Some evidence suggests a relationship between adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). According to a major observational study, those with ADHD are at a higher risk of acquiring a variety of cardiovascular problems than those without the disorder.
Adults with ADHD are more likely to develop a variety of cardiovascular problems than those who do not have the disorder, according to a major observational study headed by researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and Rebro University. According to the researchers, the findings, which were published in the journal World Psychiatry, highlight the importance of monitoring cardiovascular health in persons with ADHD.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental diseases, with a global prevalence of roughly 2.5 percent in adults. It is frequently co-occurring with various psychiatric and physical problems, some of which have been related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, whether ADHD is independently related to general and specific cardiovascular disorders has gotten less investigation.
Clinicians must carefully consider psychiatric comorbidity and lifestyle factors to help reduce CVD risk in individuals with ADHD, but we also need more research to explore plausible biological mechanisms, such as shared genetic components for ADHD and cardiovascular disease.
Henrik Larsson
The new study intended to uncover the link between ADHD and around 20 distinct cardiovascular illnesses when it was removed from other known risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking, sleep issues, and mental disorders.
“We found that adults with ADHD were more than twice as likely to develop at least one cardiovascular disease, compared with those without ADHD,” says the study’s first author Lin Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet. “When we accounted for other well-established risk factors for CVDs, the association weakened but still remained significant, which indicates that ADHD is an independent risk factor for a wide range of cardiovascular diseases.”
The findings build on national registry data of more than five million Swedish adults, including some 37,000 people with ADHD. After an average of 11.8 years of follow-up, 38 percent of individuals with ADHD had at least one diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, compared with 24 percent of those without ADHD.
The risks for all types of cardiovascular disorders were higher, but mainly for cardiac arrest, hemorrhagic stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases. The link was slightly stronger in men than in women. Some psychiatric comorbidities, particularly food and substance use problems, elevated the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with ADHD considerably. Stimulants and other psychiatric treatments, such as antidepressants and anxiety medications, had no effect on the relationship between ADHD and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers point out that because the study was observational, the data cannot demonstrate a causal association.
“Clinicians must carefully consider psychiatric comorbidity and lifestyle factors to help reduce CVD risk in individuals with ADHD, but we also need more research to explore plausible biological mechanisms, such as shared genetic components for ADHD and cardiovascular disease,” says Henrik Larsson, professor at Rebro University’s School of Medical Sciences and affiliated researcher at Karolinska Institutet.
The study had certain limitations, according to the researchers, including a lack of data on some lifestyle factors, such as nutrition and physical activity, which could influence the link.
