Posted by madeline on November 26, 2006, at 6:44:46
In reply to Experiment....Any Danger ?, posted by BUCKEYE FANATIC on November 25, 2006, at 11:42:39
I quote here directly an excerpt from a respnse to the study written as a letter to the editor in Cancer Letters (the journal in which the original study was published). The complete citation is below the quote.
Comments on ‘Cytogenetic effects in children treated with methylphenidate’ by El-Zein et al.
"There is quite an extensive published literature on the toxicity of the stimulant drugs, methylphenidate (as well as amphetamine), including studies of potential carcinogenicity and genetic toxicity. The available studies have been reviewed in recent reports from the National Toxicology Program's (NTP's) Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction [2] and [3]. As regards carcinogenicity, there was no increase in reports of cancer in humans from methylphenidate (or amphetamine) based on a review of records from a large cohort that had been prescribed these drugs [4]. In a rodent 2-year bioassay [5] and [6], there was no evidence for carcinogenicity in rats given 47 mg/kg bw/day; however, male and female mice of a strain that is susceptible to the development of hepatic neoplasms that had received 56–66 mg/kg bw/day had an increase in hepatic neoplasms. Based on a review of a range of standard short-term genotoxicity assays the NTP concluded that methylphenidate ‘… is not a gene mutagen in bacteria or mammalian cells, but … might have some potential for inducing clastogenic damage in mammalian cells’ [2]. In the context of this conclusion, the NTP further noted that some studies reported increases in sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), but these occurred at highly cytotoxic concentrations and the increases in chromosomal aberrations were not well correlated with dose."
R. Julian Preston et al., Cancer Letters
Volume 230, Issue 2 , 18 December 2005, Pages 292-294I will let you draw your own conclusions.
Since most people will not have online access to the journal, if you would like a copy of the entire PDF just babblemail me. I think babblemail will allow attachments - anyway we will find out...
poster:madeline
thread:707054
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061123/msgs/707295.html