Interestingly, subjective feelings of being high and stimulated were produced solely by expecting to receive MPH. This finding is important to consider when examining initiation and maintenance of nonmedical prescription stimulant use. As motives for nonprescription stimulant

use include the desire to feel high (Barrett et al. 2005), it is likely that individuals who use a stimulant for this purpose will consequently feel high due to these Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical demonstrated placebo effects, which will likely maintain misuse of the drug. Prescription stimulant misuse in athletes ADHD is a controversial problem in sport as participants with this disorder often require banned stimulants while competing. Many of the governing bodies of competitive sports have developed regulations that limit the use of stimulant medications to treat ADHD. In other cases, stimulant use is allowed in the setting of a documented Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical c-Met phosphorylation diagnosis of ADHD. Most sports organizations around the world now follow the guidelines set forth by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). According to this document, the diagnosis of ADHD is to be made by “experienced clinicians” and in accordance to the DSM-IV. Stimulant medications are considered to be a “medical best practice treatment”

that do require the athlete to file a therapeutic use exemption Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (TUE). A TUE gives athletes with medical diagnoses an exemption to use a drug normally prohibited by MLB, to treat a legitimately diagnosed medical condition. WADA recommends reassessments of continued treatment every 3–4 months.

Other organizations, such as the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) and individual professional leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical have developed their own regulations. The NCAA does not require Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that physicians prescribe a trial of nonstimulant medications before prescribing stimulants, only that the prescribing physician considers nonstimulants first. The NCAA acknowledges that nonstimulant medication may not be as effective as stimulant medications in treating ADHD. In contrast to the NCAA regulations, athletes who are also participating in events governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and/or WADA are not allowed to use stimulant medications, even with a TUE. These organizations require that the athlete with ADHD on stimulant medications stop taking these medication or risk disqualification Ergoloid (Putukian et al. 2011). It has been reported that MLB players are using an ADHD diagnosis to evade the AMP ban (Associated Press 2009). According to records MLB officials turned over to congressional investigators as part of George Mitchell’s probe into steroid use in baseball, the number of players getting “therapeutic use exemptions” from baseball’s AMP ban jumped in 1 year from 28 to 103 – which means that, suddenly, 7.6% of the 1354 players on major-league rosters have been diagnosed with ADHD. MLB banned AMP in 2006.