A new study warns that the use of stimulants for ADHD without medical supervision doubles the heart rate response upon standing. Experts clarify that while the drug is safe under prescription, its recreational or unauthorized use creates unnecessary acute stress on the heart. "We observed that even in individuals with no prior exposure, a 25 mg dose triggers significant increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and activation of the body's stress response system," the researchers state. The researchers also noted that when people simply stood up after taking Adderall, their heart rate increased much more than usual. "The average increase in heart rate upon standing was 19 beats per minute before Adderall. After taking Adderall, that response doubled to 38 beats per minute," says the first author, Kiran Somers, D.O., a family medicine resident at the Mayo Clinic Health System in northwest Wisconsin. These findings highlight the intensity of the stimulant effects in individuals not accustomed to the medication, the researchers note. "These results demonstrate acute, measurable cardiovascular effects of Adderall use by people who do not use it regularly with a prescription for specific medical indications," says Dr. Somers. The researchers emphasize that these findings apply to non-prescription use and do not reflect the long-term, supervised use of the medication for the treatment of ADHD or for other specific medical conditions, where the therapeutic benefits are well-established and significant, states Dr. Svatikova. Although Adderall is safe and effective when prescribed and supervised for ADHD, Dr. Svatikova points out that its use outside the medical context is often underestimated. "Sometimes Adderall is used without a prescription outside of the medical setting," she adds. Svatikova notes that the risks of use without medical supervision are often underestimated. "We have seen an increase in non-medical use of Adderall, but many users are unaware that it can cause acute stress on the cardiovascular system," says Dr. Svatikova. The researchers, whose results are published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, aimed to better understand how the stimulant acutely affects young adults who use it without a medical indication. "The primary objective of our study was to investigate how a single dose of Adderall acutely affects cardiovascular hemodynamics — blood pressure and heart rate — and sympathetic nervous system activity in young adults who do not have a medical indication for the medication," says senior author Anna Svatikova, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic.
