Science Vs Podcast: The Adderall and ADHD Controversy

Science Vs is unlike other science podcasts. Those shows produce fascinating episodes on the James Webb Telescope, why an ultraviolet can detect scorpions, and new breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment.

Since launching the show in 2016, host Wendy Zukerman has built an international audience by reporting and debunking a number of common and spectacular scientific phenomenons. In this season, Zukerman went toe-to-toe with Joe Rogan, an MMA fighter, revealing the vaccine misinformation spewed in his episode with a controversial doctor.

Season thirteen has just concluded, with recent episodes digging into some big questions and a variety of topics, from composting human bodies to the male birth control pill, to revealing interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott, and more.

In this week’s season finale episode, the show digs into Adderall with the shortage across the U.S. causing huge problems for people with ADHD. But on the flip side, we hear people saying that we shouldn’t be giving this drug out anyway. The episode examines: what exactly is Adderall? what is it doing in people’s brains? is there any truth to this idea that Adderall is like meth — could it be dangerous? We also hear from psychiatrist Prof. Rachel Fargason, neuroscientist Prof. Habibeh Khoshbouei, and actor Kai Liu.

● Some key takeaways from the episode include:

○ People with ADHD are more likely to get into car accidents, to go to prison, to be suicidal, and are even more likely to die earlier than someone who doesn’t have ADHD. But drugs like Adderall can help change this. It can help their brain pick a channel, and stay there.

○ Worldwide, it’s estimated that 3% of adults have ADHD. Overall, studies find that Adderall can make a big difference for people with ADHD. One trial of about 400 adults with ADHD found that 65% of them got better on Adderall, compared to 20% on placebo.

○ Adderall and meth are similar, but what really matters is how they get into your system. People with ADHD following a doctor’s orders are probably swallowing a pill. It has to get broken down, travels through the digestive tract and circulates throughout the bloodstream before it finally starts to get absorbed into the brain. All this means it can take more than an hour for it to start hitting the brain. Compare that to smoking, injecting, or snorting a drug like meth. It gets to the brain much faster, which can make it a bigger risk for addiction.

○ While Adderall is generally helpful for people with ADHD, there are risks to taking stimulants. In kids, taking stimulants can slightly stunt their growth if they take them a long time (by 1–2 cm on average). And in general, it’s pretty typical for someone’s heart rate and pulse to increase a little bit while on stimulants, so doctors often won’t give them to people with certain heart conditions. Experts do agree however, that for people with ADHD who can take Adderall, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Please find below some of the highlights from this season:

● Fauci on Monkeypox: What Went Wrong

○ Description: We called up Dr. Anthony Fauci to talk about monkeypox. We wanted to know — what’s the deal with the slow response here? And why haven’t we gotten this virus under control?

● Should We Compost Human Bodies?

○ Description: What’s the greenest way to die? Some nerds are saying that our bodies should go the way of our veggie scraps — and become compost. But will people get on board with spreading Grandpa in the garden? To find out, we talk to Brie Smith, Micah Truman, Katrina Spade and Thomas Bass.

● The Mystery of the Man Who Died Twice

○ Description: A dead body turns up with a stolen identity. We tell the story of how a grandmother tracked down the truth — and helped create a whole new and controversial world of crime fighting. To tell this story, we talk to U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott, Dr. Margaret Press, and Phil Nichols.

● The Male Pill: When Is It Coming?

○ Description: A male birth control pill has been this big tease for decades. And today, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade … a male pill might matter more than ever. So we’re grabbing science by the balls to find out — where is it? Will it ever get to the shelves? We talk to physicians Prof. John Amory and Dr. Brian Nguyen.

● When Science and Superstitions Collide

○ Description: This is the THIRTEENTH season of the show! So we’re diving into stories about superstitions and luck. We’ll share the eerie tale of a 13-legged sea creature. We’ll talk about a hot new telescope that’s trying to look back 13 billion years ago to uncover the secrets of the universe. And we’ll talk about a squeaky superstition that involves a rat — as the tooth fairy. We speak to marine biologist Dr. Julian Evans, astrophysicist Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, and biologist Dr. Philip Cox.

● Adderall: What’s It Doing to Your Brain?

○ Description: There’s an Adderall shortage across the U.S., and it’s causing huge problems for people with ADHD. But on the flip side, we hear people saying that we shouldn’t be giving this drug out anyway. So we wanted to know: What is Adderall, exactly? What is it doing in people’s brains? And is there any truth to this idea that Adderall is like meth — could it be dangerous? We talk to psychiatrist Prof. Rachel Fargason, neuroscientist Prof. Habibeh Khoshbouei, and actor Kai Liu.

You can listen to Science Vs here.