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> This is a new enough phenomenon This is a common misconception. Amphetamine was used to treat childhood ADHD going back to the 1930s. (Not to mention that am
by dcolkitt 5y ago
> This is a new enough phenomenon
This is a common misconception. Amphetamine was used to treat childhood ADHD going back to the 1930s. (Not to mention that amphetamine was widely used to treat sinus congestion and allergies in everyone, including children.) Medical amphetamine usage was significantly higher in the 1950s and 1960s than today. We’ve been on a long term secular decline in amphetamine usage (along with caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants).
- MontyCarloHall 5y agoPrescribed medical use may have been higher, but was overall use higher? Assuming the anecdata in the tweet are true, I just can’t imagine 20-30% of people aged 16-30 were prescribed amphetamines in the 50s. Anyway, given that medical use was probably high enough back in the day that we can draw reliable conclusions about its long-term effects, are there any studies discussing this?
- dcolkitt 5y agoSSC had a pretty comprehensive summary of the existing research on long-term medical amphetamine usage. The summary is that there's probably a health impact, but it's very small. The biggest risk is probably a 50% or so increased risk of Parkinsons. May be of more concern if you have the APOE4 allele. https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...