Another reason to quit (or not start)

[Joanne]

Found this on a very mainstream physicians' news site. Granted, it's a correlation between doing the drug now and getting Parkinson's later ... too early to say that one causes the other. Still, with 66,000 people followed for 38 years, pretty impressive. Not to say scary.

Probably when they started this survey 38 years ago most of the "amphetamine sulfate" users were taking it for weight loss -- or for fun. The actual formulation of Adderall, I heard, was bought by Shire from a company that manufactured it for years as a weight loss pill called "Obetrol."

http://www.physiciansweekly.com/ConfHighlights_AAN_2011.html

Amphetamine Use May Increase Parkinson’s Risk

The Particulars: Amphetamines were once recommended for treating patients with Parkinson's disease. Recent studies, however, have suggested that this class of drugs may be linked to a higher risk of developing Parkinson's.

Data Breakdown: Researchers conducted an analysis in 66,438 individuals who did not have Parkinson's disease at baseline and collected information on exposure to amphetamines. Through a mean follow-up of 38.8 years, 1,154 patients received a Parkinson's diagnosis. The average age at baseline was 36, and the average age at diagnosis was 70. Individuals who reported often taking amphetamine sulfate or dextroamphetamine sulfate had a 56% greater risk of having a Parkinson's diagnosis decades later. The magnitude of the relationship was similar for both men and women. Participants who reported taking weight-loss medication at baseline did not have an elevated risk for Parkinson's disease through follow-up (hazard ratio, 0.95).

Take Home Pearls: The use of amphetamines appears to be associated with an elevated risk for developing Parkinson's disease later in life. Considering the wide population exposure to both legal and illegal amphetamines, more studies are needed to address this association.

[Mike]

Nice find! Thanks for posting. I'm going clip this up into a blog post...

EDIT: Done.