ADHD linked to allergies

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to develop atopic diseases and skin infections like impetigo, new research suggests.

Researchers used the UK General Practice Research Database to identify 884 boys with their first diagnosis of ADHD who received methylphenidate and 3536 controls matched for age and general practice.

Boys, aged between 4 and 14 years, with ADHD were more likely to have been born with a low birth weight or prematurely (3.5%) than controls (1.5%). Moreover, boys with ADHD were more likely to have at least one atopic disease (44.3%) than controls (33.8%), most commonly asthma (34.2% and 24.6% of the entire group, respectively).