A common neurodevelopmental disorder could be linked to dementia risk, a new study suggests.Research led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, involving more than 187,000 adults aged 50 and older, found that ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) was associated with a substantially increased risk of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).The observational study looked at electronic health records and genetic information of participants who were enrolled in the U.S.National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program.7 NEW DEMENTIA RISK FACTORS REVEALED — INCLUDING ONE MILLIONS STRUGGLE WITHCognitive impairment was observed in 6.7% of participants with ADHD versus 3.4% without the disorder — nearly twice the rate.After researchers adjusted for age, gender and other health conditions, those with ADHD had more than four times the risk.A common neurodevelopmental disorder could be linked to dementia risk, a new study suggests.
(iStock)The findings — which were published Oct.7 in JAMA Psychiatry — only show an association and cannot determine that ADHD increases dementia risk, the researchers acknowledged."This doesn’t prove that ADHD causes dementia, but seeing the same pattern show up independently in medical records and in people’s genes gives us greater confidence that the association is not simply an artifact of how ADHD gets diagnosed," said senior author Tharick A.
Pascoal, associate professor of psychiatry and of neurology at Pitt, in a press release."Two different kinds of evidence are pointing in the same direction."3 THINGS TO AVOID IN MIDDLE AGE COULD MEAN 13 MORE YEARS WITHOUT DEMENTIA, STUDY FINDSMeanwhile, those with the highest genetic susceptibility to ADHD were found to have a 35% greater risk of dementia than those with the lowest susceptibility."Analyzing genetic information alongside years of health records allows us to identify patterns that might not be visible in a smaller or more traditional study," s...