylphenidate on ADHD patients with epilepsy is not well studied. A few studies have reported no appearance of seizures in people whose epilepsy is well-controlled. However, since these are only small-scaled studies, more research is needed. Unfortunately, due to the relative rarity of seizures, the budgetary constraints associated with the current application preclude ADDUCE from recruiting a sample large enough to investigate the long-term impact of methylphenidate on seizures within the prospective study. We will however utilize the existing large-scale databases (e.g. General Practice Research Database (GPRD)) to assess this important outcome in another work package.
 
The short term effects of methylphenidate on sleep appear to be mixed and variable, and long term effects are not known. New research is therefore needed. Likewise despite there being several case reports linking methylphenidate with dyskinesia (abnormality in performing voluntary muscle movements) these potentially important effects have not been systematically studied. ADDUCE will address both sleep and dyskinesic effects in this study collecting systematic data  from both treated and untreated children and young people with ADHD and also on community controls.

News

The fifth ADDUCE Newsletter is now available!

Here, you can read about the finalisation of the project,

the European Medicines Agency and General Assembly meetings

and the dissemination of the results!

The fourth ADDUCE Newsletter is available!
 
In this newsletter, you can find some information on the final recruitment status of the 2 main studies:
- the prospective open-label methylphenidate pharmacovigilance study

- the long-term cardiascular effects of methylphenidate use
 
Also, you can read about the future plans of the project!

More than 1500 children, adolescents and adults across all Europe already took part in our study! Thanks to them, we have already gathered lots of information so we can know a lot more about methylphenidate than ever before! 

 

Did you participate in the ADDUCE studies and are you curious about the latest news on the project?

Here you can find some information!

News for children, April 2015

News for adolescents, April 2015

News for parents, April 2015

The third ADDUCE Newsletter is available!
 

Read more about the ADDUCE studies:

- the prospective open-label methylphenidate pharmacovigilance study: recruitment status and spin-
off studies
- the long-term cardiovascular effects of methylphenidate use: study design and participation
 

and much more in the ADDUCE Newsletter 3, March 2015

 

The second ADDUCE Newsletter is available!
Read more about the 2 main ADDUCE studies:

  • WP3: prospective open-label methylphenidate
    pharmacovigilance study
  • WP8: long-term cardiovascular effects of methylphenidate use

and much more in the ADDUCE Newsletter 2, February 2013

Events

16 - 19 OCTOBER 2016:

4rd EUNETHYDIS International Conference on ADHD, Berlin - Germany
from basis neuroscience to optimised clinical care

17 & 18 APRIL 2016:

ADDUCE Consortium meeting, London - UK

28 - 31 MAY 2015:

5th World Congress on ADHD: from Child to Adult Disorder, Glasgow - Scotland

20 & 21 APRIL 2015:

ADDUCE Consortium meeting, Salina - Italy

21 - 24 MAY 2014:

3rd EUNETHYDIS International Conference on ADHD, Istanbul - Turkey
ADHD and related disorders

19 & 20 MAY 2014:

ADDUCE Consortium meeting, Istanbul - Turkey

3 - 6 OCTOBER 2013:

23rd EUNETHYDIS Network Meeting, Prague Czech Republic
A meeting of the European Network of Hyperkinetic Disorders

6 - 9 JUNE 2013:            

4th World Congress on ADHD: from Childhood to Adult Disease, Milan - Italy

4 & 5 JUNE 2013:

ADDUCE Consortium meeting, Milan - Italy

 6 & 7 JUNE 2012:            

ADDUCE Consortium meeting, Cagliari - Italy

23 MAY 2012:

2nd EUNETHYDIS International Conference on ADHD, Barcelona - Spain