Friday, July 6, 2012

Does Ritalin stunt growth?

Previously, we learned that caffeine delays growth.  Caffeine reduces transient increases in intracellular free calcium and this in turn may inhibit chondrogenic differentiation which is the current hypothesis of how LSJL, LIPUS, or PEMF might induce height growth by inducing intracellular calcium secretions which will trigger chondrogenic differentiation.

Since Ritalin is a stimulant that has been associated with caffeine at times it is worth looking into.


"We use optical techniques to measure cerebral blood volume, hemoglobin oxygenation (S(t)O(2)), and intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) to test the hypothesis that cocaine increases [Ca(2+)](i) in the brain. The effects of cocaine were compared with those of methylphenidate[ritalin], which has similar catecholaminergic effects as cocaine (except for serotonin increases) but no local anesthetic properties, and of lidocaine, which has similar local anesthetic effects as cocaine but is devoid of catecholaminergic actions. To control for the hemodynamic effects of cocaine, we assessed the effects of cocaine in animals in which normal blood pressure was maintained by infusion of phenylephrine, and we also measured the effects of transient hypotension (mimicking that induced by cocaine). We show that cocaine induced significant increases ( approximately 10-15%) in [Ca(2+)](i) that were independent of its hemodynamic effects and of the anesthetic used (isofluorance or alpha-chloralose). Lidocaine but not methylphenidate also induced significant [Ca(2+)](i) increases[this is likely true of other tissues and not just the brain as the blood-brain barrier is the least permeable barrier in the body]] ( approximately 10-13%). This indicates that cocaine at a dose within the range used by drug users significantly increases the [Ca(2+)](i) in the brain and its local anesthetic, but neither its catecholaminergic nor its hemodynamic actions, underlies this effect. Cocaine-induced [Ca(2+)](i) increases are likely to accentuate the neurotoxic effects from cocaine-induced vasoconstriction and to facilitate the occurrence of seizures from the catecholaminergic effects of cocaine. These findings support the use of calcium channel blockers as a strategy to minimize the neurotoxic effects of cocaine."

Maybe finding something that stimulates Ca(2+) increase like cocaine but that doesn't permeate the blood brain barrier would have height increasing effects.

"the Rhod2-Ca fluorescence was unchanged for ∼15 min, increased slightly, and reached a peak of 4.2 ± 0.7% , which was significantly lower (p < 0.003) than for cocaine"<-So ritalin doesn't increase the Ca in the brain as much as cocaine.

"Methylphenidate, like cocaine, is a dopamine transporter and a norepinephrine transporter inhibitor but differs from cocaine in that it is devoid of local anesthetic actions and does not bind to the serotonin transporter[serotonin has been reported to promote chondrogenesis]. Thus, the differences between cocaine and methylphenidate in the induction of increases [Ca2+]i could be attributable to either the differences in their serotonergic effects or their local anesthetic properties. The fact that lidocaine, which is devoid of catecholamienrgic effects, has similar effects to those of cocaine in increasing [Ca2+]i suggests that it is the local anesthetic and not the serotonergic effects of cocaine that underlie its [Ca2+]i increases"<-So maybe anesthetics applied to the epiphyseal bone marrow could induce chondrogenesis, there are local anesthetics after all.

This study(Long-term effects of short-acting methylphenidate on growth rates of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health.) states that Ritalin has a growth stunting effect for 6 months but than growth returns to normal and catch up growth is observed.  So maybe dopamine transporter and norepinephrine transporter inhibition reduces growth rate?

Ritalin can already pass the blood brain barrier so if it couldn't increase Ca in the brain it likely can't increase it anywhere else.  But it didn't decrease it either and showed a slight increase meaning that ritalin wouldn't affect LSJL, PEMF, or LIPUS induced chondrogenic differentiation like caffeine.  It will be worth pursuing to see if local anesthetics can induce chondrogenesis in the epiphyseal bone marrow.

There's an almost universal consensus that ritalin slows down growth rate temporarily.

6 comments:

  1. There are several potential ways mentioned on the site: Lateral loading, electricity, sound, etc. Several supplemental aids: hyaluronic acid, other GAGs...

    Your anger is misdirected. You should be mad that there are probably less than 1000 people in the world working seriously on growing taller. You should be mad that people like Ryan Seacrest who constantly complains about his height doesn't invest one penny in height increase research.

    I have to raise funds to live, do all the research on all the methodology, and do all the experimenting.

    I'd do better if there were more people doing all those things.

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  2. great job Christopher i salute your effort and all work you have done and doing...
    keep it up man

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  3. tyler chris. theres only so much one man can do,
    thankyou for the blog but you should help teach other people, we need more researchers not only one.

    financing height increase is another big issue, these things require group thought.

    emm. i really don't see too many established routes to height increase, you do post on many frontiers but not much is optimal it seems,

    would be nice to just figure all this out.

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  4. Hey man I've been following your blog for a while now and I think what you are doing is great, but ever since growtallforum got shut down youve been my only resource for height increase info. Btw I turn 16 in a week. And am around 169 cm or 5'6.5. If you could post or email me @ acemasterofceremonies@gmail.com the link to a good routine for a 16 year old male I would really appreciate that it's just there is so much good info on your site but I am having a hard time finding clear cut info on supps or methods that have good potential to work on open plates and increase final adult height. Thanks a bunch

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  5. Maybe you are interested to make a post about GABA (Gamma-Aminobutryic Acid)?

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  6. I knew a kid who took Ritalin and it definitely seemed to stunt his growth. I knew him in 6th grade, and he was a tad taller than me, with a fairly tall brother. Anyway, I'm 5'9, I met him again after not seeing him since then and he was like 5'7 or so, and weighed like 110/120lbs. Just rail skinny.

    I think the main reason it stunts growth isn't some kind of fancy scientific reason, it's fairly simple. Stimulants suppress appetite. You don't wanna eat. Don't eat, don't grow.

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