- Title
- Stimulants and growth in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- Creator
- Negrao, Bianca Lee, Viljoen, Margaretha
- Subject
- Attention-deficit-disordered children, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Adrenergic stimulants, Dopamine, Noradrenaline, Growth attenuation
- Date
- 2011
- Type
- Article
- Identifier
- http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/390822
- Identifier
- uj:5810
- Identifier
- ISSN 0306-9877
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7818
- Description
- Initial suggestions that suppression of growth may be an intrinsic characteristic of attention-deficit/hyperactivitydisorder (ADHD) have now largely been disproven. Although controversy persists regarding the possible negative effect of adrenergic stimulants on growth in children with ADHD, the consensus that appears to be reached in the scientific literature is that stimulant usage may cause a manageable attenuation of growth in these children. Since it is known that stimulants increase the amount of dopamine and noradrenaline in the synapse, this writing suggests that these increases in dopamine and noradrenaline are responsible for the growth attenuation in these children. It appears that increased amounts of dopamine and noradrenaline have the ability to inhibit the secretion of growth hormone and growth-related hormones such as prolactin, thyroid hormones, sex hormones and insulin. Therefore, it would be reasonable to suggest that the increases in dopamine and noradrenaline caused by stimulant usage can disrupt the homeostasis of both growth hormone and growth-related hormones, generating the potential for the suppression of growth.
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Rights
- NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Medical Hypotheses. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Medical Hypotheses, Volume 77, Issue 1, July 2011, Pages 21–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.03.015
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