Posted by Shawn. T. on February 2, 2003, at 23:45:26
In reply to Re: Adderall - what is the action of amphetamines?, posted by utopizen on February 2, 2003, at 22:05:35
I should note that I didn't mention anything about Ritalin. There really isn't any evidence that Ritalin is neurotoxic. Another thing to note is that methamphetamine is known to be more neurotoxic than amphetamine. If you've ever heard of methamphetamine abusers that state that they no longer have the ability to feel pleasure, this is perhaps the best evidence available that the drug does cause neurotoxicity in humans. I agree that there really isn't any hard evidence to show that amphetamines cause neurotoxicity in humans. There also exists the possibility that the brain can recover from neurotoxicity. I don't believe that it is really possible to argue (based on hard evidence) one way or another on this issue. I'm certainly not arguing that amphetamines should not be made available for medicinal purposes. I do, however, believe that there are very serious consequences associated with methamphetamine abuse; you just cannot deny that. I really don't know the effects of amphetamine (not meth) abuse in adults; it's important to know that there is a risk involved, however. The real point that I was trying to make was that if amphetamine neurotoxicity does occur in humans over the relevant dosage range, then we have a basic knowledge of how to go about preventing it to some degree.
Shawn
poster:Shawn. T.
thread:138755
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030130/msgs/139041.html