Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are almost three times more likely to develop dementia compared to their peers, a new study suggests. Taking medication could help, as there wasn’t a higher risk for dementia in people with ADHD who took medication, according to the study.
The study, which was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, doesn’t show that ADHD causes dementia, though, the researchers said. In the study, Abraham Reichenberg, PhD, and his team used data from more than 109,000 people in Israel born between 1933 and 1952. The researchers followed up on that data from 2003 to 2020. During that 17-year time span, nearly 1% of the people were diagnosed with ADHD and 7% were diagnosed with dementia.
Adults with ADHD had a significantly higher risk of dementia, even when other risk factors were considered.
“More than 3% of the adult U.S. population has ADHD, and most go undiagnosed,” Reichenberg, a professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, said.
“There is limited research on this group, and it is important to determine if this group is at higher risk for dementia and if medications and/or lifestyle changes can affect risk, in order to inform caregivers and clinicians and increase awareness of this condition,” he said.
“If you have ADHD as an adult, you have a higher chance of dementia than someone who does not have ADHD,” he said.
Reichenberg doesn’t know exactly why the link exists. He said it’s possible that genetic causes of ADHD and dementia are the same and have similar pathways.
“Adults with ADHD have a substantially increased risk for dementia,” Reichenberg said. “Symptoms of attention-deficit and hyperactivity in old age should not be ignored and should be discussed with physicians.”
