Legal Ritalin Use and Long-Term Side Effects
Although there are many known short-term side effects of using methylphenidate, including dangerously high body temperature, irregular heartbeat, high blood temperature, agitation and addiction, the long-term side effects are somewhat uncertain.
Future Drug Abuse
It is believed that those children and teens who are prescribed methylphenidate to treat ADHD symptoms are twice as likely to abuse other drugs later in life, specifically stimulant drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine. However, aside from possible future drug addiction, there is little known about long-term side effects that result from Ritalin use.
Addiction
Certainly the increased probability of addiction to stimulants is very worrisome; however, it does not happen to every child or teen who is prescribed methylphenidate, in fact far from it. There are a good number of children who take Ritalin to treat ADHD symptoms and they do not become addicted to illegal substances in later years.
Stunted Growth
Though it was previously thought untrue, new research has found that long-term use of Ritalin does affect a child’s growth. After three years of using Ritalin, children are approximately 1 inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than their peers. This has been found in the Effects of Stimulant Medication on Growth Rates Across 3 Years in the MTA Follow-Up study, which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in August 2007.
Brain Function
Ritalin affects on the brain is an area that is gaining more and more attention. While we know that Ritalin affects the brain chemicals and functioning, more questions are being asked as to whether there are any long-term effects on the brain. For more information, please read How Ritalin Affects the Brain.
Illegal Ritalin Use and Long-Term Side Effects
The illegal use of methylphenidate is more worrisome than a prescribed usage by a health care provider. A user who does not understand the immediate and possible long-term risks may be in greater danger through the abuse of Ritalin than children and teens who are placed on the drug with medical supervision. Naturally people who abuse substances with the intention of “getting high,” along with other incentives, are uninterested and possibly unaware of the risks they take upon abusing drugs. The risk of a heart attack leading to death is the most dangerous and sometimes most imminent side effect of methylphenidate when it is used improperly and illegally.
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