Iron Supplements may Help Kids With ADHD
December 9, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could simple iron supplements help kids with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder?
According to the results of a new study out of France, they might. Researchers found children with ADHD had significantly lower blood levels of iron than kids without the condition. What’s more, kids with low iron levels also had more severe ADHD symptoms as measured by a parental survey.
Researchers believe the link between ADHD and iron deficiency probably comes in the form of dopamine, which is affected by both conditions. Their study involved 53 children ages 4 to 14 with ADHD and 27 healthy children who served as controls. All were tested for blood levels of iron, and parents rated the children’s ADHD symptoms using a standard scale. Abnormal iron levels were seen in 84 percent of the ADHD children and 18 percent of the healthy children. Overall, kids with ADHD had iron levels that were twice as low as kids without the condition.
The authors believe these results suggest iron supplementation could have a major and immediate impact on the treatment of children with ADHD. Such treatment, they continue, might also decrease the need for psycho-stimulant drugs commonly used now to treat ADHD symptoms in these children.
About 5 percent to 10 percent of all school-aged children are affected by ADHD, which causes attention problems and impulsivity, and as many as 50 percent of those afflicted continue to suffer from symptoms well into adolescence and even adulthood.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2004;158:1113-1115
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