Risk taking babies linked to ADHD

New research published this month finds a link between head injury in babies and the later development of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHA).

The research published in the British Medical journal on November 6 looks at the links between young children sustaining medically attended head injuries and how many of those go on to develop ADHD at a later stage in childhood.

The study found that children who have a head injury before the aged of two were twice as likely to be diagnosed as having ADHD. The injury was found to be an early symptom of the disorder rather than the cause of it.

It was also found that children sustaining these head injuries were no more likely to be diagnosed as having ADHD than medically attended burn victims in the same age group.

In the report Prof Heather T Keenan said: “These results indicate that medically attended injury before age 2 may be an early marker for behavioural traits that lead to diagnosis of ADHD. We find it plausible that children who go on to develop clinical ADHD exhibit more risk taking behaviours as young children, and are therefore morel likely to be injured before age 2. “

“Consistent with this, children with a head injury or a burn injury before age 2 were also more likely to have medically attended head injuries after age 2 than were comparison children, suggesting that early injury is a marker of behavioural traits associated with ADHD.”