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Brain Studies Show ADHD Is Real Disease

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay ReporterMon Aug 6, 7:02 PM ET

MONDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a real disease linked to changes in production of the brain chemical dopamine, two new reports suggest.

In the first report, researchers found that a variant of the dopamine receptor gene may help cause the behavioral condition but also improve its long-term outcome.

"If you have a certain variant of this gene, you have a greatly increased risk of having ADHD," said lead researcher Dr. Philip Shaw, a researcher in the Child Psychiatry Branch at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. However, "what we found that was surprising was that having this variant was also associated with having a better outcome from ADHD," he said.

"The kids who had the risk gene tended to get better," Shaw said. "They also tended to be a little bit more intelligent."

Not all children with ADHD have this particular gene variant, Shaw said. "About one-quarter to one-fifth of children with ADHD has this gene variant," he said. "That's higher than the general population where about a fifth to a sixth has the variant."

In a second study, scientists found that, in contrast to the common wisdom, ADHD is associated with lowered dopamine production.

Both reports were published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

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