Resounding applause to the Journal of Clinical Investigation for taking on Tom Cruise statement by statement and exposing the useless hyperbole he used to generate publicity.
Some of the gems:
Later in the same interview, Cruise discusses how he “recently helped a family have their daughter get off [ADHD] drugs . . . We stepped the [7-year-old] child off the drugs, got her vitamins and food. She has calmed down now and she has grown seven inches in about four months” (2). If true, this child should be examined for growth abnormalities, as a normal growth spurt occurs during puberty (12–14 years old in females) and is on average 3–5 inches. Hyperbole on the part of Mr. Cruise, perhaps? One would hope the child was under the care of a medical doctor.
And this one, that just about caused me to jump out of my seat and give a standing ovation:
With regard to the number of children currently taking drugs to control ADHD, Cruise is quoted as saying “[Psychiatrists] said, ‘Oh, you know, Ritalin is safe. It’s safe. It’s safe.’ Ritalin is an amphetamine” (2). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) begs to differ. Ritalin (a stimulant, but not an amphetamine) has been shown to amplify the release of dopamine and thereby improve attention and focus in individuals who have weak dopamine signals, such as those with ADHD (3).
The frustrating thing to me is this: JCI’s remarks on this will not be reported on the front page of any entertainment section, nor in People mag, nor on the top “entertainment sites” on the web. Sadly enough, Cruise’s celebrity status grants him a soapbox he is neither qualified, nor educated, nor capable of standing upon.
