Adult ADHD Linked to Lewy Body Dementia

Patients with Lewy body dementia more likely to have history of attention deficit in adulthood

29 jan 2011-- Adults with symptoms of attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at increased risk of developing dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), according to a study published in the January issue of the European Journal of Neurology.

Angel Golimstok, M.D., of the Hospital Italiano Buenos Aires in Argentina, and colleagues investigated the link between ADHD symptoms in adults and the subsequent development of DLB. The frequency of ADHD symptoms during adult life was evaluated in 109 patients with DLB, 251 patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 149 controls, between 2000 and 2005.

The researchers found the prevalence of ADHD symptoms to be significantly higher in DLB cases compared to either the control group or the Alzheimer's disease group. The frequency of preceding ADHD symptoms in DLB cases was 47.8 percent, compared with 15.2 percent in those with Alzheimer's disease and 15.1 percent in the control group.

"The association between ADHD symptoms and DLB that we observed may be explained by a common neurotransmitter pathway dysfunction in both entities. We hypothesized that a common process is involved in both illnesses: ADHD in the initial state of that dysfunction that progresses to DLB in senescence," the authors write.

Abstract