ADHD stimulant medications like Ritalin or Adderall appear linked to a heightened risk for cardiomyopathy (a weakening of the heart muscle), and the risk grows with time, new research shows.
However, researchers were quick to note that cardiomyopathies are rare in the young, and even with ADHD medication use the absolute risk to any one patient remains very small.
Overall, folks ages 20 to 40 who were on a medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were 17% more likely to have cardiomyopathy at one year and 57% more likely to have cardiomyopathy at eight years, compared to their peers who weren’t taking the drugs. The study wasn’t designed to prove cause-and-effect.
“The longer you leave patients on these medications, the more likely they are to develop cardiomyopathy, but the risk of that is very low,” said study lead author Pauline Gerard. She’s a second-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“I don’t think this is a reason to stop prescribing these medications,” she said. “There’s very little increased risk of these medications over the long term; it’s a real risk, but it’s small.”
The findings are slated to be presented April 7 at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Atlanta.
