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Adults With ADHD Twice as Likely to Get Heart Disease
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, according to a study recently published in World Psychiatry.
“The strongest associations were found for cardiac arrest, hemorrhagic stroke, and peripheral vascular disease/arteriosclerosis. Stronger associations were observed in males and younger adults, while comparable associations were found among individuals with or without psychotropic medications and family history of cardiovascular diseases,” researchers observed. “These data suggest that ADHD is an independent risk factor for a wide range of cardiovascular diseases.”
Researchers sought to close a few knowledge gaps in the connection between ADHD and cardiovascular disease left open by previous studies. For example, there was no previous data on the risk of specific cardiovascular diseases for patients with ADHD nor an examination into the connection between cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as obesity and smoking, and patients with ADHD.
Findings were based on registry data of more than 5 million Swedish adults, including 37,000 people with ADHD. Individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease were excluded. Participants were followed from January 1, 2001, until first diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, death, emigration, or until December 31, 2013.
The cumulative incidence of any cardiovascular disease was found to be 38.05% for participants with ADHD and 23.57% for participants without ADHD. These associations were even stronger in males than females with ADHD as well as younger adults over older adults with ADHD.
“These findings underscore the importance of carefully monitoring cardiovascular health in adults with ADHD and highlight a critical need for development of age-appropriate and individualized strategies to reduce the risk of cardiovascular morbidity in ADHD people,” researchers concluded. “Additional studies are needed to confirm our findings and to further explore the mechanisms underlying the association between ADHD and cardiovascular diseases.”
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