ADHD Pill Faces High Hurdle in Europe as Stigma Persists

> A friend of mine is a psychiatrist who specializes in treating ADHD. She told me about a conference she went to recently, where someone presented an interesting paper.

> Apparently, there was an amazing study done relatively recently (last five years), in which they demonstrated that, in mice, exposure to nicotine during pregnancy results in higher rates of ADHD in the grandchildren (passed down through the female offspring exposed to nicotine in utero, not the males).

As with any study conducted on animals and not humans, there's an asterisk next to it, but these findings would be monumentally significant for understanding ADHD.

Separately, I've never understood why Adderall isn't approved for use in Europe (or, futhermore, why Vyvanse should be approved, if Adderall isn't - Vyvanse is just a more concentrated version of the d-enantiomer, making it more effective[0] and reducing the side-effects).

On an unrelated note, it looks like the copy editing on the article was a bit off. Concerta is a long-acting drug, just like Vyvanse (the article makes it seem like it isn't). Also, I'm not sure what to make of the sentence "The U.S. still dwarfs Europe in sales of ADHD drugs, but the rest of the world has been catching up."

[0] It's actually less effective by weight than Adderall XR, but that's because the mechanism it uses for the extended release is very different.

EDIT: It's interesting watching all six of the comments on here (not counting losethos's) get upvoted and downvoted in roughly equal proportions. Clearly this is a controversial topic on here; I only wish the those upvoting/downvoting would join in the discussion.

Taming wild animals, until they are tamer than tame.

My experience being switched from Adderall XR to Vyvanse a few years ago when it first came to market in the U.S. has been positive. Vyvanse seems less addictive (missing a week or two between prescriptions is not a big deal) or prone to side effects like insomnia.