24/05/2026

theSunday Special X ON SUNDAY MAY 24, 2026

S YDNEY: Cancer-related fatigue, one of the most common and hard-to-treat side effects of the disease and its treatments, can be eased by drugs widely prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new analysis found. The results may be especially relevant as cancer diagnoses are on the rise among young adults who are balancing careers and family responsibilities during treatment, the researchers said. “Our findings show that a well-established, accessible medication can provide meaningful relief within weeks,” said study leader Dr Bruno Almeida Costa of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre. His team reviewed data from nine randomised, placebo-controlled trials involving 823 adults who were undergoing active treatment or who had late-stage disease. Patients who received the psychostimulants methylphenidate or dexmethylphenidate, sold by Novartis under the brand names Ritalin and Focalin, had significantly improved fatigue scores compared with those who had a placebo. According to a report of the study published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, these drugs have the “longest-standing and best-documented safety records among actively prescribed controlled substances”. “The benefit is not fully apparent in the first couple of weeks, but by around five weeks, it reaches a level that genuinely matters in terms of patients’ daily energy and function,” said Costa. “For people dealing with a symptom that can be profoundly disabling, that is a meaningful contribution.” The modest improvements increased further by week eight, the researchers found. The drugs should not replace established methods to manage cancer-related fatigue, such as exercise, cognitive behavioural therapy and mind-body practices, but could provide earlier relief while those strategies take effect, the researchers said. In a separate study, an analysis of data from more than 25 million pregnancies found that the use of antidepressants while pregnant does not raise the child’s risk for developmental disorders such as autism, contradicting assertions by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy had said, without evidence, certain antidepressants pose such a risk to foetuses, and has also linked vaccines to autism, a debunked theory contrary to established science. The causes of autism are unclear. Scientists speculate that its neurological characteristics may develop in utero , when the foetal brain is being wired. “Our study provides reassuring evidence that commonly used antidepressants do not increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and ADHD, in children,” said study leader Dr Wing-Chung Chang of the University of Hong Kong. The researchers analysed data from 37 earlier studies involving nearly 650,000 pregnancies with antidepressant use and nearly 25 million unexposed pregnancies. Children of mothers who took antidepressants in pregnancy were slightly more likely to be diagnosed with autism or ADHD, they found. But the associations became significantly weaker, or statistically insignificant, after accounting for the mothers’ mental health, family history, genetics and other variables that could increase the risk of neurodevelopmental

The results may be especially relevant as cancer diagnoses are on the rise among young adults who are balancing careers and family responsibilities during treatment. – PEXELSPIC

ADHD medication found to ease cancer-related fatigue

antidepressants and nortriptyline were linked with increased ADHD and autism risk in children. Those drugs are typically reserved for patients whose depression has not responded to other treatments, suggesting that women treated with them may have had more complicated mental health conditions that could have influenced their children’s risks for ADHD and autism, the researchers said. Amitriptyline and nortriptyline are so-called tricyclic antidepressants. They do not belong to the class of widely used antidepressants that Kennedy had most heavily criticised as a cause of adverse pregnancy outcomes, which are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. For pregnant women with mild depression, non-pharmacological treatments such as psychotherapy might be preferred, the researchers said. However, antidepressants should never be withheld during pregnancy solely because of inconsistent and potentially confounded reports of neurodevelopmental risk, they added. “Abrupt discontinuation might worsen maternal depression, which in itself is associated with adverse outcomes for both mothers and children.” In the United Kingdom, mental health disorders are the leading cause of maternal mortality in the year following childbirth, said King’s College London obstetrician Dr Anita Banerjee, who was not involved in the study, reinforcing that under-treated maternal mental illness carries its own serious risks. – Reuters amitriptyline

Modest improvements in daily energy level and function increased further by week eight: Study disorders, the researchers reported in The Lancet Psychiatry. “This is a really important point that is easy to get wrong,” said University of Leeds obstetrics and gynecology professor emeritus Dr James Walker, who was not involved in the study. “If you simply compare children whose mothers took antidepressants with children whose mothers did not, you may find a difference. But that does not mean the medicine caused the difference.” Higher risks for autism and ADHD were also seen in children whose fathers used antidepressants while mothers were pregnant, and in those whose mothers had used them before, but not during, pregnancy, further suggesting that use in pregnancy does not explain the increased risks, the researchers said. “A father’s medication obviously cannot reach the baby in the womb, so this pattern is very hard to explain by anything other than shared family traits,” said Walker. Higher doses of antidepressants did not increase children’s risks, which is another reason to doubt that the medicines are to blame, he added. In women with pre-existing mental health disorders, the older

These drugs have the longest-standing and best-documented safety records among actively prescribed controlled substances.“ “ The drugs should not replace established methods to manage cancer-related fatigue, such as exercise, cognitive behavioural therapy and mind-body practices, but could provide earlier relief while those strategies take effect. – PEXELSPIC