Health
People With A.D.H.D. Are Likely to Die Significantly Earlier Than Their Peers, Study Finds
A study of more than 30,000 British adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., found that, on average, they were dying earlier than their counterparts in the general population — around seven years earlier for men, and around nine for women.
The study, which was published Thursday in The British Journal of Psychiatry, is believed to be the first to use all-cause mortality data to estimate life expectancy in people with A.D.H.D. Previous studies have pointed to an array of risks associated with the condition, among them poverty, mental health disorders, smoking and substance abuse.
The authors cautioned that A.D.H.D. is substantially underdiagnosed and that the people in their study — most of them diagnosed as young adults — might be among the more severely affected. Still, they described their findings as “extremely concerning,” highlighting unmet needs that “require urgent attention.”
“It’s a big number, and it is worrying,” said Joshua Stott, a professor of aging and clinical psychology at University College London and an author of the study. “I see it as likely to be more about health inequality than anything else. But it’s quite a big health inequality.”
The study did not identify causes of early death among people with A.D.H.D. but found that they were twice as likely as the general population to smoke or abuse alcohol and that they had far higher rates of autism, self-harming behaviors and personality disorders than the general population. In adulthood, Dr. Stott said, “they find it harder to manage impulses, and have more risky behaviors.”
He said health care systems might need to adjust in order to better serve people with A.D.H.D., who may have sensory sensitivity or difficulty managing time or communicating with clinicians during brief appointments. He said he hoped treatments for substance abuse or depression could be adapted for patients with A.D.H.D.
“If it’s about systems, it’s malleable,” he said. “This doesn’t have to be.”
Previous studies have pointed to an unusual number of early deaths for people with A.D.H.D. A 2022 meta-analysis in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that deaths from unnatural causes, such as accidents or suicide, were 2.81 times higher among those diagnosed with A.D.H.D. than in the general population.
A 2019 study that used actuarial tables to predict life expectancy concluded that adults diagnosed with A.D.H.D. in childhood had an 8.4-year reduction in life expectancy compared with the general population, something the authors attributed to reduced education and income, higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption and reduced sleep.
Russell Barkley, the lead author of that study, said the data made it clear that A.D.H.D. should not be seen as a childhood disorder, like bed-wetting, but as a lifelong problem.
“To me, the best analog is diabetes,” said Dr. Barkley, a retired professor of clinical psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. “This is a disorder that you’ve got to manage, like high blood pressure, like cholesterol and diabetes. You’ve got to treat this for life.”
The new study examined 9,561,450 patients in Britain’s National Health Service primary care practices, among whom 30,039 had been diagnosed with A.D.H.D. Each person in the A.D.H.D. group was matched with 10 peers without the disorder for the purposes of comparison. Among those with A.D.H.D., 193 male patients and 148 female patients died during the follow-up period, which lasted from 2000 to 2019.
Stephen Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies A.D.H.D. but was not involved in the new British research, described the study as “a major finding,” the first analysis of deaths of subjects diagnosed with the disorder. He said it was unfortunate that the subjects’ causes of death were not included.
“There are risk factors to work on,” he said. “That is the key limitation of the study, because it would be really important to know, in terms of prevention, should we be focused on suicidality? Better diet and exercise? Depression?”
Diagnosis of A.D.H.D. has shifted in recent years, as clinicians concluded that many older people, especially women and people of color, had gone undiagnosed early in life and could benefit from treatment. As first-time diagnoses surged among older people, prevalence has remained consistent among children, at around 11 percent in the United States and 5 percent in Britain.
Dr. Stott said he hoped that, as these demographic changes took hold, health care systems would make more effort to identify the needs of neurodivergent patients. In past decades, he said, they may have been viewed dismissively by caregivers, as “the naughty kid at school.”
“If you’re constantly told, as a kid, sit down, stop being so naughty — if you talk to people with A.D.H.D., that is their experience — stop talking, go and sit outside,” he said. “It’s all of these things that wear down at your life chances, in many ways.”
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With new agreements from President Donald Trump promising lower prices on popular weight-loss drugs, the use of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro could soon surge even higher — a trend already spreading unevenly across the U.S., with some states seeing greater uptick than others.
Based on insurance claims data from Purple Lab, a Pennsylvania health analytics company, a 2024 report published by GLP-1 Newsroom broke down the estimated number of weight-loss and diabetes drug prescriptions per state.
The prescription records came from both commercial and government insurers, and they don’t include people who paid cash, used telehealth providers, used compounded versions or were uninsured — which means the actual numbers are likely higher.
