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From Dogma to Data

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1999;56:337-338.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

IT IS A simple question. Do psychostimulants worsen tic disorders? In the 1970s and early 1980s, the answer was unequivocally yes. The presence of a tic disorder in a patient, or even a history of tics in a close family member, became a contraindication to prescribing methylphenidate hydrochloride.¹ However, the answer has not remained simple. In this issue of the ARCHIVES, Gadow et al² present their longitudinal follow-up of 29 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and chronic multiple tic disorder (mostly Tourette syndrome) who were treated for 2 years with methylphenidate. They pose a public health question: "to address the issue of potential tic exacerbation from the standpoint of group data (ie, is treatment ill-advised in this clinic population?), and not to verify possible tic exacerbations in individual children." They conclude that treatment with methylphenidate does not result in long-term exacerbations of motor or vocal tics in prepubertal children, at . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Long-term Methylphenidate Therapy in Children With Comorbid Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Chronic Multiple Tic Disorder
Kenneth D. Gadow, Jeffrey Sverd, Joyce Sprafkin, Edith E. Nolan, and Steven Grossman
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1999;56(4):330-336.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT