Q&A with Dr. Louise Hanson, medical director of student health services

Vanderbilt Hustler: What does Adderall do?
Louise Hanson: There's a class of stimulant drugs, amphetamines mainly, that helps people with ADD or ADHD focus their attention more appropriately. So when you think of amphetamines, you think of drugs that sort of rev people up, but ... for people that have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, it tends to help them focus. It's a pretty effective medicine for people that have that diagnosis — and that's the key piece.
 
The reality is, for any stimulants — caffeine, nicotine, Ritalin, Adderall, anything that's prescription or non-prescription ­— the reality is, we will all focus better, to some extent, with those medicines. I mean, that's why we use it, right? To help wake us up, to help us focus. So a lot of students will say, “Well, no I was never tested, but when I take it, I seem to perform better and do better.” Well, we all would really, in theory.
 

VH: You mentioned the side effects, especially with large doses. What are those exactly?
LH: The main one (would be) insomnia and anxiety. The physical ones associated with those things would be a high heart rate, high blood pressure, palpitations — feeling your heart flutter really fast — really the same thing as if you've ever had too much caffeine, right? Those sorts of (same) things, but in a more intense way.
 
VH: Is cardiac safety the long-term safety problem?
LH: Yes. Arrhythmias, heart valve problems and abnormalities. If we think of heart disease and how we treat adults, we try to slow the heart rates down and lower the blood pressure, all the things you think of that an amphetamine does the opposite of. We want to slow things down.
 
VH: Apparently some people are using it to party. What would that do?
LH: That sounds (like an awful idea). I guess it might make you more able to stay awake and stay drunk longer, smoke pot longer. ... That is a very dangerous combination, combining a stimulant — whether it's a medication or something like Red Bull — with a downer like alcohol. The stimulant sort of masks how drunk someone's getting; they can drink and drink and stay kind of awake, because of the stimulant, and then really crash. Their friends won't necessarily see how drunk they are given the stimulant. There have been a lot of deaths nationwide associated with that combination. I haven't heard it so much with Adderall, though.