STOCKHOLM (Dispatches) -- Researchers report adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were more than twice as likely to develop at least one cardiovascular disease, compared with those without ADHD.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Örebro University in Sweden say they succeeded to unmask the correlation between ADHD and some 20 different cardiovascular diseases when separated from other known risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking, sleep problems and mental disorders.
Risks were elevated for all types of cardiovascular diseases and especially high for cardiac arrest, hemorrhagic stroke and peripheral vascular diseases. The association was somewhat stronger in men than in women. Some psychiatric comorbidities, especially eating and substance use disorders, significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with ADHD.
Treatment with stimulants and other psychiatric drugs, such as antidepressants and anxiety-reducing medication, did not materially affect the association between ADHD and cardiovascular disease.