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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with a shorter life expectancy and a greater risk of Mental health issuesaccording to a new study of more than 30,000 people with the disorder in the UK.
Men diagnosed with ADHD experienced a reduction in life expectancy of 4 1/2 years to nine years, while women’s life expectancy was shortened by 6 1/2 years to 11 years, according to the Study published Thursday In the British Journal of Psychiatry.
“Although many people with ADHD live long, healthy lives, our finding that they on average live shorter lives than they should indicates unmet support needs,” said Dr. Liz O’Nions , author of the main study, researcher in clinical, education and health psychology at University College London, in a press release. “It is crucial that we discover the reasons for premature death so that we can develop strategies to prevent them in the future.”
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is commonly diagnosed in childhood but often lasts into adulthood. People with ADHD have unbalanced neurotransmittersincluding dopamine. It is a key neurotransmitter in the prefrontal cortex of the brain needed to help us with executive function and self-regulation skills, which involve planning, focusing and maintaining attention, recalling instructions, and multitasking.
People with ADHD may feel restless or have trouble concentrating, staying organized, managing their time, or prioritizing, hyperfocus or control their impulses. These symptoms can affect all areas of life.
At least 3% to 4% of adults In the UK there is ADHD, with Prevalence in children estimated at at least 4%. But it’s possible that many more people are going undiagnosed, which could mean the gap in life expectancy that the study authors may have overestimated, they said.
The new findings affirm those of recent research, such as A 2022 study This revealed a greater risk of premature death among people with ADHD or autism in the United States and Europe. But the present study, to the authors’ knowledge, is the first to use mortality data to employ the life table method: A statistical technique for analyzing mortality rates and the probabilities of survival or death at different age intervals.
The research team examined primary care data from 30,029 adults with ADHD and compared them to nearly 300,400 participants who did not have ADHD but were matched on age, gender and primary care practice.
Besides differences in life expectancy, the analysis also found that ADHD was linked to a higher risk of mental health problems – such as anxiety, depression, self-harmsuicide and personality disorders. Autism, intellectual disabilities, harmful habits such as smoking or “potential alcohol use”, and physical health problems including diabetes or high cholesterol were also more common in this group.
The study is ‘striking’ but is based on observational data which inevitably leaves many important questions unanswered because a cause and effect relationship cannot be fully established, Dr Kevin McConway, professor emeritus of applied statistics at the Open University in England, said in a press release. He was not involved in the research.
“What can be done about this? It depends on whether reductions in average life expectancy are caused (in one way or another) by ADHD, and if they are, how they are caused,” McConway said.
In the UK, treatment for ADHD and supporting conditions is lacking, particularly for adults, as recognition of adult ADHD is still evolving, experts have said. This insufficiency could partly explain the differences in life expectancy.
But there may also be “certain factors that arise before birth or early in life that could separately affect the chances of being diagnosed with ADHD later” and dying earlier than usual, McConway said. These could be genetic or environmental. Additionally, the authors did not have details on or control for race or ethnicity and socioeconomic factors, which can affect life expectancy.
Researchers also could not determine “when ADHD was diagnosed in relation to other medical problems, or the impact of treatment,” said Dr. Oliver Howes, professor of molecular psychiatry at King’s College London. , in a press release. Howes was not involved in the study.
However, “things like differences in smoking, alcohol consumption and several health conditions are likely to be consequences of ADHD, to a large extent,” McConway said — meaning that these vices and conditions could explain how ADHD might affect mortality rates or lead to shorter life expectancy.
Details about the causes of the study participants’ early deaths were also not available to the researchers.
People with ADHD “have many strengths and can thrive with the right support and treatment,” said lead study author Dr. Josh Stott, professor of aging and clinical psychology at University College London, in a press release.
Experts on the subject said that Addressing the issue of premature mortality in people with ADHD begins with health care providers who should routinely collect details about behavioral and medical conditions and health outcomes related to the disorder. This can help providers and patients address risk factors and prevent delays in treatment.
Some organizations have resources on how people with ADHD can increase their likelihood of engaging in tasks, habits or activities that can help improve their quality of life and life expectancy, including exercise, good nutrition, dental care And sleep hygiene.
Mental health professionals specializing in ADHD can help patients develop coping skills for any symptoms that may lead to distress or other outcomes that negatively affect their lives.
They can also discuss if ADHD medications would be useful. A study of almost 150,000 Swedish ADHD, published in March 2024, found that medication use was associated with a 19% decrease in mortality risk in the two years after diagnosis.