Adults with ADHD more likely to suffer from variety of physical ailments: Lancet Study

A major register-based study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet suggested that adults with ADHD had a higher risk of a variety of health illnesses, such as nervous system, pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and metabolic diseases. The study's findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

Adults with ADHD at higher risk of physical conditions

Lead author Ebba Du Rietz, and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet stated, "Identifying co-occurring physical diseases may have important implications for treating adults with ADHD and for benefiting the long-term health and quality of life of patients."

ADHD is a prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder marked by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that is usually treated with stimulant medication (methylphenidates or amphetamines). Previous research suggests that individuals with ADHD are at higher risk for a variety of physical health issues, but only a small number of these links have been thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, there are few precise treatment guidelines for people with ADHD and co-occurring physical conditions.

Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have looked into the probable links between ADHD and a variety of adult-onset physical disorders and whether hereditary or environmental variables play a role. Swedish registrations identified about four million people (full-sibling and maternal half-sibling pairs) born between 1932 and 1995 and followed them from 1973 to 2013. Swedish registrations identified about four million people (full-sibling and maternal half-sibling pairs) born between 1932 and 1995 and followed them from 1973 to 2013. 

ADHD effect on Physical Conditions of adults

The Swedish National Patient Register provided a clinical diagnosis. The researchers evaluated the risk of 35 various physical conditions in people with ADHD to those without and siblings of people with ADHD to siblings of those without. Except for arthritis, people with ADHD showed a statistically significant elevated risk of all of the physical conditions studied. The strongest links were discovered for disorders of the neurological system, respiratory system, musculoskeletal system, and metabolic system.

Alcohol-related liver illness, sleep disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), epilepsy, fatty liver disease, and obesity were the diagnoses most closely linked to ADHD. ADHD has also been related to an increased risk of heart disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia. Senior author Henrik Larsson, professor at Orebro University and affiliated researcher at Karolinska Institutet, said, "These results are important because stimulant therapy requires careful monitoring in ADHD patients with co-occurring cardiac disease, hypertension and liver failure."

Except for nervous system problems and age-related diseases, the elevated risk was generally explained by underlying genetic variables that contributed to both ADHD and physical disease. The risk of most physical diseases was significantly higher in full siblings of those with ADHD. The researchers now want to look into the underlying mechanisms and risk factors and how ADHD affects the management and prognosis of physical disorders in adults.

(with inputs from ANI)

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