People with ADHD live shorter lives, study finds

As if having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder isn’t bad enough: New research this week suggests that people with ADHD live shorter lives than expected.

Scientists at University College London in the United Kingdom conducted the study, which compared the health records of similar people with and without ADHD. They found that people who had ADHD tended to be sicker and die earlier than their counterparts. The findings indicate that those with the condition often do not receive the support they need, the researchers say.

ADHD is a complex disorder characterized by symptoms such as restlessness, impulsivity, and having trouble staying focused, especially on everyday tasks. The condition is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as exposure to lead or other toxins early in life. ADHD tends to first appear in childhood, but many people are only diagnosed as adults or never diagnosed at all. While the condition usually does not go away with age, a person’s symptoms may change as they age.

People with ADHD are known to be at higher risk for other health problems, such as not getting Enough well slept and substance use issues; They are also more likely to experience stressful life events such as long-term unemployment. Some studies have also suggested that patients with ADHD are more likely to die early than the general public. However, the scientists behind the new research argue that not enough previous work has been done to quantify the impact of ADHD on people’s life expectancy.

Hence the new study. The researchers analyzed primary care data from around 30,000 adult UK residents diagnosed with ADHD. These people were compared to a larger group of residents without ADHD but who were similar in age, sex, and the doctors they saw.

Researchers found that people with ADHD were more likely to have a variety of other common physical and mental health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression. They also had higher mortality rates in different age groups, which was seen in both men and women. Overall, the researchers estimated that diagnosed ADHD was linked to a reduction in life expectancy of 6.78 years for men and 8.64 years for women.

“The evidence that people with diagnosed ADHD live shorter lives than they should is extremely worrying, and highlights unmet support needs that require urgent attention,” the scientists wrote in their paper, published Thursday The British Journal of Psychiatry.

The researchers note that they were only able to study people with diagnosed ADHD, which is likely inferior content. Only about 0.32% of people in their sample were diagnosed with ADHD, while other research suggests that about 3% of the population has the condition. People with diagnosed ADHD may be more likely to have other health problems than undiagnosed cases, researchers say. This gap could mean that they are overestimating the toll that ADHD in general is having on people’s life expectancy. The researchers also lacked data on the specific causes of people’s deaths, so this study can’t tell us exactly as ADHD is increasing people’s risk of death.

All that said, it’s clear that people with ADHD face unique health and social challenges, and that not enough is being done to diagnose and help people with ADHD as early as possible, the authors say.

“It is crucial that we uncover the reasons behind premature deaths so we can develop strategies to prevent them in the future,” said lead researcher Liz O’Nions in a statement from UCL.