By Jimmy Downs

Friday Nov 23, 2012 (foodconsumer.org -- A review of a few trials recently released in Review on Recent Clinical Trials suggests that venlafaxine may be used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD in children and adolescents.

A. Ghanizadeh at Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital in Shiraz, Iran and colleagues offers the suggestion after reviewing three uncontrolled trials and two double blind trials which had been idenfitied as of July 2012 after searching databases MEDLINE, Google scholar, Scopus, and Web of science (ISI) databases.

ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder found in children and adolescents and stimulants are often prescribed to treat the medical condition.  Evidence suggests that some drugs with noradrenergic properties like atomoxetine are effective in treating ADHD.

The researchers found studies seemed to indicate that venlafaxine, another noradrenerguc agent is effective in treating ADHD and even better, some adverse effects which are commonly seen with other ADHD drugs were less often found with venlafaxine, at least when compared to methylphenidate.  Two trials did not find any difference in efficacy, but a third trial suggested lower efficacy for venlafaxine.

Most common adverse  effects associated with venlafaxine included headache, insomnia, and nausea.  The review suggests that venlafaxine may provide a therapeutic for a short term use for ADHD management in children and adolescents.

The reviewers cautioned though that "before recommending venlafaxine for treatment (of ADHD), more robust and larger clinical trials, in particular providing evidence of its long-term efficacy, safety and tolerability are required."

ADHD is featured with three symptoms,  lack of attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.   The American Psychiatric Association is cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as stating that 3 to 7% of school-aged children have ADHD.