ADHD MEDICATIONS (ADDERALL & RITALIN): STUDY
TOOLS FOR STUDENT ?
By Francesca Sim Xin Ni and Liew Yee Fun
School of Biosciences, Taylor ’s University Lakeside Campus
No 1, Jalan Taylor’s, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan
•Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a
condition in which a person has trouble paying
attention and focusing on a tasks, tends to act without
thinking and has trouble sitting still. It may begin in
early childhood and can continue into adulthood.
•Dopamine and norepinephrine are neurotransmitters
that affect both mental and emotional functioning.
•Adderall and Ritalin are the most commonly
prescribed medications for ADHD. These
psychostimulants increase dopamine and
norepinephrine in the brain to improve concentration
while decreasing fatigue.
INTRODUCTION
HOW DO ADHD MEDICATIONS
(ADDERALL AND RITALIN) WORK
AS STUDY TOOLS?
Ritalin :
Act as Ritalin, norepinephrine-
dopamine reuptake
inhibitor inhibitor increased the amount
of
neurotransmitter in the brain
by blocking
dopamine transporter (DAT).
Inhibition of Inhibition of DAT prevents
removal of
DAT dopamine from the synapse as
ADHD
patients tend to have lower
neurotransmitter.
Stimulation Stimulations of dopaminergic
activity
of increase levels of dopamine
resulting in
dopamine elevation of attention and
motivation.
Adderall :
Reversion Adderall reverses the DAT by
entering
of DAT presynaptic neuron to build a
membrane
potential.
Inhibition Adderall inhibits the
enzyme,monoamine
of enzyme oxidase (neurotransmitter
breakdown)
leading to accumulation of
neurotransmitters.
Elevation Adderall rapidly increases levels
of the
of neuro- monoamine neurotransmitters
reducing
trasmitter inattention and hyperactivity.
WHY ADHD MEDICATIONS (ADDERALL & RITALIN)
SHOULD BE USED AS STUDY TOOLS?
•Full-time college students were twice as likely to have used
Adderall non-medically as their counterparts who were not
full-time students, according to a National Survey on Drug
Use and Health report released in 2009. (Arianna Yanes,
2014)
Figure 1: Percentage reporting to have ever taken Adderall
non-medically, by age group. (NSDUHH, 2013)
•Students consume these drugs so that they can stay awake
for longer periods, increase their ability to focus,
concentrate on work and enhance memorizing. ADHD
medications (Adderall & Ritalin) are also being used to curb
appetites for weight loss. Some also use them to get high.
(University of Utah Health Care, 2013)
Figure 2: Reasons for ADHD medications to use as study pills.
(BASIS - STASH Vol. 4 (11), 2008)
CONCLUSION
•ADHD medications (Adderall & Ritalin) are safe and
effective to use in small doses as studies have proved
them to be therapeutic under the proper regulations.
•The up growth of these drugs is a development concern
among colleges and universities.
•To prevent the illicit use of prescription ADHD medication,
dosages should be closely monitored to limit the extra pills
that students have and pass on to friends. School and
prevention programs would also benefit from changing
their courses to include information about the physiological
dangers of abusing prescription medication.
•ADHD medications (Adderall & Ritalin) are not advisable
without appropriate perceptive implications of medications
use.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
•We specially thank to Ms Nur Liyana Mahamad, our
lecturer for Information Literacy.
•We also want to thank the authors, Emma Pierson,
Arianna Yanes, University of Utah Health Care and
National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for
providing us number of useful information.
•Without these invaluable guidance, constant
encouragement and immense motivation that sustained
our efforts at different stages, we would not achieve this
successful completion of this research poster.
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