Non-stimulant treatments for ADHD

We reviewed the literature of medication trials in ADHD to evaluate the sco pe of the available non-stimulant treatments. A variety of compounds with a common noradrenergic/ dopaminergic activity have shown documented anti-ADH D activity. There is a substantial body of literature documenting the effic acy of tricyclic antidepressants on ADHD in over 1,000 subjects. In additio n, the atypical antidepressant bupropion and the novel noradrenergic specif ic antidepressant tomoxetine have also been documented to be effective in t he treatment of ADHD in controlled clinical trials. Despite wide use, the s cientific base supporting the efficacy of alpha-2, noradrenergic agonists c ontinues to be limited. Several lines of evidence provide preliminary suppo rt for the potential benefits of cholinergic cognitive enhancing drugs in s uch as anticholinesterase inhibitors (tacrine, donepezil) as well as novel nicotinic analogues (ABT-418). Despite these promising results, more resear ch is needed on alternative pharmacologic treatments for the treatment of A DHD.