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Kale Brodie hall loves to play sports. His mom, Paige, said he's full of creativity. But like other kids with ADHD, Kale has behavioral problems he can't control.
"If the child sitting beside him in class teases him or pushes his papers off his desk, Kale will react negatively. He will push him back," Paige said.
Stimulants like Ritalin and Concerta controlled Kale's impulses, but they have to be taken throughout the day.
"I was constantly looking at my watch, wondering, 'Do we need to give him another dosage?'" Paige said.
Now there's atomoxetine, brand name Strattera. It lasts 24 hours, and it's not a stimulant.
"This is the first really new kind of compound that's been proven and really tested for this condition. So, it's really a big paradigm shift," said child psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Spencer, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Spencer said Strattera helps ADHD kids who don't benefit from stimulants -- especially those who are anxious, have tics, or who have trouble sleeping.
Audio: Solving Your Children's Sleep Problems Click here for a list of questions to ask your doctor about sleep problems, as well as tips for preparing for these conversations. |
"It works primarily on a different system, in this case, norepinephrine," he said. "It helps with inattention, distractibility and hyperactivity," all problems Paige has watched Kale struggle with.
"Basically, you have this screen around your brain when you don't have ADD, and that keeps away all the distractions. But a person with ADD has holes in that screen. What the medicine does is it puts up that screen. It fixes those holes," said Paige, and now they have a new tool to patch the problem.
Strattera was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2002 and is available by prescription. One side effect of Strattera is weight loss. It also has not been tested in children younger than 6.
Source: Ivanhoe Broadcast News
To find out more about Strattera, visit this site.
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