HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – There are concerns among health professionals that a drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or A.D.H.D., could lead to relapse in people who suffer from addiction.
Memorial Healthcare toxicologist Dr. Alberto Augsten, said many telemedicine companies have come under fire for prescribing Adderall, which increases dopamine levels.
Dopamine is a reward pathway in the brain.
“If you have a prior history of using other substances, let’s say you have an opioid addiction, alcohol, whatever it is, anything that’s acting in that pathway, like Adderall which is an amphetamine, will increase the potential for that individual to have a relapse,” he said.
Augsten said in patients with previous addictions, providers need to consider other drugs to treat A.D.H.D. that don’t stimulate that reward pathway in the brain.
And cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or R.S.V., are on the rise.
R.S.V. often spreads in the fall and winter months.
“It’s a virus that causes typically cold like symptoms in children and adults but in younger children, it can cause much more significant congestion and cough, high fevers, sometimes breathing and feeding difficulties and irritabilities,” said Dr. Kimberly Giuliano with Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital.
The good news is most children who get sick with R.S.V. will be able to recover at home with supportive care, for example, taking a pain reliever for a fever or using a vaporizer for congestion.
However, if the child’s symptoms are not improving or are getting worse parents shouldn’t hesitate to contact their physician.