Stimulant Medications and Sudden Death in Youths, Research Paper Example

Hypothesis

Stimulant medication use results to sudden death in the young users

Introduction

There is a relationship between usage of drugs which act by stimulating the brain and the sudden deaths reported among the youths. Youths taking drugs which stimulate central nervous system are at a higher risk sudden death than their counterparts who do not use the stimulant drugs. These drugs are mostly those drugs which are used in the treatment of attention deficient disorder for example the methamphetamine, amphetamine, methylphenidate, dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate. These are drugs whose primary action is the stimulation of the central nervous system. With such stimulation, there is an increase in the blood pressure which is one of the side effects of use of these drugs. The result is an increase in the pumping action of the heart and therefore more work to be done by the heart.

With chronic use of the central nervous system stimulators for example in the treatment of attention deficiency hyperactive disorder, there is a sustained increase in the pressure of blood resulting in the hypertrophy of the heart muscle. This hypertrophy leads to the a related cardiomyopathy referred to as dilated cardiomyopathy leading to myocardial infarction which may result on sudden death. This condition only happens when there is a sustained increase or elevation of blood pressure. Therefore, the drugs must be used for a long duration of time and therefore the drugs which are used to treat attention deficiency disorder are the ones which are studied as the subjects have to use the drugs over a long duration of time.

The dependent variables are the number of sudden deaths in the youths between seven and nineteen years. The independent value is the people using central nervous system stimulators.

Research Methodology

The research was carried out by way of analysis of secondary data. The data concerning the sudden deaths and the use of central nervous system stimulators was got and then analyzed. These included the drugs which are used to treat various central nervous system disorders which include the attention deficient disorder. This is one of the disorders of the central nervous system which is treated by the use of drugs which act by stimulating the central nervous system. Then the mode of action of each drug was determined to know exact mechanism of action of each drug and they were found to have some sympathomimetic activity. Therefore, these drugs have the capability of causing sympathetic stimulation. Some of the peripheral actions of amphetamines which are used in the treatment of attention deficiency hyperactive disorder include the increase in the rate of heart beat and its force of contraction.

There were researches which were looked into to try and relate the use of the drugs and the impact of them on sudden death. The records of all those youths who had died suddenly including those who died secondary to a motor vehicle accident were got from the records. This is between the year 1985 and the year 1996. The total was five hundred and sixty four sudden death cases of youths who were aged between seven and nineteen years. This number was compared with the number of youths of the same age who died as a result of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. This was for the purpose of making the research exactly determine if there was any relation between deaths of youths suddenly and use of central nervous stimulants.

The results were then evaluated to see any relationship between these two variables. This was to try and make some association to prove or disapprove the notion that the children who were taking drugs which stimulate the central nervous system were at a higher risk of developing cardiac problems and complications and therefore leading to sudden death. The secondary data had been obtained from records which included death certificates, toxicology reports, medical examination reports and informant reports. These provided the accurate information on the cause of the death and if the patient was on any medications (Gould, Walsh, & Munfakh et al 2009).

Results

The results from the research of various researches indicated that there is a significant association between the use of drugs which stimulate the central nervous system and the sudden death in the youths. One study which was conducted among people aged between seven and nineteen years indicated that there was a significant relationship between use of central nervous stimulants and the occurrence of sudden death. This showed that in about ten of all the youths who had sudden death were using the central nervous system stimulators and that drug was specifically methylphenidate. Contrastingly, stimulant use among the youths who died secondary to a motor vehicle accident was just about two. This indicates that there is some good association between use of the amphetamines and the occurrence of sudden death. In youths who died of a know cause like injury from motor vehicle, the use of these drugs was very little among the population. On the other hand, those youths who died suddenly other than motor vehicle had a higher ratio of users of drugs which stimulate the central nervous activity. Similar researches showed similar results hence the report had a concept of replicability.

On another research, which was done by Gould, they a similar research. In their findings, they showed that there was a higher risk of sudden death among those children using the central nervous stimulants. This risk was about seven point four (7.4) times more than those who were not using the drugs. This therefore indicated that there was an association between the sudden deaths occurring on the United States of America and the use of drugs for treating attention deficient hyperactive disorder.

Therefore, it is true that the use of the central nervous system stimulators increase the chance of sudden death. Those people who use these drugs regularly are more likely to have sudden death than their counterparts who do not take the central nervous stimulators.

Influence of Study on the Public

The study is likely to have a lot of influence to the public. This is because this is a very relevant thing in the society. There are a lot of applications of central nervous system stimulators in the medicine and even other uses which are not meant for use as medical therapy. Doctors prescribe these drugs for the treatment of attention deficiency disorder. The disorder is very common among children. There are also other people who use the drug for the purpose of enhancing their performance for example in schools where students want to concentrate. Therefore, this drug is very common. This research is likely to make the public understand the dangers of using these drugs. Therefore, those members of the public who have been using these drugs without the prescription from the doctors will get informed that this is not a good class of drugs and hence reduce their consumption. The general public will be able to know the side effects of the drugs. The public is also likely to be careful about the drugs given to their youths who have attention deficiency disorder. They are likely to stop the medications they give their children as treatment of the attention deficiency disorder.

The report is likely to attract a lot of criticism. This is because some people will still think that the ratio of the people who have a history of taking drugs which are stimulatory to the central nervous system is very low and that the people have died a natural death. Other people are likely to question why they have not died if the report is true and they have been using the central nervous system stimulators.

During the prescriptions which doctors in psychiatry will be making, they will be doing a very thorough cardiovascular exam on the patient before they decide to administer these drugs. This will be meant for the purpose of establishing if the patient has a pre-existing cardiac disease. The existence of cardiac disease in a patient who is on medications which stimulate the central nervous system is likely to worsen the situation and increase the probability of sudden death in the person. In addition, the doctor should also get a very good history of the patient especially relating to the cardiac diseases. If any of the relatives has ever suffered from a heart disease, if yes, what type of heart disease was it? Again, the doctor should establish from the history if the patient has been having signs of cardiac disease like palpitations, severe chest pain, difficult in breathing when lying down and also exertion dyspnea which will show the extend of the disease. This research should be able to make the public aware of the potential danger in the administration of these drugs but not to scare them to an extend which they will not be able to allow their children who have been found to be suffering from the mental illnesses from using the medications. The advantages of these medications in a child with an attention deficient hyperactive disorder are more than the possible problems and complications. Therefore, this research is not for making the public fear the drugs but just to make them to be careful with the use of them especially where the person is taking this drug for other purposes other than medical purpose.

Suggestions

These study acts as a guide in the establishment of the effect of central nervous system stimulants. There are key issues which arise from this research. These issues include: whether the sudden deaths in patients taking stimulants are related to the individual having a coexisting cardiac disease or not. Another issue is whether the sudden deaths which are related to use of stimulants are related to the duration of time the stimulant has been used. Therefore, a research on the relationship between the sudden deaths of youths taking stimulants is related to a co-existing cardiac disease or not. Another research should focus on the relationship between the duration of use of central nervous system stimulants and the probability of sudden death. These two researches will provide the ways in which the sudden deaths among users of stimulant drugs can be reduced

References

Cnn News, (15^th June 2009). Health Day, Retrieved on 24^th March 2010 from: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/appi.ajp.2009.09040472v1.

Gould, S. M., Walsh, B. M., Munfakh, L. J.,  Kleinman, M. S., Duan, N., Olfson, M., Greenhill, & Cooper, (June 15, 2009)T. The American Journal of Psychiatry. Retrieved on 24^th  March 2010, From: http://www.lifeclinic.com/fullpage.aspx?prid=628053&type.