New findings show that ADHD might be a brain disorder.
(Mirror Daily, United States)-ADHD has been considered a behavioral problem until now. A new study reveals information that suggests that ADHD might be a brain disorder. Although this behavioral condition was blamed on bad parenting, this study shows that the condition may actually be a brain disorder.
The new research focused on the way ADHD affects the brain. The findings showed that people who suffer from this condition have smaller brains compared to those who don’t have this condition. The difference between the brains of those who have ADHD and those of the ones who don’t is small.
The researchers mentioned that they have found structural differences when they analyzed the brain of people with this condition. They also said that people with this condition might have delayed development.
In order to conduct this study, researchers analyzed data from 1,700 people with this condition and 1,500 people that did not have ADHD. The study was published in the Lancet Psychiatry. Researchers focused on proving that this might be a brain condition.
ADHD is diagnosed in children and its symptoms include inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. This condition can affect children at home and at school. The symptoms can even persist into adulthood. Despite the fact that this is a serious problem, some people believe that it is an excuse to give drugs to children with a difficult personality or bad parents.
In order to treat ADHD, children need to take drugs like Ritalin. These drugs have been known to be behind weight gain or loss, suicidal thoughts, and liver damage. In order to show that ADHD is a brain condition, researchers measured the overall brain volume and the volume of 7 regions that are linked to the disorder.
The overall volume of the brain was smaller for people with ADHD. Five out of the 7 regions were also smaller. The research team noted that similar differences are common in psychiatric conditions like depression. These brain changes were also observed in children and even in adults with ADHD.
Study authors revealed that they did not observe a difference in people who took drugs for ADHD, which means that the drugs don’t have an effect on the brain. In their report, the scientists concluded that it is an important discovery that suggests ADHD might be a brain condition.
Image source: Flickr