"Medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most efficient in the short term in the field of medicine, but more evidence of its long-term effect is needed". This was stated at the University of Navarra by Samuele Cortese, professor at the University of Southampton (UK), who gave a talk at seminar in the group 'Mind-brain' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS).

From agreement with the specialist, there is new evidence that the drugs work better than other treatments for ADHD. "Their effect is measured with a questionnaire in which parents or teachers evaluate the severity of symptoms. With medication, the score goes way down." Specifically, "they are the only thing that improves attention and concentration in this disorder," at least in the short term deadline.

He also noted that non-pharmacological treatments are very useful in treating problems associated with ADHD. For example, he noted that training parents in behavioral management financial aid to reduce conflict in family relationships.

Samuele Cortese mentioned that there are differences between countries in the prescription of drugs with respect to the prevalence of the disorder, which means that patients in some countries "do not receive drugs that could help them" and others, such as in the U.S. "take medication even though they do not have the disorder. However, he asserted that "this is not the case in most countries".

Conflicts of interest

The specialist stressed that an important aspect in ADHD research is the potential conflicts of interest: "One of the main ones is funding by pharmaceutical industries. It is understandable that the public may think that if they subsidize a study on medication, they will try to show that it works".

On the other hand, he stressed that "although this can definitely be a bias, and has been shown by some programs of study, there are other programs of study that show the opposite: industry funding does not necessarily introduce bias". He confirmed that he has no conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical or commercial companies.

He also noted that there are other conflicts of interest unrelated to the pharmaceutical industry: "For example, there are the manuals that are used for behavioral programs or programs to educate parents, which are sold and generate royalties".

Finally, he mentioned that perhaps the most subtle conflicts are those related to the beliefs of the researchers: "If someone thinks that ADHD is only a biological disorder they will try to show that medication is the only treatment; conversely, those who firmly believe that ADHD is only a psychosocial condition will try to show that medication is not useful at all".

Samuele Cortese was invited on the framework of a project developed by researcher Gonzalo Arrondo at the ICS with funding from department Health of the Government of Navarra, entitled 'Risk of unintentional injuries in ADHD and the possible protective effect of medication: a systematic review and meta-analysis'.