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dissident_right t1_izdsllw wrote

Reply to comment by RadFriday in Genetic risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder predicts cognitive decline and development of Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology in cognitively unimpaired older adults by BlitzOrion

Basically. In another chapter of 'life sucks and is horribly unfair' if you have a genetic predisposition for ADHD you also have a greater likelihood of contracting Alzheimer's as you age.

Could be that certain genes effect neuroanatomy (brain structure) and that the specific anatomy of that part of the brain effects the risk of development of numerous cognitive disorders (explaining the correlation here).

Alternatively there may be some correlation between IQ and onset of ADHD. As far as I am aware there are already studies that show a correlation between IQ and risk of Alzheimer's, so there may be overlap here (higher IQ, less risk of both conditions).

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SnooPuppers1978 t1_ize6o2h wrote

But rather than thinking that if you have ADHD you could be more likely to get Alzheimer, I think based on this study, it would be better to think, that there's something that can possibly cause all of those 3 more likely to happen.

What I'm trying to say, is that there's a gene X, that could mess with your ability to pay attention, decrease your IQ and increase risk of Alzheimer's.

You can still have ADHD, but it doesn't mean you immediately have higher risk of Alzheimer's.

To me it seems more likely that there's just this one thing that can cause issues in all sorts of different mental faculties.

Like in an extreme case if we cut your head off, you would have 0 ability to pay attention, 0 ability to have a decent IQ and you would have 0 ability to memorise things. It could just be something that impacts everything on a less milder manner. And it's a bit misleading to start the title with ADHD

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eldenrim t1_j02597k wrote

Many cases of ADHD accompany sleep-breathing disorders, like apnea or UARS.

If not those, there's delayed circadian rhythms, insomnia, and just plain struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle in regards to sleep.

We know poorer sleep leads to Alzheimer's. Drugs involving neurotransmitters like dopamine seem to play a role as well.

Then you've just got poorer general health. ADHD people are more likely to struggle with nutrition. They're more likely to abuse substances, alongside an increased risk of regular alcohol, nicotine, and excess caffeine use.

This study definitely didn't isolate a high quantity of people with ADHD that also had none of the above.

I'm not saying there is no link outside of these other things. But this is kind of to be expected. But it would be stranger if there wasn't, really

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