• Posted April 14, 2025

ADHD Drugs Generally Safe For Heart Health, Review Says

Worried about taking the ADHD meds you’ve been prescribed because they might harm your heart health?

There’s no need to fret, according to a new evidence review.

ADHD medications generally have just a small effect on a person’s blood pressure, heart rate and heart electrical activity, researchers reported in The Lancet Psychiatry.

What’s more, there were no significant differences between stimulant ADHD meds like methylphenidate and amphetamine and non-stimulant drugs like atomoxetine and viloxazine, researchers found.

“Overall, the risk-benefit ratio is reassuring for people taking ADHD medications,” senior researcher Dr. Samuele Cortese, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry with the University of Southampton in the U.K., said in a news release.

For the study, researchers pooled results from 102 previous clinical trials involving more than 22,700 people with ADHD.

They found that all ADHD medications were generally associated with small increases in blood pressure and heart rate.

Only the ADHD drug guanfacine led to decreased blood pressure and heart rate, results showed.

The new findings suggest that the medications' benefits outweigh the risks, researchers concluded.

“Other studies show clear benefits in terms of reductions in mortality risk and improvement in academic functions, as well as a small increased risk of hypertension, but not other cardiovascular diseases,” Cortese said.

However, the findings also reinforce that doctors should keep an eye on blood pressure and heart rate in people taking ADHD medications, whether or not the drugs are stimulants, researchers added.

“Our findings should inform future clinical guidelines, stressing the need to systematically monitor blood pressure and heart rate, both for stimulants and non-stimulants.,” lead researcher Dr. Luis Farhat, a medical student at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, said in a news release. “This should be particularly relevant for practitioners who might assume that only stimulants have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system.”

People with existing heart conditions should discuss the side effects of ADHD medications with a cardiologist before starting treatment, researchers added.

They added that more study is needed to better understand the long-term effects of ADHD meds,.

“While it is currently not possible to identify those individuals at higher risk, efforts based on precision medicine approaches will hopefully provide important insights in the future,” Cortese said.

More information

The Child Mind Institute has more on the long-term effects of ADHD medications.

SOURCE: University of Southampton, news release, April 6, 2025