The Hyperkinetic Child and Stimulant Drugs

Abstract

The possibility that stimulant drugs used in the treatment of the hyperkinetic syndrome suppress growth adds another strident warning to a growing literature that emphasizes medical responsibility for meticulous long-term care and follow-up study of children with this disorder. The data presented by Safer and his co-workers in this issue of the Journal challenge conventional belief that tolerance to anorectic effects develops with relative rapidity. Clinicians have long been familiar with initial weight loss followed by resumption of weight gain, but few have reported measures of long-term effects. Dr. Kenneth Zike, of Harbor General Hospital, in an unpublished study generously . . .