Drugs To Boost Study Skills

Healthy children are taking AHDH drugs to boost study skills but experts call this trend “misguided.”

The practice of prescribing these drugs, called neuroenhancements, to healthy students is not justifiable. Prescribing mind-enhancing drugs for healthy children is viewed differently than it is for healthy adults.

The American Academy of Neurology today issued a stern new policy statement. The Academy spent years analyzing all of the available research and ethical issues to develop its official position on the “study drug” matter.
Reasons against prescribing these drugs to healthy patients include:

• questions about the long-term health and safety of neuroenhancements
• questions about whether kids have the maturity to make good judgments
• concerns that a request for these drugs may reflect other medical, social or psychological issues
• and the risks of over-medication and dependency.

More research is needed on what the long-term effects of these medicines are on a developing child’s brain. In the meantime, America’s neurologists strongly urge healthy children to steer clear of these medications.