- Posted March 3, 2026
Illicit Adderall Use Places Stress On The Heart, Study Shows
College students using the ADHD drug Adderall as a study aid could be harming their heart health, a new Mayo Clinic study warns.
A single 25-milligram dose of Adderall can cause a person’s heart rate and blood pressure to surge if they’re not used to taking the medication regularly, researchers found.
"The average heart rate increase on standing was 19 beats per minute before Adderall. After taking Adderall, that response doubled to 38 beats per minute," lead researcher Dr. Kiran Somers said in a news release. He’s a resident physician in family medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Adderall – a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine – is safe and effective when prescribed for ADHD, researchers said in background notes.
However, illicit use of the drug has increased, mainly among students who’ve heard it can increase their alertness and concentration, according to American Addiction Centers.
Prior studies have found that 23% to 43% of college students have turned to Adderall or other stimulant medications during times of high academic stress, researchers said.
“We have seen an increase in nonmedical Adderall use, but many users are unaware that it can place acute stress on the cardiovascular system," senior researcher Dr. Anna Svatikova, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said in a news release.
For the new study, researchers recruited 30 healthy people who’d never had Adderall and were not suffering from ADHD. Each person randomly swallowed either a 25-mg dose of Adderall or a placebo tablet.
Reading showed that their blood pressure and heart rate spiked within three hours of taking Adderall, compared to placebo.
The drug also caused a surge in blood levels of the “flight-or-fight” stress hormone norepinephrine, researchers found.
“We found that even in individuals with no prior exposure, a 25 mg dose triggers significant increases in blood pressure, heart rate and activation of the body’s stress-response system,” Svatikova said.
These effects could be made even worse if Adderall is taken with energy drinks or other caffeinated beverages, potentially increasing young people’s odds of a potentially fatal heart rhythm problem, researchers said.
However, more research is needed to understand the short- and long-term risks of illicit Adderall use among young people, researchers said.
"These results demonstrate measurable, acute cardiovascular effects of Adderall used by those not regularly using Adderall prescribed for specific medical reasons,” Somers said.
The new study appears in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
More information
American Addiction Centers has more about Adderall.
SOURCES: Mayo Clinic, news release, March 2, 2026; Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2026
