Information on Ritalin: A Quick Review

For years, children and adults around the world have used Ritalin to help with their ADHD. Today, people know about the risks and side effects of the drug, and many are still learning. Below is some background information to help users of the medication learn more.

Methylphenidate was patented in 1954 by the Ciba Pharmaceutical Company (a precursor to Novartis) and was initially prescribed as a treatment for depression, chronic fatigue, and narcolepsy, among other ailments. Beginning in the 1960s, it was used to treat children with ADHD, known at the time as hyperactivity or minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). Today methylphenidate is the medication most commonly prescribed to treat ADHD around the world. According to most estimates, more than 75 percent of methylphenidate prescriptions are written for children, with boys being about four times as likely to take methylphenidate as girls. Production and prescription of methylphenidate rose significantly in the 1990s, especially in the United States, as the ADHD diagnosis came to be better understood and more generally accepted within the medical and mental health communities.

Most brand-name Ritalin is produced in the United States, although methylphenidate is also produced in Mexico and Argentina by respective contract pharmaceutical manufacturers and is most commonly marketed under the brand name "Ritalin" for Novartis. In the United States, various generic forms of methylphenidate are also produced by several pharmaceutical companies (such as Methylin, etc.), and Ritalin is also sold in the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries (although in much lower volumes than the United States). These generic versions of methylpenidate tend to outsell brand-name "Ritalin" four-to-one. In Belgium the product is sold under the name "Rilatine" for Novartis.

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see also:

Formulations Formulations all Ritalin users should know for the ADHD drug
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Pharmacology Learn about Ritalin's Pharmacology here
Affected by Ritalin? Find out about the ADHD drug's Pharmacology

Effects Ritalin effects all users of the ADHD drug should know about
Have you taken Ritalin? Learn the effects of the harmful medication