A Bad Mix: Premature Births and ADHD Risks

Children who are born prematurely, and those who have a low weight at birth, are at an increased risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later on in life, during adolescence.

In this new research, scientists discovered two more risk factors for this condition, which is currently very widespread among children and teenagers. What the work also shows is that being born even as little as a few weeks ahead of term can have these effects.

People who suffer from ADHD tend to be hyperactive, unable to concentrate to mind-intensive tasks, and also unable to be attentive to what is being said to them. They also display impulsive behaviors from time to time, and seem unable to control them.

At this point, psychotherapy and psychiatric medications are the two main treatment options being employed to address the condition. What researchers are still in the dark about is how the disease emerges, and what its root causes are.

Swedish investigator Karolina Lindström, MD, led a new investigation into the causes of ADHD on a group of more than 1.24 million children. All participants in the group were aged 6 to 19.

Seeing how the research team did not have access to the actual medical records, they used a proxy instead. They noted instances of ADHD based on cases in which physicians prescribed children medication from the array usually used to treat attention deficit disorder.

A number of 7,506 kids in the group were found to have received such a prescription. By studying this population subgroup, the experts were able to tease out the most influencing factors that led to the development of the condition.

Prematurity was the most statistically significant of them, PsychCentral reports.

Experts determined that kids who were born during weeks 37 or 38 of pregnancy tended to be exposed to a 20 percent higher risk of developing ADHD than their peers who were born at term. Generally, pregnancies end by 42 weeks.

Details of the new work were published in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Pediatrics.

The study also revealed that genetics and mothers' smoking habits also played a critical role in determining their kids' chances of developing the condition. Identifying these risk factors is very important, considering the rising incidence that these condition has in the general population.