Research: Adults with ADHD are more likely to develop degenerative dementia

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Research: Adults with ADHD are more likely to develop degenerative dementia

18. January 2011

Adults who suffer from attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are

more than three times as likely to develop a common form of degenerative

dementia than those without, according to research in the January issue of the

European Journal of Neurology.

Researchers from Argentina confirmed the link during a study of 360 patients

with degenerative dementia and 149 healthy controls, matched by age, sex and

education. The dementia patients comprised 109 people with dementia with Lewy

bodies (DLB) and 251 with Alzheimer's.

" Our study showed that 48 per cent of patients with DLB - the second most common

cause of degenerative dementia in the elderly after Alzheimer's - had previously

suffered from adult ADHD " says lead author Dr Angel Golimstok. " This was more

than three times the 15 per cent rate found in both the control group and the

group with Alzheimer's.

" DLB is thought to account for around ten per cent of dementia cases in older

people, but it tends to be under-diagnosed because it shares some

characteristics with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

" It is a degenerative neurological condition that has a progressive and

disabling effect on a person's mental and physical skills. Other symptoms can

include recurrent and realistic visual hallucinations, fluctuations in the

person's everyday abilities and spontaneous movement problems similar to those

observed in Parkinson's.

" ADHD is one of the most common behaviour disorders in child and adolescent

psychiatry and the problems it causes, such as difficulty paying attention,

hyperactivity and doing things impulsively, can continue into adulthood.

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