ADHD Medications
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Drugs)
Medical Author:
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards
Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Medical Editor:
Jay W. Marks, MD
Jay W. Marks, MD
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications facts
- What are ADHD medications?
- What are the different types of ADHD drugs?
- What are the differences among the ADHD drugs?
- Are any side effects associated with ADHD medications?
- What are the precautions for ADHD drugs?
- Are ADHD medications associated with drug interactions?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications facts
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (often referred to as ADD or ADHD) is a disorder that is characterized by hyperactivity or restlessness, trouble concentrating, and/or trouble controlling one's impulses.
- People with ADHD have many chemicals in their brain that are not present in the proper amounts in the proper places at the proper times.
- ADHD medications are designed to increase the ability of the ADHD sufferer to pay attention and manage their impulses and activity level.
- Most ADHD medications tend to increase the amount of the neurotransmitters dopamine (DA) and/or norepinephrine.
- Marijuana's addiction potential, side effects, and the lack of research of its benefits for ADHD keep the use of this drug from being a viable treatment.
- The types of ADHD medicines include stimulants and nonstimulants, the latter including medications that usually treat depression.
- ADHD medications now come in pill, patch, or liquid forms.
- Precautions that are often taken when ADHD drugs are prescribed usually involve the prescribing doctor using a variety of ways to make sure the person is healthy.
- As with many medications, ADHD medications can be associated with certain interactions with other medications, some of which may be dangerous.
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