ADHD PATCH
About 8 percent of school age children in America live with Attenion Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. The behavioral disorder can impair their school work and home life. Now, there's a new way to treat it.
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13-Year-old Cody Mitchell has lived with ADHD for most of his life.
Kim Mitchell
Cody's mom
"He would just have outbursts for no reason. Talk nonstop. You couldn't get him to hush."
Cody used to take oral drugs to help his behavior, but they caused unwanted side effects.
Kim Mitchell
"There were so many peaks and valleys all the time. He would be less hungry. He didn't want to eat."
Now, Cody wears a patch that contains the drug methylphenidate. It gives him constant relief, an appetite and more control.
Doctor Sharon Wigal says the patch is a good option for kids who can't swallow pills, and it has another benefit.
Sharon Wigal, Ph.D.
Clinical Trials Director
University of California Irvine, CA
"You really can't stop the pill once it's swallowed where as the patch can be removed depending on activities and whatever needs to happen in terms of that child's life."
The patch delivers an even flow of medication through the skin to the bloodstream for nine hours. In clinical studies, it was just as effective as oral medication.
Sharon Wigal, Ph.D.
"What we saw was that by two hours, we had these significant differences compared to placebo, no medication, and they continued on through 12 hours."
Cody sums up how he feels on the patch in one word.
And that's all any kid can ask for.
The patch, which is changed daily, is the first non-oral medication for ADHD. It was approved by the FDA in december and will be available this year for patients between the ages of 6 and 12. Doctor Wigal says side effects were mild but included insomnia and skin reactions.
BACKGROUND: According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, ADHD is one of the most common chronic conditions of childhood and affects between 4 percent and 12 percent of all school-age children. About three-times more boys than girls are diagnosed with ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a dysfunction in certain parts of the brain. Researchers believe ADHD originates in the impulse control areas of the brain's frontal lobes. It's these areas that seem to be responsible for regulating the rest of the brain. Children with ADHD may experience significant functional problems such as school difficulties, academic underachievement, troublesome relationships with family members and peers, and behavioral problems. Medications including Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedrine, and Cylert are used to treat the disorder.
NEW OPTION: A new patch system delivers methylphenidate -- the main ingredient in some of the ADHD drugs -- throughout the day. It is the first drug that does not have to be taken orally.
UNDER STUDY: New research reveals the patch works at least as well as standard ADHD drugs. Sharon B. Wigal, Ph.D., director of clinical trials at the Child Development Center at the University of California, Irvine, led one of the studies. Study investigators gave the patch to 80 kids with ADHD between ages 6 and 12. Half the kids received an inert placebo patch and later switched to a real patch. The other half started with a real patch and later switched to a placebo. When getting the real patch, the children's ADHD was significantly better than when they got the fake patch. Their behavior and attention, tested throughout the day, improved. They also did better on age-adjusted math tests. Children in the study are continuing to use the patch for a full year. In another study out of University Hospitals of Cleveland, Robert L. Findling, M.D., director of child and adolescent psychiatry, and colleagues, compared the patch with placebo as well as with methylphenidate pills. The patch and methylphenidate pills improved 6- to 12-year-old kids' ADHD better than placebo. ADHD scores actually improved more with the patch than with the pills, although the difference was not considered significant.
WHY USE IT? The patch may allow clinicians to formulate doses to individual patients and offers parents more control over how long they want the stimulant medication to last. Even though Wigal's study involved removing the patch after nine hours, parents may opt to remove it earlier or later once they administer it themselves, as the patch continues to work after the 12-hour point and possibly up to as long as 16 hours. Researchers say it looks as though the patch must be removed for three hours before its effects wear off.
SIDE EFFECTS: The patch does have side effects -- comparable to what is seen with other stimulant drugs. These include effects on sleep and skin reactions.
Tom Vasisch
UCI Child Development Center
19722 MacArthur Blvd.
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 824-1833
sbwigal@uci.edu
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/515719
Copyright © 2006 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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