babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
When it Comes to Prescription Drugs Children Are Not Small Adults
Safe for whom?
More kids and teenagers in the US are using prescription drugs for chronic conditions than ever before. According to the Wall Street Journal, around a quarter are taking some kind of chronic medication.
Some of those prescriptions are for things we hear a lot about like ADHD in children and asthma. Others are for conditions I at least typically associate with adults like hypertension, high cholesterol, and sleep. Why is there this increase?
Some of it has to do with better early detection of chronic conditions, some of it has to do with the health problems associated with the obesity epidemic, and some of it has to with greater awareness of medication as an option.
According to Danny Benjamin, a Duke University pediatrics professor, the problem is studies of the safety and dosage for those medications were all done in adults. That means we don’t know what the potential side effects these drugs can have in kids or the appropriate doses in children.
If a drug has been on the market for a long time, drug companies have “little incentive” to go back and test it on kids, especially if the drug is no longer under a patent. The Wall Street Journal story reports:
Still, a growing number of studies have been done under a Food and Drug Administration program that rewards drug companies for testing medications in children. In more than a third of these studies, there have been surprising side effects, or results that suggested a smaller or larger dose was needed than had been expected, Dr. Benjamin says. Those findings underscore that children’s reactions to medicines can be very different than those of adults. Long-term effects of drugs in kids are almost never known, since pediatric studies, like those in adults, tend to be relatively short.
Even with all the unknowns, though, according the Journal, the number of high blood pressure medication prescriptions for people under 19 “could hit 5.5 million this year.”
Before turning to prescription drugs, Dr. Benjamin recommends that parents do as much research as they possibly can into the drug.
For conditions like hypertension, if the child is also overweight, doctors might recommend changes in diet and exercise routines before turning to blood pressure mediation.
Also, once the decision is made about using a drug, parents still need to keep a close watch on side effects. And when it comes to managing ADHD symptoms and asthma symptoms medications have to be adjusted as a child develops. The bottom line with medication seems to be parents have to do the research and keep eyes wide open once kids start them.
How would you decide about giving your kids medication for a chronic condition?
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
Jenny commented on Dec 30 10 at 11:41 amI’ve been giving my son medicaton for his asthma since he was 16 months old. What else would I do?
I can understand people wanting to use homeopathic treatments and changing their diets and habits to improve certain chronic conditions, but the reality is that medication is sometimes the only way to go, tested on children or not.
I cannot imagine there are many children with chronic conditions whose parents want them to be part of a study on the safety of prescription drugs, although I have wondered what all this medication will do to him later. I guess keeping him healthy and alive doing what I can do now is going to have to be good enough.
Robin Aronson commented on Dec 30 10 at 11:50 amI think asthma and ADHD medication are different, too, from, say drugs for hypertension or statins because there’s a long history of pediatric use and much more clinical information about it… sometimes kids need meds, period.
ALittleShort commented on Dec 30 10 at 2:01 pmThe large number of kids on meds makes me wonder two things. One, there is a possibility that doctors are over prescribing. They are to quick with that pen and script in my opinion. and Two, we are living in a world of hypochondriacs. I have a heart that is essentially backwards and had open heart surgery at age 2 1/2 and I was put on meds afterward for a while. But my mom noticed they weren’t really doing anything for or against me, so she talked to the doctor and he said, “lets take her off them and see how she does in a month” and vola, there was no change until I hit the age of 15, and since then I have been on blood pressure medication. But you tell a cardiologist now days that I went for 12 years with absolutely no medication or any other kind of invasive medical treatment for that long, I look like a miracle child.
My younger brother had asthma when he was little and it was treated with a breathing machine that had medication in it for probably until he was 18 months, maybe 2 years, and since then he hasn’t had any issue, went on to play soccer, and now is currently serving in the Marines.
I think as long as you pay attention to your child, and don’t treat them like they are ‘sick’ unless of course, they are in fact an extreme case of something, and you treat them like a child then for the most part they will live happy healthy lives and possibly not need any kind of medication later on. Its really simple, you treat them like a sick and invalid child, they will become one.
Jennifer H. commented on Dec 30 10 at 8:03 pmI had my son put on a prescription. I hated to, but he was failing to gain weight because of excessive reflux. He’d puke out 90% of every meal. Projectile vomiting, I have pictures. It was insane. Faced with a baby who ate great, but was forever hungry and failing to gain weight in spite of constant feeding?
We researched the options, found the med with the least side effects, kept him on the lowest dose, and watched him turn around overnight… weight gain, food staying down, happy baby smiles. We will always carefully research anything suggested for him, but I won’t outright refuse all medications… sometimes they’re necessary.
Mark Sanchez commented on Jan 05 11 at 10:25 amThe situation on the abuse of prescription drugs is worrying. The percentage has grown by 20 percent in the last four years, and now children and adolescents taking these medications that are dangerous for consumption. Mentions Findrxonline on their website that these drugs like vicodin, lortab, percocet, are used for chronic diseases and their side effects are hazardous to health. Avoid the use of these drugs without a prescription.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0