Two-year-old toddlers being dosed up with antipsychotic drugs

(NaturalNews) Children between the ages of two and five are being treated with antipsychotics at twice the rate they were ten years ago, according to a study conducted by researchers from Columbia University and published in the journal Health Affairs.

"It is a worrisome trend, partly because very little is known about the short-term, let alone the long-term, safety of these drugs in this age group," researchers Mark Olfson said.

Although a handful of antipsychotics have been approved by the FDA for use in children, they are intended for older children because few if any studies have been conducted into the effectiveness or safety of the drugs in younger children.

Researchers examined prescription data on more than one million children between the ages of two and five. They found that from 1999-2001, approximately one out of every 1,300 children in this age group was being treated with an antipsychotic drug. By 2007, the rate was one in every 630. Among the oldest children (five-year-olds), the rate has always been higher. In 1999-2001, one in every 650 children was receiving an antipsychotic, while in 2007 one in every 329 was.

Although the drugs are intended for the treatment of severe conditions such as schizophrenia and some forms of autism, the study found that they were being used most commonly for hyperactivity, disruptive behavior, and children with mental developmental disabilities.

Olfson noted that antipsychotics should only be used in four- and five-year-olds as an absolute last resort, when no other form of non-drug therapy has been effective. He questioned whether there is ever any justification for giving the drugs to two- or three-year olds. Yet the study found that less than 50 percent of children under the age of six who are on antipsychotics have ever received any mental health services, including therapy or even a health assessment by a mental health professional.

"You don't see the kinds of mental health services you would expect to see if we were dealing with the most profoundly disturbed toddlers," Olfson said.

Few studies have been done into the effects of psychotropic drugs on a child's developing brain.

Sources for this story include: www.businessweek.com.

BPA Plastic Chemical Linked to Aggression, Hyperactivity in Toddlers

(NaturalNews) Prenatal exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) may increase aggressive behavior in toddler girls, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in the journalEnvironmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers measured bodily levels of BPA in 249 pregnant women, then followed their daughters for two years. Children who had been exposed to the highest levels of the chemical before the 16th week of gestation had significantly higher scores on tests for aggression than girls of the same age with less exposure.

The study is the first to examine the effect of BPA on behavior in human children. It is consistent with the results of prior animal studies, which have also found that BPA can affect the brain and reproductive system. The National Toxicology Program concluded in 2008 that there was evidence to support the chemical's effects on human children.

Because BPA mimics the effect of estrogen, which plays a critical role in the male brain during the 11th and 12th weeks of pregnancy, researchers believe that the chemical might be "masculinizing" the female brain.

"In the developing brain, timing is everything," said neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, author of The Female Brain.

"I'm worried that tiny amounts of this stuff, given at just the wrong time, could partly masculinize the female brain."

Although the study found no change in male behavior and no increase in behavioral disorders among girls, scientists noted that the population effects may be much greater than those seen in the study. Michelle Macias, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, noted that children in the study came from predominantly well-educated families, which tend to have lower aggression and hyperactivity rates than the average. In addition, neurologist David Bellinger noted that a population can become more aggressive as a whole without there being strong observable effects in individual children.

The researchers intend to continue studying the children until the age of five.

Sources for this story include: www.usatoday.com.