WHY MICRODOSING OZEMPIC COULD BECOME AS COMMON AS TAKING A MULTIVITAMIN
The report identified the following states where more than 15% of the state’s population received GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss or diabetes control.
A report identified the following states where more than 15% of the state’s population received GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss or diabetes control. (iStock)
Take a look at the list below.
- West Virginia – 24%
- Kentucky – 22%
- Louisiana – 20%
- Oklahoma – 20%
- Alabama – 19%
- Mississippi – 19%
- North Dakota – 18%
- Alaska – 17%
- Arkansas – 17%
- Pennsylvania – 17%
- Iowa – 16.5%
- Michigan – 16%
- Ohio – 14.5%
- Georgia – 15%
- Kansas – 15%
- Tennessee – 15%
- Texas – 15%
WEIGHT-LOSS DOCTOR SHARES HOW GLP-1S COULD REWIRE BODY AGAINST DISEASE
The highest GLP-1 usage rates were concentrated in the South, Midwest and Appalachia, likely due to their higher obesity and diabetes rates.
The report also identified these lowest-usage states, mostly in coastal and Western regions. Hawaii had the lowest overall prescriptions.
The highest GLP-1 usage rates were concentrated in the South, Midwest and Appalachia, likely due to their higher obesity and diabetes rates. (iStock)
See the list below.
- Florida – 10%
- Maryland – 10%
- Wisconsin – 10%
- Washington – 9%
- California – 9.5%
- Nevada – 8%
- Oregon – 8%
- Arizona – 8%
- Colorado – 8%
- Utah – 8%
- Rhode Island – 7.5%
- Hawaii – 5%
COULD GLP-1 WEIGHT-LOSS MEDICATIONS LIKE OZEMPIC BECOME THE ‘EVERYTHING DRUG’?
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist and longevity expert who often prescribes GLP-1 medications to his patients, takes a daily microdose each day to promote heart health.
“These agents are primarily prescribed for type 2 diabetes, but the tides are turning — and soon, in my humble opinion, they will be used more to treat obesity (or categorically ‘overweight’ individuals), absent diabetes, although there is typically a high degree of crossover between the two conditions,” Osborn told Fox News Digital.
“My guess is that these medications are being prescribed more so in states such as Kentucky, West Virginia and other Midwestern states where obesity and diabetes are rampant,” a longevity doctor said. (iStock)
The doctor also predicts that GLP-1s will soon be used to treat or prevent vascular disease, temper drinking, address gambling addiction, slow cognitive decline and likely as a complement to chemotherapy cancer treatments.
“Prescribing practices and indications are expanding rapidly, and therefore, we must be careful about our conclusions,” Osborn said. “That said, my guess is that these medications are being prescribed more so in states such as Kentucky, West Virginia and other Midwestern states where obesity and diabetes are rampant.”
Obesity rates by state
The Trust for America’s Health recently released its State of Obesity report, which is based on 2024 data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
The report lists the following 10 U.S. states as having the highest adult obesity rates, all of which are located in the South or Midwest.
In nine of the 10 states, at least 15% of the population have GLP-1 prescriptions, according to insurance claims data.
Previous studies have shown that GLP-1 drugs can reduce alcohol intake and cravings. (iStock)
- West Virginia – 41.4%
- Mississippi – 40.4%
- Louisiana 39.2%
- Alabama – 38.7%
- Arkansas – 38.4 %
- Oklahoma – 37.9 %
- Kentucky – 37.7 %
- Tennessee – 37.2 %
- Indiana – 36.9 %
- Texas – 36.8 %
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Overall, 19 states had adult obesity rates of at least 35%, compared with 23 states the previous year.
This was also the first time that no state had an adult obesity rate below 25%, according to the report.
Overall, 19 states had adult obesity rates of at least 35%, compared with 23 states the previous year, according to a recent report. (iStock)
Below are the states with the lowest rates of obesity, according to the report.
- District of Columbia – 25.5%
- Colorado – 25%
- Hawaii – 27%
- Massachusetts – 27%
- California – 27.6%
- Florida – 28%
- New Jersey – 28.2%
- Washington – 28.8%
- Vermont – 29%
- New York – 29.1%
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“Structural barriers to healthy eating and physical activity need continued policy attention and investment,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, in a statement.
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“It is vital that government and other sectors invest in – not cut – proven programs that support good nutrition and physical activity and ensure they reach all communities.”
Fox News Digital reached out to GLP-1 manufacturers requesting comment.
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