ACC: Small but Significant Risk for Cardiomyopathy Seen With ADHD Meds
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, March 28, 2024 -- Young adults prescribed stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have an increased risk for cardiomyopathy, with the risk increasing with duration of treatment, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from April 6 to 8 in Atlanta.
Pauline Gerard, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the relationship between cardiomyopathy and duration of stimulant medication use in adults diagnosed with ADHD aged 20 to 40 years. The window of analysis was limited to 30 years after ADHD diagnosis.
A total of 12,759 pairs of patients categorized by the presence or absence of stimulant medication prescription with a decade-long record were matched. The researchers found that the prevalence of cardiomyopathy was 0.36 and 0.31 percent in the one-year stimulant and nonstimulant groups, respectively. This prevalence increased to 0.72 and 0.53 percent in the 10-year stimulant and nonstimulant groups, respectively. The one-year stimulant group had higher odds of cardiomyopathy (odds ratio, 1.17), which increased at eight years (odds ratio, 1.57), then decreased slightly at 10 years (odds ratio, 1.37).
"The longer you leave patients on these medications, the more likely they are to develop cardiomyopathy, but the risk of that is very low," Gerard said in a statement.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted March 2024
Read this next
Pharmacological Treatment of ADHD May Cut Some Forms of Criminality
WEDNESDAY, May 29, 2024 -- Pharmacological treatment may reduce some types of criminality among adolescents and young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)...
One in Nine U.S. Children Have Ever Been Diagnosed With ADHD
THURSDAY, May 23, 2024 -- Diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in U.S. children continue to increase, with approximately one in nine having ever received a...
Aficamten Beneficial for Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
THURSDAY, May 16, 2024 -- Treatment with the oral selective cardiac myosin inhibitor aficamten results in significantly greater improvement in peak oxygen uptake compared with...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.