ADHD May Go Hand-In-Hand with Seizures in Kids

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seems to be a risk factor for unprovoked seizures in children.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seems to be a risk factor for unprovoked seizures in children. “ADHD and seizures may be co-morbid conditions,” say the authors of a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. ADHD does occur more frequently than would normally be expected in people with epilepsy, Dr. Dale C. Hesdorffer, of Columbia University, in New York, and colleagues note. While this has been attributed to the epilepsy or its treatment, “It is impossible to determine in previous studies which condition occurs first,” they point out. To look into this chicken-or-egg question, the researchers studied newly diagnosed, unprovoked seizures among Icelandic children younger than 16 years. The team matched each child who had a seizure to two similar but seizure-free children from the population registry, and looked for an existing diagnosis of ADHD among both groups. Children with ADHD had a 2.5-fold higher likelihood of unprovoked seizures than children without ADHD. The association was statistically significant for ADHD predominantly of the inattentive type, but not for the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type of ADHD, or combined types. Hesdorffer and colleagues suggest that the findings indicate that ADHD and seizures “may occur together owing to a causal relationship between them or owing to an underlying vulnerability to both disorders.” (SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry: Reuters Health News: July 2004.)