ADHD Drugs Safe for Heart, Study Says

Drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don’t increase adults’ risk of heart attack or stroke, a new study finds. Researchers reviewed 20 years of health records for more than 150,000 adults. Their ages ranged from 25 to 64. They had taken ADHD drugs, such as Ritalin, for an average of a year. But some people took the drugs up to 14 years. This group was compared with a similar group that did not take the drugs. Their rates of heart attack, stroke and sudden heart-related deaths were about the same. There was no increase in risk for people who took the drugs for longer than average. Some heart attacks and sudden deaths had been reported in recent years among people taking ADHD drugs. But U.S. drug regulators decided in 2006 not to require heart-related warning labels for these drugs.